Wednesday 20 June 2007

HONDURAS

6/20/07
Will get on a bus from Gainesvile tonight and ride to Miami. Plane will depart early morning and supposedly arrive mid-afternoon in Tegucigalpa. But now, I ride to Gators Dockside to watch Carolina get revenge on Rice.

6/21/07
Almost lost my rugby ball (Ugh, Jr.) in the stream running through the church yard last night. Got wet and dirty but found her, smelled worse but it was worth it. Couldn't leave the country without my best girl! Rode all night on the bus. Tried to sleep on the floorboard, didn't really work out. Spilled my agua caliente all over Catherine Howell's blanket (a quadrant of it anyway). Got to Miami (after briefly getting lost then receiving directions from a drunk fellow who apparentlah smelled really bad) around 4:30. Hung out in the airport. MET THE COOLEST KID IN THE WORLD, Ben B. We played as hard as we could for as long as we could - I had to get on the plane at 9:15. He taught me how and why to eat boogers (HAHA, he said his mom tells him not to do it at school but he does it anyway). I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he told me I could "be EVERYTHING - Do you wanna be COP!?!?!??? I'm gonna be the BADDEST cop and arrest EVERYBODY!!" He went on to say that I look like an alien cause my face was green (I think it was at that point I told him he had bats in the cave, haha). We played with his two stuffed cats at first, then he told me I was better with my ball cause he'd seen me kicking it around, so we kicked Ugh, Jr. for like an HOUR. He was SO NEAT. So when we had to leave I hugged him. Then I cried cause I'm like that, but I wouldn't let him see me. I got one more hug when I ran to the bathroom at the last minute. Gave him a CD and had him sign my ball - his momma and NaNa were all about me entertaining him, but the fun was had all by me. And him. We're teammates.

So we landed in Tegucigalpa smoothly (stud pilot I guess). Went to the Baxter, showered, walked around. FOUND THE CHORUS ROOM AND PLAYED THEIR LITTLE CASIO KEYBOARD. Not long enough, but the ACOUSTICS WERE INCREDIBLE. As a singer I had to linger and listen to the resonances, you don't get that everyday. Walked to the ampitheatre and Donny and I found a cat with AN EAR CHEWED OFF - I MEAN IT WAS A FESTERING MESS. El gato was all, "Don't hate cause half my brain is hanging out." Sadness. So I walked up to the top of the thingie and fell asleep on a picnic table before Brittany woke me up, sorta. It's all good. Read some crazy story Jefe gave me to read, felt all enlightened, sorta. Sat with Wess chillin, got on the bus, rode to the mall, had dinner with ocho other like-minded souls feelin' like some Argentinian food - YEEAAAHHHH. I'll probably get sick but I don't care. K gotta go.

6/22/07
First work day is always slow. Got up and ran around the Baxter Institute, hiked up the side of a steep mountain thing, ended up on the same platform where I napped yesterday. Did yoga with a view of the city. Pretty sweet. Had corn flakes (with the best leche in the WORLD), CAFE (mmmm, life-giving caffffe), and one tortilla with huevos y frijoles negros, and of course LOTS of chile sauce, heh heh heh. Got to the church building (they've poured a concrete slab since we left! they have windows with hinges!) and waited to get organized - the construction team went to build houses and the medical team got stuff together and went on with them. We set up the Carnaval, the climaz of tomorrow's VBS. The grass needed mowing (um, 10-inches at least) so Brittany grabbed a machete and I got a hoe and we hacked it down. It looks soooooo much better. Some of us went down to the waterfall, I LOVE that place. It'd be a great place for a first kiss (heehee). Wrote a song, took a nap, I was spent by 3pm. I gave Dupree a hard time for misspelling my name in an email on the way home, loserpants. :) We went back to the Baxter, got showered up and ate dinner at Pizza Hut. Apparently they tricked Mr. Holway and sung happy birthday to him (instead of his wife, last year we sung Happy Birthday to her every night cause she turned 50 that week, so cruel!) and one of the waitresses danced with him. Well aight, we gotta go hit up the grocery store so I can get some Honduran coffee, oatmeal, honey (with the comb in of course), and a mango.

6-23-07
Woke up tired, didn´t kick much, only pilates. The mountains were covered with fog. Had a memorable breakfast...they tell us every year that no breakfast is prepared for us on Saturdays, but then Maria la Saint de Cafeteria always makes pancakes. VBS ROCKED. The skits were hilarious... Rich Howell our preacher read from the Bible in Spanish to the niños, who were remarkably still and attentive, as our theatrical brethren acted it out. Guess you had to be there, your loss, sorry. For our classes I got to play with the 0-5 year olds... woo hoo! Rich Hanks played my mandolin (or attempted I should say) while we made bead necklaces with the youngens. I sat down to paint and a chica pequeña named Rizi came over to see what was up, so I let her take over. It was pretty amazing...she liked bold colors and broad strokes. Then we had the Carnaval which was a huge success!! My booth was the "pin the rock on the Philistine´s forehead" HAHA. I got Lindsay Scaggs (big firefighting dude from Colorado) to wear the armor and helmet and stuff, bless his heart. I blindfolded the kids and spun them around. Then of course they threw "the rock" (my hacky-sack) as hard as they could. He´d say "uh, back this one up", cause the kids really were trying to nail him, but he was a great sport. Sergio eventually came to relieve him. We got done early cause we ran out of prizes. Catherine and I were handing out kazoos, which some of them couldn´t make work, so of course I had to be careless and show them how after they´d put their little third-world mouths on them. Hope I don´t get sick, ugh! Had a nice relaxing shower (cleanliness, although I shun it in the States for the most part, haha, jk, is not to be taken for granted) and we came to the old mall so we ate in the good ole food court. Found THE BEST DRESS EVER! SOULMATE DRESS OF THE MONTH! AAAHHHH! GOT TO HAVE IT AAHHH! okay sorry. But have to borrow some dolares to get it. What a deadbeat am I, but the dress is SO FRICKIN GREAT! Kirsten and Giovanni were my heroes and gave me some just now, WOO HOO! K gotta go. Oh yeah, mañana we have church in Las Casitas and then go down to Los Valles de Angeles for ghetto flea market shopping, but I´m probably gonna skip it and do the zip-line-down-the-mountain thing like last year. Anything that requires headgear is cooler than shopping in 100 degree heat, but shopping for THE PERFECT DRESS AAAHHH (YOU SHOULD SEE THE SLEEEEEVES AND SAAAASSSSSHHHHHH!!!) in the air conditioning is alright. K gotta go make her mine.

6/26/07
Got the dress, wore it to church Sunday morning. Was a big hit, yay :) Man, there's something about worshipping God in a third-world country in a very humble building we constructed for them last year, which they were so grateful to receive. Yesterday I worked in the medical clinic, and between three stations (and one dentist from the Honduran Army) we saw 100 patients (mostly children) in 4.5 hours. Brian did an amazing devo this morning on I Corinthians 13 - "if I build the best houses for these people but have not love, I just sound like a chainsaw...if I can speak Spanish fluently but don't love the people I'm speaking to, I'm just another Gringo". It all comes down to love, such a nice thought. :) Today I worked construction and we completed two more houses. The site was pretty gross, basically a landfill covered with chickens and children running around barefoot. They were so grateful for the houses we built for them, which are smaller than my parents' bedroom, with one window and a tin roof. I'll never not be amazed at how wealthy we are in the States compared with here. Makes crashing on couches in Chapel Hill for a whole summer seem pretty dadgum cool (not that I was complaining at the time, heehee). Tomorrow I'm back in the clinic in the morning then get to go over to the school to play with the kids when they get out at 1pm. Hurrah! Their faces can't be described, so content, so happy to see us. Brittany taught them a handshake that ends with the dap explosion - they're all so good at it! Can't believe this is all over Friday morning. :(

7/2/07
Back now, and am grateful to flush TP down the toilet rather that throw it in a stinky trashcan, take showers without fear of getting water in my eyes or mouth, brush my teeth in the faucet rather than with bottled water, etc. Hurrah USA! I wish I could go back and take dog food to all the skinny perros we saw running around all pitiful.
Wednesday night we ate dinner at the Baxter and I put away waaay too much pollo, beets, SALAD (stuuupid), and arroz. But it was so GOOD! Somehow I got a wild hair and went back in the kitchen and asked Fernando (a boy who works back there and plays the recorder) to dance with me! (Giovanni instructed me on how to ask for un baile in Spanish) It was so cute! He had no idea what he was doing but I made him dip me and everything! Then he sat with me during the devotional and we held hands for the prayer. :) We exchanged emails and got pictures and stuff, such a sweet boy.
Thursday morning I woke up with a belly ache. Went to the bathroom and let's just say about a 1/2 gallon of beet-colored fluid came out. Not cool. Then I puked four times. Mrs. Holway brought me Gatorade and Cipro and I passed out for the rest of the day. It SUCKED, but could've been much worse from other Montezuma's Revenge horror stories I've heard. I might've eaten a bad tomato, mango, or just had too much water build up in me from showers and such. Whatever. I felt better by the afternoon, and we all went to El Patio for dinner, an authentic local Honduran restaurant. I didn't eat much of anything but enjoyed everyone (I missed them badly through the day while they were building bathrooms and painting the church out at Las Casitas). There was a mariachi band and everything! We had so much fun and sang some spirituals on the way home.
Friday we headed back to the States and arrived in Gainesville around 2:30am Saturday morning. We said a little prayer thanking God for giving us so much success and watching over us while we were gone. It really was a great success. All in all, I made some great new friends and enjoyed myself while I did some good work for the Lord and the people down there, bless their hearts. Everyone should do a mission trip at least once, it's the most worth-while thing I've ever done with myself and can't wait to go again next year! :)

Tuesday 19 June 2007

Mere Christianity

Some favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis' masterpiece:

"When you are feeling fit and the sun is shining and you do not want to believe that the whole universe is a mere mechanical dance of atoms, it is nice to be able to think of this great mysterious Force rolling on through the centuries and carrying you on its crest."

"If the universe is not governed by an absolute goodness, then all our efforts are in the long run hopeless. But if it is, then we are making ourselves enemies to that goodness every day, and are not in the least likely to do any better tomorrow, and so our case is hopeless again."

"If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning."

"Besides being complicated, reality, in my experience, is usually odd. It is not neat, not obvious, not what you expect...Reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed."

"But there is difficulty about disagreeing with God. He is the source from which all your reasoning comes...when you are arguing against Him you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all."

"God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food out spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other."
*many of us waste many years trying to fill this God-shaped hole in our soul with alcohol, sex, money, book-learning, etc. The reason 12-step programs like AA work is because the 1st step is humbly admitting your brokenness, 2nd step is acknowledging there's something bigger than you that can handle it, and the 3rd step is letting Him. Just my two cents. That was free. :)

"Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means killing a part of yourself..."

"To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?"

"...the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. HE DOES NOT THINK GOD WILL LOVE US BECAUSE WE ARE GOOD, BUT THAT GOD WILL MAKE US GOOD BECAUSE HE LOVES US..."

"If somebody else made me, for His own purposes, then I shall have a lot of duties which I should not have if I simply belonged to myself."

"Morality, then, seems to be concerned with three things. Firstly, with fair play and harmony between individuals. Secondly, with what might be called tidying up or harmonizing the things inside each individual. Thirdly, with the general purpose of human life as a whole: what man was made for: what course the whole fleet ought to be on: what tune the conductor of the band wants it to play."

The Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude.
Prudence means practical common sense, taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it... Christianity is an education itself.
Temperance referred not specially to drink, but to all pleasures, and it meant not abstaining, but going the right length and no further.
Justice...the old name for everything we should now called fairness; it includes honesty, give and take, truthfulness, keeping promises, and all that side of life.
Fortitude includes both kinds of courage - the kind that faces danger and the kind that "sticks it" under pain. "Guts"...

"(A Christian society) is to be cheerful: full of singing and rejoicing, and regarding worry or anxiety as wrong. Courtesy is one of the Christian virtues...

On charity: "the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare."

"...That is why Christian are told not to judge. We see only the results which a man's choices make out of his raw material. But God does not judge him on the raw material at all, but on what he has done with it."

"...every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowing turning this central thing into either a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either...in harmony with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other."

"When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him."

"A real desire to believe all the good you can of others and to make others as comfortable as you can will solve most of the problems."

"We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity - like perfect charity - will not be attained by merely human efforts. You must ask for God's help... After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again... It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God."

"...THOSE WHO ARE SERIOUSLY ATTEMPTING CHASTITY ARE MORE CONSCIOUS, AND SOON KNOW A GREAT DEAL MORE ABOUT THEIR OWN SEXUALITY THAN ANYONE ELSE."

"Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing... It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all... But, of course, ceasing to be 'in love' need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense - love as distinct from 'being in love' is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriage) the grace with both parents ask, and receive, from God."

"THE THRILL YOU FEEL ON FIRST SEEING SOME DELIGHTFUL PLACE DIES AWAY WHEN YOU REALLY GO LIVE THERE. Does this mean it would better... not to live in the beautiful place? By no means... IF YOU GO THROUGH WITH IT, THE DYING AWAY OF THE FIRST THRILL WILL BE COMPENSATED FOR BY A QUIETER AND MORE LASTING KIND OF INTEREST. WHAT IS MORE, IT IS JUST THE PEOPLE WHO ARE READY TO SUBMIT TO THE LOSS OF THE THRILL AND SETTLE DOWN TO THE SOBER INTEREST, WHO ARE LIKELY TO MEET NEW THRILLS IN SOME QUITE DIFFERENT DIRECTION... But if you decide to make thrills your regular diet and try to prolong them artificially, they will all get weaker and fewer... and you will be a bored, disillusioned old man for the rest of your life."

"A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you."

"The real test of being in the presense of God is that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object. It is better to forget about yourself altogether."

"The real black, diabolical Pride comes when you look down on others so much that you do not care what they think of you."

"...if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble - delightly humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life."

"THE SMALLEST GOOD ACT TODAY IS THE CAPTURE OF A STRATEGIC POINT FROM WHICH, A FEW MONTHS LATER, YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GO ON TO VICTORIES YOU NEVER DREAMED OF."

"Aim at heaven and you'll get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you'll get neither."

Sunday 17 June 2007

Dad Quotes

Me: That's an awfully big carcass. (Daddy was cleaning a redfish)
Dad: Yessss, yes it is. (he threw it to the pelicans)
Me (watching it sink): They're too chicken to go get it.
Dad: Yessss (as he picks up the hose to rinse off the table). Look out, Love Affair.

Mom: I just saw (boy who broke my heart), gosh he got skinny!
Dad: Must be the crack.

Me: Daddy, I kinda have a big crush on (current flame that won't go out).
Dad: You're probably not by yourself on that, ya know.

Dad (on the top rung of the ladder last Thanksgiving, attempting to rescue the cat who'd been up in a neighborhood pine tree for two days): Kitty Sue, please come to Daddy! Kitty Sue I know you can do it!

Mom: Missy's dragging her butt on the carpet. I need to take her to the vet to have her anal gland expressed.
Dad: I refuse to believe that God would design an animal that couldn't take care of its own anal gland.

Dad (to Xena our Hemingway cat): How bout me and you and some love? Please don't push me away, I just wanna love ya. Haylee you see me and dis girl right here? Oh my word, her lil motor is runnin' about 5700 rpms, yes sir. Okay, dats it! Dat's all you're gettin'!

Dad: I need to give y'all a lesson on leavin' these doors open. You only have to have the width of a cat.

Mom Quotes

Mom: Oh you're making a salad? Will you make me one?
Me: Ugh, fine. Get me down a bowl.
Mom: Taylor, will you get a bowl so she can make me a salad?
Me: Jeez Mom, don't you ever do anything for yourself?
Mom: Not if I can help it.

Mom: That is so disgusting! How can someone have sex with a total stranger?! The thought of sleeping with anyone but your father is just nauseating!
Me: Maybe they're just painfully lonely, Mom.
Mom: Ugh, but why do they have to have sex? Why can't they just drink coffee or something?

Mom: I wish I could remember the excitement of new love. The older you get, the longer you're married, the more it just becomes like, tolerance.

Me: He doesn't drink coffee! Didn't even have it in the house!
Mom: Are you serious? Ugh, and I thought he was cool...

Mom: You are NOT going to Atlanta. You have no business playing rugby.
Me (passed out on the bathroom floor from the flu): Michael Jordan scored 68 points in a play-off game once with the full-blown flu and a 103 fever.
Mom: Uh, but you're not Michael Jordan.
Me: How dare you say such a thing!
Later.....
Mom: You're burning up. I really think you ought to stay home and get well.
Me: Michael Jordan once scored...
Mom: Uh, you've already told me this.
Me: I'm freaking going.

Mom (first thing this morning, still in bed): Did you Daddy go fishing?
Me: No, he's downstairs passed out in front of a Western.
Mom: He is? Bless his heart, bless his heart.

Me: Along some desert highway blooms a flawless flower that is content to simply be, To go unnoticed with no concern.
Mom: How can a flower be content or discontent? That is such B.S.
Me: You a-hole! :)

Me: I heard you got drunk and danced to Baby Got Back at the Roadside Inn.
Mom: Who told you that? They're lying! I wasn't there!

Me: Where'd these come from? (referring to some irregular Mason jars in the cupboard)
Mom: I think they came with the house.
Me: Oh this house, where someone was MURDERED!? (yes, someone was actually gunned down on stairs of the porch downstairs)
Mom: (BLEEP), what's wrong with this thing!?! (frustrated because the remote control wasn't cooperating...apparently the whole murder thing doesn't phase her)

Me: Thanks for the Blizzard.
Mom: And what about lunch?
Me: Oh yeah, thanks for lunch, too.
Mom: Next one's on you.
Me: Oh yeah, let me dip into my savings account to buy you lunch.
Mom: That's the funniest thing I've ever said.
Me: What?
Mom: Next one's on you!

Mom (after reading this blog): I sound like Archie Bunker.

Saturday 16 June 2007

Dreams

4/16/04

I had a dream that I was at the cages picking out a bat and they were all as big, long and heavy as I prefer. Big bats help you cover more of the plate and feeling its weight over your shoulder gives you more confidence that you could Rob Hobbs the crap out of whatever comes your way.

5/27/04

Dreampt I was playing the trumpet in a big brass band (not well.)

08/08/04

Dreampt of a big harvest moon on the horizon.

06/07/06

An angel came to me in the night to let me know I'd never be anybody's wife.
"Just so you know, you're never going to get married."
The rain kept falling and I could hear a baby cry.

3/18/07

I had a dream that Marcia Lou and I were driving down a dirt road in search of a grapefruit tree. We came around a bend and this field opened up to us, all grassy green, with a farm house off to the left. This huge grapefruit tree dominated the landscape. I jumped out of the truck and proceeded to pick the biggest, ripest, prettiest grapefruits ever, so many I couldn't hold them all. The most vivid part of the dream I remember is the giant grin on my face.

This reminds me of one of the most famous passages from The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath:
"I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet."

This makes me really grateful that I don't take thoughts like these to dark places. People who do that end up gassing themselves with the kitchen stove as their children play in the next room. Choices are good, but I think maybe in this country we have too many. I choose simplicity, humility, and to rejoice for whatever crumb the Rich Man tosses to the dogs. Luke 16:19-31.

For Love of the Nutty Woman

I wrote this for all my guy friends (namely Trae and Tom) who're perpetually attracted to insane women who make them miserable.


FOR LOVE OF THE NUTTY WOMAN

For love of the nutty woman,
I have laid down my weapons in battle
And let her crazy ass win.
Thought I was putting the horse before the saddle
For love of the nutty woman.
I looked away, forgave and forgot,
Probably sacrificed a lot
While she was trying to drive me away.
Went back for more and more was what I got
For love of the nutty woman.

Maybe

Maybe my True Love, El Uno, my Soulmate isn't human at all, but an abstract combination of frequencies in time, consonant or dissonant, major and minor, treble and bass. See I've never been a one-man kind of woman. Music has, on occasion, touched me in ways and places a hand could never reach. It is more pure and loyal than any fallible human being would ever be. Music has been strong for me my whole life and I love it whole-heartedly. I know I'd never cheat, never stray, never try to run away. Me and Music Forever. He's never jealous or possessive, only proud to have me by his side.

Carson Cat Attempts to Commit Calculated Acts of Kindness

A stop on my roadtrip a couple weeks ago was a visit to Cousin Matt Elliott's in Buford, Georgia, which is just up from Atlanta. The family includes his amazing wife Lela (a super hero mom), kids Isaac, Seth, Annie, and cat Carson. Carson is the most affectionate cat I've ever met, and we all know cats are usually independent lil' cusses. So I asked Lela for the how-come, and she said Carson had been hit by a car about ten years ago and lived with her sister. When the family dog died, the Elliotts were obviously devastated. They needed a comforter in the house but weren't quite ready for a dog, so Carson came to live with them.

It all made perfect sense to me. I'm not sure if anyone else is aware of it, but our pets are solely concerned with loving and taking care of us. I slept on the futon downstairs one night, and woke up to find Carson curled up purring in the crook of my belly. What a big sweetie! So it hit me right then to write a story bout him/her (since the accident they can't tell what gender Carson is - since Carson is the name of a pretty girl in the movie "Shag", I will henceforth say "she"). The gist of it (pardon me while I end lots of sentences with prepositions):


One Sunday morning, Carson was bored to tears because his family was away at church and she had no one to take care of. After watching a cartoon about sharing on Sesame Street, Carson decided to go find someone to be nice to. Surely there was someone out there in need of some love!

So she headed down into the city of Atlanta, but everyone was either in church or still asleep! Carson was feeling discouraged - who could she be nice to? While strolling through a nice neighborhood, a beautiful black puppygirl came out barking. Carson was frightened! "What on Earth are you barking for?" she asked. The puppygirl replied, "oh I'm sorry, I'm just so worried about my best friend, my soulmate, the Love of my Life. He's gone to a basketball game and couldn't take me with him, he usually does! I'm just afraid he'll take his glasses off and not be able to find them again, he's somewhat blind you see." Carson graciously accepted her apology and they made introductions: Hannah Banana was her name. "Well, since you're all alone, why don't you come with me? I'm going to find someone to be nice to. Surely we'll be home in time for supper." So away they went, and headed down to Florida.

Their first stop in the Sunshine State was in a little coastal fishing village called Suwannee. As they walked along by the old canal, they spotted two sleek and confident young cat ladies. "Hello!" hollered Carson. "Hello yourself!" cried the black & white feline. Carson and Hannah Banana entered the yard and approached the two cats on the big covered porch. "This is Xena, and I'm Kitty Sue," said the black & white cat, indifferently. Daddy Sam, our benefactor, has gone fishing, so we're even more bored than usual. Not that he doesn't fish all the stinking time, but it's all right because he gives us sushi when he gets back." Hannah told her, "When will he return? Perhaps we can be nice to him!". "Fat chance," Xena said smartly, "he's a big ole grouch with a heart of gold. He may get stuck on a mudflat and not come in til tomorrow evening. We never know, we're just sick with worry everytime he leaves. But we like the sushi he brings when he finally returns." "Well come on with us! Surely we can do something nice for someone on our travels, and we'll be home by suppertime," suggested Carson, and away they went.

They pressed on to a little town called Oxford. A quiet country road led them to a mysterious driveway through some pines to a brick house surrounded by ancient oak trees. Suddenly they heard yapping from some little dogs who seemed more frightened than anything else. "Gracious, will you put a sock in it!?!?" said Kitty Sue, as she bopped the dominant one on the nose. "Ouch! What'd you do that for?" protested the rebel-rouser. Hannah said, "There's no sense in senseless barking!" Carson added, "Um yes, you're one to talk, lady," and they all laughed. "I am Evelyn, and this is Melissa Manchester, but everyone calls her Missy. Our lady Miss Lisa has gone to see her grandbabies across the pasture so we have no one to entertain! Gosh, we miss her!" "There, there", Carson comforted, "you can come along with us and we'll find someone to be nice to. We'll be sure to have you home in time for supper!" so they pressed on, rejoicing in the possibilities of good intentions.

Their travels across water and land led them to Bayou La Batre, Alabama. The first folks who greeted them were a gregarious pair of mutts named Dixie and Blue. "Well howdy! Where y'all from?", said Blue. "We're from all over," said Carson. "This is Hannah Banana, Kitty Sue, Xena, Evelyn, Missy, and my name is Carson Cat. We're looking to commit calculated acts of kindness for whomever we can find." "Well Lawd son, you sure come to the right place," cried Dixie. "We still need help. This town been hit by the Hurricane Katrina almost two years ago and it still ain't the same." Missy shuddered and replied, "what kind of help do you need? We excel in general loving kisses and hugs and lap-sitting." "Golly we need more than that," said Blue, "how bout we all get to the church and say a prayer about it?" "Well that sounds like a fine idea," said Hannah, "I sure need to pray that my Best Friend doesn't misplace his glasses!" So they headed down Henley Street toward the Bayou and arrived at the Church of Christ right in time for singing. They all lined up in the 2nd pew from the front and got to praising the Lord with "Amazing Grace". When the song was done and they sat down, Carson whispered loudly, "I reckon this is almost as good as getting out there and helping folks." "Now we pray." stated Dixie, "Tomorrow we work." So they all counted their blessings that they were on the giving and not the receiving end. This might've been the best thing they learned all day long.

THE END.
"

Thursday 14 June 2007

Athens to Pembroke on Hwy 78, 4/24/07

I like to take a song
And hear every note,
Feel it rise and fall.

The drums become my heart,
Cymbals crash like waves,
Carrying me home
The way that Jesus saves.

To know every bend, lyric, melody, harmony, the bassist's two cents, every tear that comes from a logically-coming thought or memory. This self-doubt and loathing. The peace and serenity of a herd of cows silently grazing in a sunset pasture, sitting in shadow. Beholding a radiant and sun-lit, freshly-plowed field of Southern-American clay. Open the spigot and let it run wide open, a full inhale-of-air to take in the right-then-and-there moment to its fullest, eyes drink in blue sky like the purest water.

Seeing the world mostly from inside my car. Always leaving, always on the way, not quite yet arrived. Prepare to meet thy God. I build the strongest wall and say, oh, but there's a pretty nice garden back here. There's a million roads we all pass that lead to who knows where? Everyone is turning out so well, hope to join them soon. I still haven't met him. Rolling with the piedmont - how about making the best of it? Lines blur as light goes low. When that yellow moon appeared a'glow over the river, she reminded me that you never can tell when the resolution will arrive - so I still am riding off into the moonset, a lanturn just over the tree line.

*Appears in the liner notes for "He's Got My Heart"

Wednesday 13 June 2007

5/26/07

North Pier, Skyway Bridge, Tampa Bay

Blue sky, blue water, cloud shadows darken the bay. Friendly white puffs of shade. Lines out, baits ready. Silence between brothers - no words needed. Birds flutter and beg. Love bugs mate around my head and legs. Distant sandy shores, boats slowly streaking. Kind smiles from strangers. The sound of passing cars. Gleeful squeals of children - fish on! The bowing, bending, never breaking of a favorite rod. The breeze relieves the neck from the sun's unrelenting gaze. Will we ever pull one in? New buddy napping in the truck. The lady reels as her cigarette dangles. Convenient proximity to el ban~o. Another glance at the watch reveals another hour is gone. Peace on Earth, good will towards men.

Monday 11 June 2007

Trip to Wal-Mart I Didn't Want to Make

Met the cutest boy in Wal-Mart on the pillow aisle. His momma was pulling his cart backward and a Sponge Bob Square Pants pillow caught his eye. I couldn't resist his outstretched, chubby little arms, so I handed it to him. His bright brown eyes never left it. "Spun Bah Spun Bah". He worked the shrunken feet back and forth, patted its shoulders and became so content! I followed the family at a distance to keep an eye on my new friend, as he was so amusing! Suddenly, his momma turned around - this was after at least five minutes, mind you - and she asked him, "Did that lady give you that Sponge Bob Square Pants?" He just looked up, mouth open. I laughed and told her I couldn't help myself. She said, "No wonder he's been so quiet!" I looked down at him, clutching his new friend, sitting in the grocery cart seat designated for cutie pies just like him, and raised my eye brows. He raised his right back! So I shrugged my shoulders - and he shrugged his right back! That was all I needed to know. :)

Alabama Psalms

Preface:

We've landed in a field cut out of young pine. Some sort of public park right on Mobile Bay. We're staying in Air Force tents, sleeping on cots. The giant, protective clouds hang low and the wind blows mercifully hard to relieve the oppressive humidity. No one really seems to know what to do, what the plan is or what time supper is, but all are good-natured, excited to be here and willing to help. The Carolina blue sky peeks out from behind the cotton here and there as the fluff moves north. The bahaya grass and clover quiver with each gust of gulf breeze. Praise God.
Night. The stars are incredible. We had a brief rain. They don't seem nearly as distracted as I do. The random pulse of the generator. The mosquitoes loves me. This shooting star seems to be falling forever. It reminds me of the one I saw in a dream that landed in the outstretched water that looks uncannily like the Mobile Bay across the street. DISTRACTIONS....

ALABAMA PSALM 1
God, your ways are perfect. What looks like tragedy is a miracle of your doing. You humble and purify me in sickness to exalt me with your power. You deliver me safely home to call me back out into service. I sit in awe of your unsurassing greatness and ability to see around the corner of Life. I will go wherever you call, for you are the LORD Almighty, whom I serve for ever and ever. AMEN.

ALABAMA PSALM 2
My Lord and God, forgive me as I am limited, distracted and trapped. Limited by my humanness and lack of understanding of your might and power and willingness to rescue me. Distracted by my sinful nature that easily entangles a lowly human soul that needs only to remember thy love for me. Trapped in this crude, fleshly matter in which I must roam your Earth until I am called home to be with Thee. Have mercy on thy servant, God, who wants only to be with Thee and to gaze upon Thy face. AMEN.

ALABAMA PSALM 3
O feel the wind that races across thy land, reminding the trees and grass of their liveliness! O count the stars that give light and wonder to the sky. O watch the clouds pass and reform and bring rain with which to bless God's Earth. O gaze upon night's lanturn, a moon that causes the ocean tides to rise and fall. All of these were spoken into being by the great I AM, and it is He whom I will worship and serve all the days of my life. AMEN.

ALABAMA PSALM 4
The good Lord blessed me with big, quick feet and strong, able hands, so how shall I use them to His glory? I will be swift to help a child or widow in need and attempt to lead them to your throne of righteousness. I will lift up my brother when he falls. I will help build foundations of shelter for those in need to live. I will tenderly tend to the wounds of the ill and troubled. I will bow down to the God of the Heaves and Earth, who created me for His own purposes, according to His own plan, which is my destiny. I will forever praise Him. AMEN.

But I'm Not Dead Yet

I still haven't been to Fenway Park
I've never punched my daddy
Or head-butted my mom.
Ain't ever been to New York City.
New York City?!?
New York City.
But I'm not dead yet.
I never have made love,
Or looked into a man's eyes.
I've never driven cross-country,
But I have had one birthday surprise.
Anyway, I haven't played Austin City Limits
Or shook Bob Dylan's hand .
They say I've got lead singer syndrome
and I don't even have a band.
I've never met a Greek diplomat,
But I made out with his son.
Ain't been to Vegas and placed a bet,
Don't ever really wanna go neither,
But I'm not dead yet.
I've never been denied by a Florida football player.
I've never enclosed myself in a Tupperware container.
Ain't sat in the boxes at an Atlanta Braves game.
Lost my luggage en route to Honduras but I didn't complain.
Haven't ever lost a battle without getting upset
But I'm not dead yet.
Still haven't harmonized with Alison Krauss
Or co-wrote one with John Mayer,
But I have crossed stuff off the list lately
That I once thought didn't have a prayer.
I think it's going about as well as it can get
But I'm still not dead yet.

Monday 4 June 2007

Ugh's Redfish Gumbo

UGH'S REDFISH GUMBO
9:27pm Friday, Apr 27


Ugh's Redfish Gumbo

Ingredients:

1 TBPS olive oil
1 small yellow onion, medium dice
2 small garlic cloves, minced
2 inch-thick redfish filets, large dice (uniformly cut ~ ¾" to 1" cubes)
¼ cup water
½ tsp oregano
1 cup frozen Cajun gumbo vegetable medley (can be found in frozen vegetable section of Winn Dixie, contains okra, corn, bell peppers and onions)
1 can Progresso Hearty Tomato soup
1 bay leaf
5-8 shakes of Louisiana Hot Sauce (to taste)
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 - ½ cup cooked white rice

Directions:

Put olive oil in a medium soup pot and turn on heat to low. Add onion and sweat on low heat for three minutes. Add garlic, sweat until translucent (about 5 minutes) on low heat. Lightly salt and pepper. Stir in fish, water and oregano and mix well. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes on low to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Add vegetables, and again add a light sprinkling of salt and pepper. Stir to combine well. Add tomato soup and bay leaf, stir well. Cover and simmer or medium low heat for 10-20 minutes (however long you can stand it!) Stir again, remove bay leaf, and add hot sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Top with white rice.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Serves two.

Aunt Ann's Cornbread

Aunt Ann's Cornbread
1:23pm Saturday, May 5


Ingredients:

(You don't really measure out this recipe exactlah, just kinda eye it)
- Self-rising corn meal (NOT "MIX" - Martha White makes a good one,
if you can find a locally-ground self-rising corn meal that's even better)
- Buttermilk (whole if you can find it, but low fat is okay)
- Canola oil (or whatev, not olive oil, obviouslah, but it'll work in a pinch)

Directions:

Take your cast iron skillet and put a dollop of oil in the bottom and kinda swirl it around. Stick it in the oven and preheat it up to 350 degrees. This is so when you pour your batter in it'll make a nice sizzle and be a pretty golden-brown on the bottom of your pone. Take a bowl comparable to the size of the cast iron skillet you'll be cooking the pone in (cast iron is the ONLY way to go). Sprinkle out the corn meal into the bowl, about as much as you want for the size of the pone. (I like mine thin and crispy). Pour some buttermilk on top (not too much!). Stir with a fork to combine, get the lumps out. Add more if you want. The batter should be kinda runny if you want a crispy pone, dryer if you want a fluffier one. Put a small quarter-sized dollop of oil on top and stir that in. Let the batter sit a spell to make sure your oven is nice and hot. So take your hot (and I mean it's HOT) skillet out and pour the batter in the bottom. Take a moment to listen to that nice sizzle sound. Then use your fork to spread it around on the bottom and kinda make it higher on the edges. Stick it back in the oven, set the timer for 40 minutes. When it beeps, check and see if it's golden brown on the top. If it is as crispy-lookin as you desire, take it out and let it rest for a minute or two. Slice like a pie and serve with buttah. Goes well with some pintos or black eyed peas, floating on top so it can absorb the flavah. Is also a nice accompaniment to a heart soup or stew like Ugh's Redfish Gumbo. ;)

Things I Learned In the Kitchen Tonight/Fried Green Tomatoes

Things I Learned in the Kitchen Tonight/Fried Green Tomatoes
8:21pm Thursday, May 17


Now all you Southern cookin' purists don't hate. I kinda created a new twist on our favorite snack, Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1 large green tomato
cornmeal
buttermilk
olive oil
salt
pepper
dried basil

Directions:

Heat oil in medium skillet (cast iron if you got it). Slice tomato about 1/2 inch thick. Lay slices on some paper towels to absorb the moisture for a couple minutes, then salt and pepper real good. Have a bowl with some buttermilk in the bottom and another with some cornmeal. For yummy crusty goodness, lay the slices of tomato in the cornmeal, then the buttermilk, then back into the cornmeal (you definitely need the cornmeal on the outer layer...one thing I learned tonight). Be sure your oil is nice and hot, but not so hot it's smoking, and gently place the slice in the oil (make sure you're wearing a shirt...another thing I learned tonight: just a sports bra don't cut it). Seriouslah, be careful. Cook a couple minutes then flip. I like em brown on both sides but you do what you want. Take them off and transfer to a cool plate and salt and pepper both sides. Just before serving, sprinkle with some basil to go ahead and complete the Italian thing you weren't planning on doing at all but just seemed logical and ended up tasting YUUUMMMMMMYYYY!!!

So I guess the main thing I learned tonight is that spontaneity in the kitchen can be cool and just because tradition holds one thing doesn't mean my spin on it is a sin. Or something. :)

Why I Love Sister Mackie

Why I Love Miss Margaret/Official Lyric Change
6:26am Friday, May 25


We sat down in the parlor and I took up my guitar (Grace Martin). I was so excited to play my latest song for my favorite sister in Christ!
When I finished singing, “He’s Got My Heart”, she said, “I like that, it’s really cute, but I want you to change the part where you say ‘darn’. It was the first thing I heard and darn’s a bad word and I know you want to be pure and what not.”
I said, “Gosh, alright, how ‘bout ‘dern’?”
“No way, ‘dern’’s worse than ‘darn’! How bout “really good”? Play that.”
So I tried singing, “and that could be a really good start”, but it didn’t work.
“Well, let’s think about it and come up with something later.”
She said okay.
The next morning at breakfast I told her, “Miss Margaret, I came up with a line I think that fits: “and that could be a ‘mighty fine’ start”.
She said, “oh yeah, that’s much better, and it goes along with the language you use in the whole song, ya know, real local”.

So the chorus of “He’s Got My Heart” now official goes:

He’s got my heart (my whole heart) and nothing but my heart so help me God
He’s got my heart (my whole heart) and nothing but my heart so help me God
I love him from afar/But that could be a MIGHTY FINE start
He’s got my heart (my whole heart) and nothing but my heart so help me God.
-HBS

My New Obsession

My New Obsession
8:48pm Friday, May 25
Flamm Lakay!!!

It used to be all about Brazas Chicken, this Peruvian place tucked in a little strip mall on the corner of Davis and Orange, but not no mo'. That place has been discovered and you actually have to wait for a table now.

Today I went to a Haitian/Caribbean place on South Orange I'd been dying to try for a month or so now, called Flamm Lakay.

I walk in and the place has lots of natural sunlight coming in through the windows, tile floors and native folk art decorating the walls. A beautiful middle-aged Creole woman greeted me at the door and told me to sit anywhere. I had the whole place to myself!

After looking at the menu, I wanted the chicken (some fancy Creole name, can't recall) but she said it wasn't ready yet. So I ordered the snapper instead, with fried plantains and mixed rice. She served me cold water with lime, no ice - just the way I like it on a hot summer day!

The salad was beautiful - the dressing came in a tiny ceramic pitcher and was excellent. She served it with fresh-baked bread, still warm - mmmm, so doughy and soft! AAAHHHH.

Then the snapper came - it was a whole fish, head and all! Well, the guts were cut out, but I'd never had it this way before. Still, I set to work. The eye stared at me. I told myself to not be a wuss and just eat it. So I did - it was EXCELLENT! :) Not at all what I expected...I thought it would pop in my mouth like caviar, but instead it had a soft, crunchy texture, kind of like a ligament on a chicken wing. Mmmm, myyyy faaaavorrriiiiiiiite.

When I presented my plate of bones to the lady (nothing was left but bones, scales, and the tail, mmmm), she said, "You did so well! You plucked the eyes and everything!", beaming. :)

I noticed on the table that they served Haitian coffee there, and I asked if they sold it to take home. Woo hoo! - I got a pound of fresh ground Cafe Rebo 100% Arabica ("Rebo, le bon cafe', C'est la Qualite'!". I can't wait until tomorrow morning!!!!!!!).

So I went off rejoicing and promised the lady I'd soon be back with friends.