A Southerner Speaks

This letter was shared with me by a fellow Southerner.

To:

Dr. Dan Jones, Chancellor
University of Mississippi
P.O. Box 1848
Oxford, MS 38677

Dear Chancellor:


In my previous letter to you, I mistakenly thought that your concern over playing"From Dixie with Love" was that use of the melody of Dixie might be offensive to non-Southerners. I have since learned that, in fact, your nose was out of joint because you could not bend a group of students to your will and muzzle the politically incorrect words they substituted for one line of the song.

In the beginning, God took Nothing and made Something out of it-ex nihilo. You, Sir, have almost replicated that feat! Until you called attention to it nationwide, hardly anyone was aware that students were inserting the words, "The South shall rise again" into "From Dixie with Love." I certainly was not aware.

Even so, no serious minded person can possibly think that the quotation, "The South shall rise again," even remotely suggests taking up arms against our beloved America. One has but to watch the Emmys, Grammies, Oscars, and the the CMA awards, and 'as any fool kin plainly see' (Al Capp, "Li'l Abner"), The South abides as the repository where patriotism for our nation is most deeply ingrained and celebrated. Phil Harris's popular song of the 40's, possibly the original source of the quote you so despise, facetiously stated that "all the Yankee bands were playing Dixieland so save your Confederate money, boys-The South shall rise again." Back then, it brought amused smiles, not recriminations or even raised eyebrows.

Indeed, the South shall rise, must rise, and has risen in many other areas. Assuredly, the South needs to rise economically from poverty for many to prosperity for all. In industry and entrepreneurship, strides have been made in recent years. WorldCom was a leader in communications, the preferred carrier for government telecommunication, until mistakes in judgment brought it down. Of the "baby Bells" created in the breaking up of AT&T, it was BellSouth that eventually resumed the name AT&T. The South should and shall rise in the field of communications.

Automotive manufacturing thrives in Mississippi and Tennessee, while languishing in Detroit. The South shall rise and has risen in manufacturing.

The idea for Federal Express was born on the campus of Ole Miss and now thrives in Memphis, the greatest delivery service in the world. Coca Cola, an American icon, was first bottled in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by the Biedenharn family. The South rose and shall continue to rise in entrepreneurship.

The South produces more writers than any other section of the country. The Faulkner brothers, Tennessee Williams, Stark Young, John Grisham, Greg Ihles, Thomas Harris, Euroda Welty, young Amy Vincent, just starting and already published twice--and the list goes on and on. The South rose and shall continue to rise in literature.

Besides the gift of Dixieland jazz, we also gave the world Elvis, B.B. King, Charlie Pride, Faith Hill, Leontyne Price, Van Cliburn, and oh yes! Let us not forget our very own Luther Snavely! The South has risen and shall always rise in the field of music.

The South shall and did rise in political prominence. Four of the last six Presidents of the United States were natives of The South, and whatever you may think of their leadership, they have led the free world for 24 of the last 32 years; i.e., 75% of the time. The South rose and shall continue to rise in national and world leadership.

And so I ask you, Chancellor Jones, in just exactly what area would you prefer that The South not rise?

Organizing my jewelry

Fixing my jewelry. I have what my mom calls costume jewelry. I probably organize it once every 4 years.

I have to get the little bins out and clean them, throw away the old broken stuff. Then look at everything with a critical eye and start again.

I just couldn't keep my necklaces from tangling. I had these little hangers I had used for hanging unused scarfs so I got rid of my scarfs and hung the necklaces.
Now I have them all neat. I just hope I don't get them tangled again.

Twinkies

We do not have 'Dress the same Day' day at our office.

-Erin Flippin and Gray Prichard-

Yet we do have two student workers who are 'married,' ok not really, but they do look the same and they did dress the same, and they look so darling.

I think they should live in the Village, cause this is what they do.
We really work our workers. Just ask them. Never a dull moment.

Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich

Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich

One thing I love is a BLT. You gotta have crisp bacon, fresh lettuce, a home grown tomato, white soft bread and good mayonnaise. There is just nothing like it. I don't cut it in half, because you have to hold it together like an envelope to keep everything from spilling out and the soft bread is great for that. Funny that something so simple can be so fantastic.

"Help" the Movie

You gotta love the movie "Help" with the Beatles. It is just too fun.

The end of the move credits.

In the Alps the group plays a song and has fun skiing.

The bad guys get caught up in their own scheme.

The Beatles play a song.

In the castle they play cards.

On the ice curling stone that blows up.

Paul meets the high priest.

On one note, I just couldn't help notice that the religious implications that permeated the UK were not surprising to the film makers in 1965. Are we heading down this pathway? I agree with Ringo. "I don't subscribe to your religion."

Favorite time of year

This is my favorite time of the year. Fall in Arkansas especially south Arkansas is just beautiful. The weather gets cooler on a slow curve. Some of the states north of here have long springs into summer. We have rain, rain, rain and cool weather in the spring, then boom it is 90 degrees. But the fall has beautiful days, OK some rainy days right now, but it is the time when you can light a fire in the fireplace in the evening and enjoy it. And when it is midday it can be sunny and crisp. Wow fall is just beautiful, and the sky turns this unbelievable color of vibrant blue, orange and pink. You gotta love it.

Three things to love

These are three things that mean a lot to me.

1. Poppin' Fresh - When I first heard his giggle I knew he was the man for me. Because he sits on my sink I see him every day. He reminds me to giggle and be joyous. Sometimes life is weighty, and a positive outlook can keep you going when you don't really want to.
2. Murphy Oil Soap - This product it is an oxymoron. Soap on wood? Ash Soap is still a strange idea. But I really love it because you can use it on Marker Boards. Yes it can be diluted and made into a great Marker Board cleaner. It dissolves the marks, and it puts a film back on the board. Talk about fun! It is so stealthy. he he!
3. Expect a Miracle - This is one of the things I want to always remember. I do expect a miracle, because God is the miracle maker. How can He not be? Just look at our planet, the anomaly of the universe. It is because I know who He is not just what He does that I ask.

Things you keep

There are some things in life you hold on to. Maybe it is a letter from a former boyfriend, or a dress you loved how you looked in it. I keep things I loved seeing my kids use. This little doll high chair has been in at least 5 states as we traveled around. It is falling apart, yet I can't get rid of it. I will be having a 25 cent sale this Saturday, but I can't give this up. A lot of things I can get out of the house, Whew, but for some reason this is just too tender in my heart. Now I am gonna cry, so I guess I had better get off the blog.

Good Night Mickey in the Night Kitchen

The end of summer

Life is always so busy, that is why you have to grab time with those you love when you can.

Mi in Sunday School at Emmet. He thought he was too old for Thomas the Train, but he found out differently.

Watering the garden always turns out to be more fun if you can play in the water.

Mi wrote two letters on his own to police men and we delivered them. So excited, yet shy and his comment, "They didn't give me any stickers!"


We enjoyed our last swim at the village pool. At 86 degrees we thought we were in the north pole.

Eating and sewing on the back porch after having hot dogs, homemade potato salad and slaw. Such a traditional menu for our crowd, yet it was just right.

You have to enjoy the last watermelon of the summer.

Hooray for having a good time with family. Isn't that what it is all about?

Oh, and dogs, don't forget the dogs.

Good bye summer!

Thanks for being there.

The Big Cheese

In our International Education Department we try to do things that are educational and fun. We realize that international students sometimes don't understand our cultural expressions, so I put our names on all the scarecrows.

We have three staff, four student workers plus our boss

THE BIG CHEESE!

We don't know if the internationals know what "The Big Cheese" means but that is part of the learning. We should try to translate this saying into different languages just for fun.

Come by and say hello.

Students Students Students

At the International Education Dept we often have students who fly hundreds of miles with just their clothes. Don't get me wrong, some can afford to get new items to dress up their dorms, but you can't fit knick knacks, lamps or baskets in a suitcase. So when an international leaves to go back home they often leave things for the next crew. Here we have three going thru boxes of items left by a former International Student to dress up their rooms. I put out an email to the internationals and in two hours it was all gone.

We also have student workers who work in our department. I make a list of things to get done during the semester. We have jobs that are housekeeping, running errands, paperwork, and fun things like actual designing and executing bulletin boards. One of the main jobs is for the workers to keep their boxes cleaned and tidy. One of our workers loves to decorate the boxes with cute name tags.

And one of our workers is a prankster. This "was" a ball made of rubber bands. But alas someone in our department dismantled it. Wasn't me!

Where the Clunkers are

"Where the clunkers are" sing to tune of where the boys are.

Driving to Emmet we see all kinds of trucks on I-30.

Sometimes we see U-Haul trucks loaded to the gills with belongings headed to Texas from Michigan.

This time we saw a car truck loaded with clunkers headed south. The truck's company label was from El Paso. You know where El Paso is. So I am guessing Clunkers are being sold, because the government, our government, can't or won't give the car dealers the money they are owed.

adiós

Birthday & work

This is a flower arrangement that I made for my office. I wanted an arrangement that was happy and August looking, but not Autumn looking. So I put together this group of flowers.

This is my birthday present from my daughter Jerusalem. She had this in her living room and she blogged about it almost a year ago
and again just this June during her write up in the At Home in Arkansas magazine. But, alas she actually has too many items in her living room so I said to her before we picked up the boys to go on the cruise, "If you ever want to get rid of your chaise, I would love to have it." Because in our family we never, and I mean never, well maybe Jemimah will, but the rest of us never get rid of things. We just move them from home to home. Cause if you loved it once you might want to love it again. You just never know.
So she brought me the chaise. I had re-arranged my furniture in my bedroom on a piece of paper during our mini GG. So during my birthday luncheon I noticed J4 wasn't eating with us but was busy doing something else. I was shocked when I went into our bedroom and there he was rearranging the furniture, just like I had showed him on my tiny pieces of paper from the mini GGs."This is your birthday present!" Wow what a great guy!

Wy & Mi go on a cruise

During Camp Meme we had planned to go on a cruise on Lake De Gray. Mi was so excited, He said "You mean it isn't a canoe?" It rained on our scheduled day and I knew I had to make it up to them. Finally this past weekend we went on our boat cruise. It is a real boat, well as real as a party barge can get.

Trying to get the right day and the right time, was crazy. If trying to get a simple time with the state park is as hard as it could possibly be made me wonder if trying to get anything from the government is a good thing.

But getting boys on a boat is just cool.

Back to life, back to reality.

At work we have cupcakes for birthdays. One month we had 5 birthdays we had to celebrate in one day.

So we had a lot of cupcakes. I had a good time making them. Really, very relaxing.

Mint chocolate cupcakes.

Chocolate cupcakes.

Double Fudge chocolate cupcakes.

Funfetti cupcakes.

Red velvet cupcakes.

It is a wonder we didn't start the sprinklers going.

Whew!

Judea plays the piano

What I get to hear.

When Judea plays the piano I get to sit in my bedroom and listen. Now she is playing a fun tune she made up. Sometimes she plays one of her classical pieces and sometimes she plays one of her own tunes. I missed that when she lived elsewhere. When she moved back in, that was one of the things I really enjoyed.

Loving your children for what they do that pleases you, is one of the perks of parenthood. Above all, keep fervant in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 1st Peter 4:8

Wet, Wet, Wet 25 cent sale

Very, very, very wet Saturday for 25 cent sale.

The proprietor.

The inventory.

The rainy, rainy, rainy Day.

Little People on the March

Little People on the March

To My Congressional Delegation

I hear a lot of talk by politicians and pundits that our health care is in a crisis. I truly do not understand what constitutes this crisis. I understand there are many who are not insured. I understand that there are insurance companies that do do hold up their side of the bargain. I understand there are lawyers who want to sue for every medical procedure.

What I don't understand is, what is the crisis? If I drive from New York to Los Angeles I can drop into 99.9% of the doctor offices and get an appointment that day. I can pay for my services and get a prescription that I can fill at a local pharmacy that day. That is not a crisis. A "crisis" is when there is not hospital in your town; there is no doctor in your town; there are no medical supplies in your town. I think that is called a third world country. Is that what we are to become if the government runs our health care?

I have elected you to be my representative in the making of the laws of the land. Are you going to represent me, or are you going to impose upon me?

8 days and counting

This is the sunset from my backyard. I love sunsets. You can always tell when the season is changing by the sunsets. November is my favorite because of all the beautiful colors.

9 days and counting, Wy writes the Preamble

I had a Quill pen that I gave Wy to practice writing. When we had Camp Meme we studied American colonial times and I bought, but not used, the Quill Pen. So I thought I would let Wy get a chance to use the pen. We talked about people during the colonial times having to use the quill pen to write notes, letters, journals and even the Constitution. We even looked up George Washington's General Orders on Profanity written in longhand by Geroge Washington.
Wy began to write using the pen and I watched as he began to write. I thought "Gee, Meme, you are so smart to encourage your grandson to write with this pen." I was shocked when we gave me a copy of the Preamble of the Constitution written by memory with the quill pen non stop. Meme's may be smart, but grandsons are awesome.

13 days and counting, Old books

Yesterday Wy and I went to the Riley Library on the OBU campus. I had gotten some books there before for the boys and I really love the books we can find there. This great little book, Make a World is a drawing book. It doesn't give complicated instructions, it is simple. First it shows a rectangle, so the person draws a rectangle. Then add something to the rectangle and then add something else. No big complicated process, just draw it. In fact the layout is tiny, with no words, just a line of drawing. I loved this book when I saw it because it is so child understanding.

It gives the child respect. Look, copy and create. So many of the books printed now pander. They think children cannot learn with out minutia instructions from adults. Children are very quick to understand and apply. That is why I love these older books. They believe in children's capabilities.

The creation of a child's mind. The blimp, the helicopters, the castle, the fighting men, all came out of a boys imagination and with help from a book's application you have a great picture. J4 showed me one of the pictures he made when he was this age. Just think, when Wy is a man he will bring out this picture and think of his time at his Obi's & Meme's. We should remember this is how memories are made. Simple times with great love.

14 days and counting, and the wy says hello

As much as I tried I couldn't get this turned around, so turn your computer or perhaps turn your head. (this is an interactive site. I am so tech oriented!) Wy says hi to his fam.

Oh, and 14 days and counting.

16 days and counting, Miles birthday day

There are 16 days left until I report back to the office.

Today going to see Mi and give him his birthday gift, Wy and momma put ice cream on the delicious cake.

The birthday boy plays his flute and wears his coon skin cap.

Jerusalem's cute little chair she slip covered. See her blog my little life.
See Vintage Indie for more on her chair.

Her little nook.