From the Heart.

I am using this space for the letter I would like to give to 'she who must not be named', but know she would find far too mawkish to be believed. 

My darling child, you are our middle child, the hardest position to be in.  From the moment you entered this world 5 weeks early and screaming at the top of your lungs, you made it evident that you would be a force to be reconed with.  There were many times when you were young that I wasn't sure either one of us would survive to see you graduate from high school....but we both did. 

And now I look at the wonderful, confident, strong young woman you have become, and I know that something very precious is about to leave my every day life.  There won't be anyone playing the piano at 2 or 3 in the morning, or crashing chords from a viola echoing through the house at midnight.  No more dance recitals, orchestra concerts, pointe shoes or physics groups. 

From the moment you were born we have had this moment in mind, each step along the way carefully planned so that when you did leave our home, you would be able to go forward without fear, prepared for an independent life.  I think you're ready, but my mother's heart isn't ready for the change.  You see, I don't particularly care for change.  So I will smile, and wave, and do all the things that Mom's should do when their children leave for college, and then you and Poppy will drive away from me.  You should pity your poor brother for having to deal with the emotional wreck left behind!

So there you have it.  No words of motherly wisdom, you've heard them all a million times before, and you don't really need them.  Boston will never know what hit them when you arrive on campus, but they should know how lucky they are to have you....and I know how lucky I've been to have had you for eighteen years.

Love,
Your Momma.

My Kingdom for a Bookstore

There are many wonderful things about living in a small town.  Especially when you are raising children.  There are some drawbacks to it, though, and I ran face first into one of them tonight.  Those who know me well know that I find book stores to be nigh unto irresistible (and I don't try to resist very hard!).  My mother in law gave me a sweatshirt a few years ago with the saying "Lead Me Not Into Temptation, Deliver Me From Bookstores." and I think it's about the best thing she's ever gotten me.  But I digress.  One of my daughters wants "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis.  A fairly famous author and one of his more famous works.  Our local library branch didn't have a copy, and she's leaving on Sunday for college, so I decided to slip over to our local 'bookstore' - and I use the term loosely - to pick up a copy for her. 

Now I'm pretty savvy when it comes to locating books.  So I headed for the "Classics" section.  Not there.  OK, maybe "Christian Fiction?"  No joy.  At this point I was perplexed.  Was I looking in the wrong place or did they not have any copies?  I finally broke down and cornered one of the young men who works at the store.  And encountered an unexpected problem.  He had no idea who C. S. Lewis was, and had never heard of either Narnia or Screwtape Letters.  I spent a few minutes explaining the premise of the story to him....and ended up in the Science Fiction section.  Once again, no luck.  So finally he gave up and sent me to the person with a computer who could look it up.  Finally some useful help!  (This person also had never heard of the book or the author, I had to spell it for her because she kept typing it in wrong). The book was finally located (in Christian Living) and purchased, but the whole situation reinforced my feeling that this community desperately needs a real bookstore, not a coffee shop pretending to be a bookstore.   

Guided Misiles, the Natural Way

Let me start off by saying that it is a false assumption that South Gulf Coast Texas has only two seasons: "hot and hotter."  There are a multitude of seasons here, they just aren't the same as the rest of the country's!  For example, we are sliding down toward the end of 'skeeter season, hitting the height of hurricane season, and just entering the pecan season.  Pecan season?  Yep.  This area of Texas has lots of pecan trees, and they are dropping their nuts everywhere.  How could that be a problem you may ask?  After all, there are many delicious items that can be made with pecans!  Ah, but have you ever considered how hard the shell of a pecan is, and how tall the trees are?  I walked out in the back yard last night and not only did my feet find the pointy bits of shell the squirrels left on the ground, the trees started pelting me with ripe nuts.  My husband's hard hat is looking like a pretty good addition to my wardrobe right about now!