Happy Birthday, Shelby!

February 28th, 2013

On this day, 28 years ago, the world gained a feisty, fun, fabulous person. Happy birthday, Shelby! You should receive the Best Big Sister of a Lifetime award. If no such award exists, it does now and I'm naming it after you. :) You were my loyal defender and protector when we were growing up, and your offers of, "Do you need your big sister to come take care of the situation?" are still very much appreciated, even in adulthood. Never mind the fact that I am now six inches taller than you; if a situation arose, I would still hide behind you and say, "Yeah! What she said!", as if we were seven and ten years old facing down a bully. You know the greatest part of being the youngest? I have never had to spend one day on this earth without you, whether it be in person, a phone call, an e-mail, or a snail mail letter. We have each other's backs, laugh until we cannot breathe, get snippy and sarcastic when we think the other one is not driving correctly ("Shelby, use the blinker!"--"Holly, if you say that one more time, I'm getting out of this car!"), and have experienced the carefree days of childhood, the awkward in-between years, the excitement of college life, and the ups and downs of young adulthood together. Here's to many more years of sister adventures!

In honor of your birthday, the following is a list of 28 memories, things I love about you, and items that have defined our relationship throughout the years.

1) Fierce determination

2) Loyalty

3) Out of this world work ethic; seriously, you have the energy of an otter!

4) The time you tripped on a tree root at Okefenokee Swamp and let out a blood-curdling scream because you thought an alligator had attacked. 

5) Your lifelong love of horses and all things equestrian.

6) Dressing up and hosting tea parties with Jenny--"Can you believe the outrageous things Charlie Tinsley said?", spoken in our best, southern-influenced, British accents. :)

7) Shouting "Charge!" when walking up a flight of stairs--anytime, anywhere.

8) Your kindness--I still remember the time I dropped my candy apple at the mall. As tears of disappointment spilled down my five-year old face, you quickly offered me yours. 

9) Our 3,000 mile road trip--bison, a popcorn ball the size of a small planet, mule deer stalking at midnight, the Beach Boys, and dill pickles. We made a lifetime's worth of memories in just two weeks!

10) Riding bicycles together, and nursing you back to health when you wiped out at the bottom of the hill and ate gravel.

11) Your ability as a seamstress--You are the only person I know who can draw a pattern on a sheet of notebook paper and make a beautiful dress out of the leftover fabric from a set of curtains. It's like you are Maria from The Sound of Music or Scarlet from Gone with the Wind! :)

12) Three Musketeers candy bars

13) That summer day of the epic watermelon fight in the front yard.

14) Shakespeare--I think it is cool that you are a fan of his! I'm always in awe when you can explain the plots and characters. I have come to the conclusion that my Shakespearean comprehension ability did not improve with the onset of adulthood.

15) Parachuting Barbies from the barn loft; forget the usual shopping, beach, and babysitting Barbies. Ours were helicopter pilots, paratroopers, orphanage workers, and pioneers.

16) The Snoopy dance--"To live is to dance, to dance is to live."

17) The Oregon Trail computer game--"I want to get to Oregon, sho'nuff. But all in one piece!"

18) Piano and violin duets

19) The summers I spent trying to teach you to swim and float. I think we both gave up somewhere around 2001. Just make sure you always have a life jacket or me with you when you are in deep water.

20) Our mutual love of musicals; "Oooooooooooklahoma!"

21) Creativity--refinishing old furniture, painting, building, knitting; your creativity and imagination are inspiring.

22) The loft plays, especially 'Cyrano'--"I fell from the moon!"

23) Our conversations comprised entirely of movie quotes. "Others? You mean, others? More than one others?"--Name that movie. :)

24) That time the snowstorm struck at Christmas and we went without power for three days. You knew the temperature had plunged to sub-zero inside and times were desperate when we agreed to camp out together in my room! I'll never forget the image of you rolled up in a sleeping bag like a burrito and me in the air force flight suit. If I remember correctly, you smacked me in the face during the night in your sleep and I kicked you in the ribs. I'm just thankful we had separate rooms as children. :)

25) The doll you made and gave me for Christmas--to a little girl who dreamed of owning an American Girl doll but knew it was too expensive, that doll was the best gift. To this day, it is my most cherished Christmas present.

26) Your habit of cracking up at my lack of coordination. Jumping off a school desk in an attempt to fly and smashing my face into the floor, tripping over wet floor signs, falling out of the back of the truck; as the saying goes, "We are sisters. Always remember that if you fall, I will help you up, but only after I've stopped laughing." :)

27) Having each other to trust completely with our feelings, opinions, dreams, grief, happiness, insecurities, ideas, and plans. We don't always agree, but we seek to understand. You listen, offer advice and encouragement, and tell me to grow up and quit complaining when I am being ridiculous.

28) Our tradition of, "I love you more than...".

I hope you have an absolutely marvelous day filled with laughter, friends, and cake from that amazing European bakery!

I love you more than a newt loves lounging on a cool river rock on a hot day!

Healers and Peacemakers

"The planet does not need more 'successful people'. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. It needs people to live well in their places. It needs people with moral courage willing to join the struggle to make the world habitable and humane." ~Global Volunteers, attributed to the Dalai Lama



It's Not Goodbye, Just See You Later



♥ Remembering a friend who passed away today. Brother Moseley was in his nineties and a World War II veteran who survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and five days in the ocean until rescue. I jumped on the trampoline in his yard when I was a kid and loved listening to his stories. See you in heaven, Mr. Moseley! Maybe your yard in heaven will have a trampoline! :) ♥

Porches

January 2013

Front, back, side, screened-in, two-story, wrap-around--the south has every porch style known to mankind.

In the olden days, porches were not built merely to be architecturally pleasing to passersby; they were necessary for sanity and survival. Prior to the invention of the air conditioner, a wide porch was as necessary a feature on a southern home as a front door. Ladies sat in rocking chairs and fanned themselves, babies clad only in diapers crawled around, men reclined against the railings with their hats pulled down over their eyes to ward off the sun's glare, and dogs slept under the porch steps in the cool dirt. Lemonade and sweet iced tea were guzzled by the gallon.

Yankees often comment on the slow drawl of the south. Well, I'm here to tell you, when the thermometer doesn't drop below the high nineties and triple digits for three months straight, you will discover real quick that it is too hot to talk fast!

On the average summer day when the temperature exceeds 100 degrees, the humidity smothers like a wet blanket, and you wish you could travel back in time to join Shackleton's Expedition to the Antarctic, a porch offers some measure of relief.

Southern children learn early on the value of rocking chairs.



Grannie and Aunt Gussie's front porch--oh, the memories! It was tiny and screened-in. I would sprawl out on the cool concrete with my coloring book and crayons. One time, Grannie chided me for not coloring inside the lines. I remember telling her, "Grannie, I'm only six!" :)
The porch had a swing and a glider. I can still hear the creak of the swing as it swayed back and forth. It made a sound like a squeaky door being opened when it would swing back, there would be a pause, then it would creak again on the descent as my barefeet brushed the floor.



Grandma and Grandpa's back porch is where we dyed Easter eggs, ate ice cream sandwiches, played with the beagles, and caught lizards. It is also where I learned a traumatizing life lesson when I was around five or six years old. I caught a chameleon by its tail and excitedly held up my prize only to discover that I had a hold of the tail only. How was I supposed to know that lizards' tails fall off? I screamed, dropped the tail, and watched in horror as Lady (one of Grandpa's beagles) ate it! I vaguely remember trying to get her to spit the tail out; why, I have no clue. What was I going to do with it anyway? Reattach it? The sight of that lizard's tail wriggling on the porch (yes, it continued to move) stayed with me a long time. I felt so guilty for hurting the poor lizard. Come to find out, Florida Chameleons can regrow their tails. That made me feel better. But from that day forward, I was always extra careful to catch lizards by their torsos, not their tails!



Adulthood has not diminished my lizard catching capabilities. I always keep an eye out for them on Grandma and Grandpa's back porch when I visit in the summer months.



DeFuniak Springs, Florida

January 2013

You know you are a true southerner when you take a tour of the town's new Piggly Wiggly grocery store.

If the south, especially the section along the Alabama-Florida line, could be described using only one food, it would be the MoonPie. A hot afternoon spent beneath a shade tree with a MoonPie and RC Cola is the stereotypical southerner's idea of a great day. 

Mom enjoyed giving me a tour of the high school she attended. She had not been back inside the building since graduation thirty-five years ago! The wall in this picture is where her locker was located.

Mom is pointing to the classroom where her remedial math class was held. Runs in the family, huh, Mom? ;)

It was either a long day, or Dad passed out from the heat given off by the fireplace in Florida when it was 70 degrees outside!

Dad telling a story and talking with his hands---what's new? :)







1989

Shelby and I grew up and Grannie and Aunt Gussie passed away, but some things never changed.
I think Grandpa's chair will remain right where it has been the twenty-five years I've been on this earth until it is discovered by archaeologists in a few hundred years! And the funny thing is, the chair is just as uncomfortable now as it was two decades ago. Time has not made it any worse. The springs still stick out. Grandpa loves his chair, though, and somehow Grandma and Grandpa's living room just wouldn't be the same without it.



1992

2013
Grandpa reading in his chair, a familiar sight.

Reminiscing over old photographs while folding towels. :)

Chautauqua Festival

January 2013

While Grandpa and Dad took the beagles deer hunting, Grandma, Mom, and I enjoyed the Chautauqua festivities on Saturday. The community building had a tiger, lion, black panther, baboons, and other assorted wildlife to view. 

We ate lunch at H & M Hotdogs, a family rite of passage.

I'm not a soda pop drinker, but who can resist Crush in a glass bottle?



Chautauqua building



The back porch of my dreams; just think of all the music and poetry recitals, plays, and tea parties a person could host on that porch!

After lunch, Mom and I attended a Chautauqua tea party hosted by a lady whose aunt and uncle were Titanic survivors.

Dad returned from the deer woods and joined me at the festival. We wandered around talking to the Living History reenactors and taking pictures.

I've been blessed with the opportunity to participate in six Living History events. There is nothing quite like gathering with a bunch of other history enthusiasts to camp out, dress in clothing from the era you choose to represent, and talk to people about the past. Good times. :)

Moss in the trees

Flowers blooming in January! I think I need to move to Florida.

Behold, the beautiful Bay tree of Circle Drive!

Dad

This Bay tree, otherwise known as a Magnolia, is my very favorite tree. I've loved it since I was a little kid and first started toddling around the Lakeyard. It is ancient and stood watch as the Victorian homes were built around the lake over one hundred years ago. The branches alone are the size of average trees. What history it has experienced and what storms it has endured in its lifetime!

Lake DeFuniak, one of the two natural, almost perfectly circular, spring-fed lakes in the world.

Chautauqua Sunset

~Moon rising, framed by Florida pines~