Stuff I'm Reading - Flannery O'Connor

Joe McTyre/Atlanta Constitution, From "Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor"

Flannery O'Connor seated beneath her "Self-Portrait With Pheasant Cock" in the living room at Andalusia, June 1962.


Hello all! I worked my 3 days, rested yesterday (was utterly wiped out), and am feeling dandy this day.


Is allergy season upon us? I was really stuffed up yesterday to the point of thinking I had a cold but Zyrtec seems to have worked quite well. FYI: for me it seems to work better than Claritin...


Anyway, I'm currently reading one of two novels written by a fave, Flannery O'Connor - Wise Blood. I've always been a sucker for Southern Gothic pieces (e.g. Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers). This one has all of the shady characters one hopes to find in Southern Gothic literature and is heavy on the symbolism. I love to try and decode them and always find things to relate to in them.
Here are the opening lines: Hazel Motes sat at a forward angle on the green plush train seat, looking one minute at the window as if he might want to jump out of it, and the next down the aisle at the other end of the car. The train was racing through tree tops that fell away at intervals and showed the sun standing, very red, on the edge of the farthest woods. Nearer, the plowed fields curved and faded and the few hogs nosing in the furrows looked like large spotted stones. Mrs. Wally Bee Hitchcock, who was facing Motes in this section, said that she thought the early evening like this was the prettiest time of day and she asked him if he didn't think so, too. She was a fat woman with pink collars and cuffs and pear-shaped legs that slanted off the train seat and didn't reach the floor.

He looked at her a second and, without answering, leaned forward and stared down the length of the car again. She turned to see what was back there but all she saw was a child peering around one of the sections and, farther up at the end of the car, the porter opening the closet where the sheets were kept.

"I guess you're going home," she said, turning back to him again. He didn't look, to her, much over twenty, but he had a stiff black broad-brimmed hat on his lap, a hat that an elderly country preacher would wear. His suit was a glaring blue and the price tag was still stapled on the sleeve of it.
I also just finished "Letters of a Woman Homesteader" by Elinore Pruitt Stewart. I finally got around to reading this book. I've known about it for about 10 years after taking a Wyoming History class at the University of Wyoming. This, a true story, is a collection of the letters written by a widow from Denver, Colorado. She and her daughter head to a community somewhat close to Green River, WY to be the housekeeper for a rancher. She quickly marries the rancher but is adamant in her desire to homestead a piece of property on her own. She has a fantastic wit and way with words. I was also struck by this community's love of neighbor and their way of providing for one another's needs.
Peace!

Howdy!

I've neglected me blog -ARG!


We've all been really busy as of late. A week or so ago Matt and Joy were finally here. Sweet Matty B. is in the picture. Note the classic Van sneaks. He informed me they were first made in 1966, the year before my birth. We spent about half of that week in Navarre and half in Chipley. We had good fun basically just being together.



Last week is a bit of a blur. I'm getting into the swing of my job and all is well there. It's strenuous, but I'm getting the hang of everything.



This week has been all about the produce. Cousin Karen and I went to Robinson-Floyd Vinyard in Chipley and picked 15 lbs of scuppernong grapes (sp?). That same day Dad and I went to cousin Bill's and got four 5 gallon buckets of pears. Needless to say, the pears have kept us busy today. Mom is making preserves with 1/2 of them, and cousin Carla will use the rest up in Atlanta. I will hopefully post more pics tomorrow. Dial up just is very slow when posting pics and what not. I try to get to the library at least once a week to post more pics and post more quickly.

Stay tuned for future topics (Mom's B-day party, Puss Caterpillar, Catawba worms). I know all of you CAN'T wait!

Panhandle Pastimes

Repairing the sewer pipe at the Lake Eufaula lot. Dad and a buddy put the sewer pipe in previously, but Dad was afraid it wasn't a good seal on one seam. We dug it up and fixed it.















After a morning of work last Thursday, we went fishing and the light was so good late in the day that I snapped off a few pics. This was the same day of the video on my previous post.















Our catch!















I think this was a fish fry we had last week. My cousin Kathy was visiting from Pennsylvania. She was very happy with her fish.















Everybody fixin' their plates at the same fish fry (we have one about every week).






























I found an old mouse toy and Coco was quite taken with it.
















Peace!

Noodle Fishing

Hey, here's a grand video I took of my Dad and me noodle fishing for catfish at Lake Eufaula last Thursday.

Quick update: I started my new job and it went very well. I'm working three 12 hour shifts. I met some very dedicated folks and some beautiful old folks. It is physically demanding and, of course, the learning process is a bit trying. Otherwise, all is going as planned. I'm set up to start volunteering at Habitat for Humanity in a few weeks, and I went to church this a.m. (Tuesday). At St. Joseph the Worker in Chipley, Mass is every Tuesday a.m. with a Bible study to follow, which I plan to start soon. Today was a Communion service only, as Father Sean is on vacation and the gentleman who led was very learned re. Old Testament history and the like. There were 1/2 a dozen or so of us there.

Anyhoo, I'm at the library in Chipley and my battery is running low, so Peace Out!

What's for lunch Mama Gladys?

Mom fixes lunch every day unless Dad is busy with Disaster Relief (Southern Baptist organizaton), busy with his latest project. or fishing.

This was the fare last week sometime: BBQ'd chicken, creamed corn, sliced tomatoes, french bread, speckled butter beans with okra mixed in. Of course, sweet tea is the beverage.

(I'm heading to all of the plates o' food photographed right now to call them "What's for lunch Mama Gladys?")

My Sentiments Exactly

Being out at the compound is like my safe pasture. We all have like mindsets and there are few surprises. We are definitely not without our issues, but there aren't too many new ones :). Here is Coco the wee min pin with her perpetual grin at Mama Gladys and Grandpa's.