Let's View Life Like Southerners

Rolled Hay

from ecoglimpse.com 

Don't ask me why, because I don't know the answer, but the sight of rolled hay bales always makes my heart leap. Maybe it's the look of work having been done. Maybe it's the continuity of the hay bales. Maybe the reason I'm often found glancing to the right and left of the road while driving through my homeland is because I see the farmer's artistry.

Southerners work hard. We always have. We believe in a good day's work, a hard week's pay. Most of us--sadly, not all of us--are honest when it comes to putting our "hand to the plow."

We've been known to play hard too. Some Friday nights you'll find us out and about, though sometimes we're just too blame tired ("tard") to do much more than head over to the local pizza joint. Or maybe we'll go out and get us some barbecue. Lord willin'.

But Saturdays are a whole different story. Saturday is for going to the river or the creek ("crick"). Swinging off ropes tied high to a tree and dropping down into the water. Saturday is for heading over to the beach or the lake. Water sports or fishing.

Of course we'll get too much sun, so on Sunday you'll find us sitting in our favorite pew, sun-kissed and trying to stay awake.

Of course that whole scenario changes in the winter months.

Now Sunday ... Sunday is about meeting with God. Singing His songs. Greeting one another in brotherly love. Family dinner around 1:00. Afterward, the game. Whatever game that is. And if there isn't one, we'll make one up in the side yard. Or take a long nap. Or watch an old movie. Or maybe go see a new one.

So maybe that's why I like rolled hay. It reminds me how blessed I am to have been born and reared in the South.

American by birth. Southern by the grace of God.

Let's Eat Like Southerners!

Grapefruit Dip*
Perfect for an afternoon tea, a BBQ ... or anytime!


Ingredients

6 oz cream cheese
8 drops Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 grapefruit

Directions

Mix cream cheese, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice together until well blended and fluffy.

Remove sections from grapefruit, cut them into small pieces and add to cheese mixture. Spoon mixture into grapefruit shell.

Garnish with paprika and parsley.

Place shell in dish and arrange raw veges and/or cold shrimp around shell.


* Dip will keep several days in the fridge. Yields about 3/4 cup.

And the Winner is ...

Our LATEST WINNER for the "write about it" contest is: Debbie Burgett!!

Debbie be on the lookout for your PRIZE!

Eva Marie Everson

Early Morning Train Contest Begins!

The mist from the morning rain rose like tiny clouds, blending with the smoke from the train. A conductor walked out onto the steps near the platform. Checked his watch. Jane wondered if it ticked with the same rhythm of her heart. Or of the too-small spike-heeled pumps she wore. The ones he'd chosen to match her red dress and the umbrella he carried over her head. In front of them, not by more than twenty steps, another couple--she in red, he in a trench coat matching Jane’s husband's--had made it to the car in the middle. The one they'd ride over the next week. Unless, of course ... She darted her eyes to the ornate door of the station, and the hair pulled tight in her chignon tugged. She winced. His hand, cinched around her arm, closed in tighter. "Look ahead," he said. "And don't even think about it."

Your turn!

Here are the rules:

1) enter by writing your own story to this painting. No more than 150 words. If your name does not automatically show up, please put your name at the bottom of your entry.

2) tell others. We want this to be a real contest.

3) this part of the contest is open for two weeks. 

4) mark your calendars and check back in two weeks. Once the voting begins, you call tell everyone you know and their brother to "vote for me!" Voting takes place by hitting "reply"under your writing and typing in the words "this one!"

5) then, check back a week later. I will announce the winner. If you win, it is up to YOU to notify me once I have announced the winner.

AND THE WINNER IS ...

Alan Daughterty!

Alan, contact me at PenNhnd@gmail.com ...

Your prize will be on its way!

Eva Marie Everson

Morning Light Writing Contest

Frederick Childe Hassam - Morning Light

Rebecca made a choice, every morning, to take the time to look at herself in the mirror and in the morning light. Not as harsh as at noon or as unforgiving as the evening's. She rose early each day, spent agonizing moments choosing just the right gown--Pink. He loved pink.--and then retreated to the quiet of her boudoir to sit near the window with its lacy curtains. To apply the expensive lotions (Oh, if he only knew how she'd sacrificed!), and to style her hair, drawing it up the way he liked it. With tendrils falling soft around her high cheekbones. All this for him. Only for him. But how much longer, she wondered, before the ministrations wouldn't matter? Before they wouldn't matter at all. c.Eva Marie Everson, 2013

Now it's your turn. And, I've finally figured out how to make this work. 

We'll take two weeks in which you can add your work, keeping it between 100 and 150 words. At the end of two weeks, I'll open the contest. Be sure to have your family and friends come to the site to vote for your work by REPLYING under your entry. All they have to do is say "This One" or "I like this one" or something close to it. We'll keep the contest open for one week.

NOTE: YOU ARE TO WRITE YOUR OWN STORY BASED ON THE PAINTING ABOVE. 

Remember, if you sign in anonymously, you will need to put your name, email etc. 

If your name is registering, please add some way that I can get in touch with you.

The winner will receive a gift card at the end of the contest.

Ready? Write!

Let's Do It Again!

In the dream, he waited at the end of a great hall. Marble walls, white and gleaming, lined with thick columns and arched windows where light streamed in, led the way. Overhead a canopy of alabaster artwork hung over me, catching my echoed steps. And then the water, crystal clear, casting shadows of blue, swept in, dividing me from my one true love. Or did it make the way? I swept up the skirt of my wedding gown, full with taffeta and satin, slipped my feet out of tiny slippers, and stepped into the coolness. He was now within eyesight, just beyond the crystal river, seated on the throne, waiting for his beloved. Waiting for me. Me. (Rev 22:1)

c Eva Marie Everson

Okay! Your turn! Keep it under 150-200 words!