The Fixer

I’m a fixer.

 I grew up thinking it was my place in life to try and fix things.  Small things like latches that wouldn’t close and big things like disagreements that “didn’t concern me”.

 I did it with a well placed word or a joke.  Sometimes when all else failed I created a diversion, like falling out of bed or pretending to stump my toe.  A diversion is almost as good as a plan I used to think.

One day after a rather exhausting effort to “fix something” VerDell asked me, “Why are you beatin your head against the wall?” 

It lead me to think about that.

The Reality....

Nearly two decades past…and somewhere along the way I started to realize that a woman my age should not be seen waltzin around the yard in lace anything unless it’s for a local production of  Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte.   

Few things worked out the way I had planned.  (Enter Lionel Richie and the Commodores….  http://youtu.be/zg-ivWxy5KE )  Go there if you need a moment…to wallow…or laugh...or just to remember how big hair was in the late 70's!

I guess Momma and Daddy got tired of waitin too cause I came home one weekend and the pool was  gone, filled in with dirt and planted like a garden. The neighbors said that Daddy hired a man with a jack hammer to bust holes in the bottom and then they threw in everything from lounge chairs to life-jackets before a truck load of dirt backed in and buried the very last remnants of my summer weddin plan. I still can't believe it, Sacred ground…turned into nothing more than a tomato patch.  But it’s like I always say, “things happen…so other things can happen.”  

Next time:  Higher Love

Buck and Lurlene - The Wedding and Other Memorable Events

Hold your applause

I got married on a cold day in April...sorta like this one. Now if you want to hear some crazy stories of goins on here in the Village, there are none as far-fetched as these. I do hope to post for the next few days...snippets of all that went into the best day ever! (But it wasn't today...so hold your applause)

Flash Back: The Vision

When I was young, I had a vision for my dream wedding. It was rather straight forward; I wanted to get married in my back yard, in the Summer, with watermelons floatin' in the pool.  I wanted a long farm table or two, preferably borrowed from the town park and covered with red and white table cloths.  I imagined Corene and Pearl, from the Horse Shoe restaurant, where I had spent my summers workin the breakfast shift, would assist in fixin a feast of fried chicken and barbeque with all the sides that are proper and fittin a summer wedding feast.  Instead of a cake I just wanted Corene's chocolate and coconut cream pies, sittin on footed glass cake plates as high as we might safely stack'um and still avoid a mishap.  There were would be no flies or bugs, and no humidity.  It would be a perfect day and I would wear a veil I made from the sheer lace curtains that used to hang in my Grandma's front windows, the ones I accidentally cut with her pinkin' shears one day...just to see what lace looked like "pinked".   My dress was simple, white linen with gauzy layers made from the same curtains.  I imagined I would invite Fleetwood Mac down to play Sunny Side of Heaven http://youtu.be/Hh0Rp92f1uA?hd=1)
or, just have a DJ, play it for us, it would be my wedding march...lights would be strung from the house to the back and I'd tie the knot under those pine trees where I had spent countless hours rockin back and forth in the rope hammock, dreamin it all up. 

Up next:  The Reality

 

A Simple Easter

I like words...like to play with 'um and tease with 'um, munch and crunch on 'um, but decided to just let this picture speak for itself.

Sunday at Myra's was a simple gathering of good friends and good food brought together around a beautiful table set with "Nurses" Limoges wedding china, always hand washed and set up in the china press after each use; Sonny's momma's linen tablecloth, starched, ironed and folded just so, and Jude's silver.  Each element bore witness to those we love and those we honor.

A long time back I taught Myra how to make stick crosses...like my Daddy taught me when I was little.  She did him proud, placing one at each plate...a simple reminder of why we gather.  

I was grateful to have been in the fold last night, sharing the blessings and the promise on Easter Sunday.

A simple thank you for a simply beautiful evening.

Head Butt...Head Butt

Well yesterday held lots of surprises.  First, a man from the Richmond City Road works saw Mr. C on the front porch and asked him to move the car so they could patch the asphalt in front of the house.  

 

Need I say more? While I was in the back unloading mulch, Buck picked up the car keys and the rest is history.  He didn't get far up the one way street until he pulled over and parked.  I suppose he was feelin rather proud of himself... until he took a tumble. 

 

I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I came around the front only to be greeted by a chorus of city workmen hollerin' "Lady...Lady" (No Lionel Richie insight I might add). Everybody had saucer eyes except Buck who was puttin' on his best "swag", something he does after a mishap.  

 

After thankin the neighbors who knew where he lived 

and acceptin' apologies from the workmen who swore they would never ask a man sittin on the porch in a rocker with a cane hangin' off the back to move a car again...

I gave him some Aleeve, a hug and then some choice words, which shall remain private. That bein' said, it was agreed  he would just supervise me while I finished spreading the mulch and I made him promise not to let me out of his sight!  By 4:00 I was ready to wash the smell of fear and Pine Bark off me and catch a cat nap.  Buck thought that was a great idea cause he was tired of watchin' me.  He decided  he was gonna sit on the deck and make sure Busser didn't get into any trouble.  So we had a plan.

 

I got that shower thank goodness cause the next thing I hear is, "Babe...Babe!" (no pig in sight). Needless to say, I flew down the steps and this time there is a'plenty of indication that he and Busser had found some trouble, or as he would say later, "probably ran into a tree", cause he was sportin.a goose egg on the back of his head the size of a softball and a nice blood stained shirt to boot. I was no more good, and now I'm the one with saucer eyes, rememberin that lady who fell on the ski slopes and woke up dead!  

 

So, I phoned the Universal Mother and the Nurse of all nurses, Momma Shook, who at 93 is my only "go to" in times of strife.  She wasted no time and sent us to the Emergency Room lickedy split! 

 

By this time Buck can't remember what happened and thinks a tree limb must have fallen out in the yard and wants to go move it. But I convince him that we will get it when we get home. 

 

The rest is history.  In a nutshell...all's well that ends well and it did.  A special shout out  to our great ED team at Regional Memorial and Dr. McGee for the fine use of a staple gun.   That hard head paid off, and we were home in time to watch "Dancin with the Stars" and eat the great dinner plate that VerDell and Bubba left for us on the front porch. 

 

Thank you all for taking such good care of us...here in the Friendly Village!