"8 Pecan Corner" is the name of my homeplace

Finally, after more info from Maggie, I have figured out how to enter the "Name your Homeplace" contest. First of all, my dad was a Southern Baptist Preacher sooooo, we moved around....A LOT!!We finally started some true family roots when I was in the 11th grade(1974). We bought the house I now refer to as home.There are a lot of cool things about this house.
I am a musician and, back in the 30's and 40's the original owner of the home taught all the little children in town piano lessons. One day a couple of summers ago a lady brought us a little bud vase by. This piano teacher had given it to her before she died. It was the bud vase that always sat on her piano while she taught her lessons here. It is a treasured part of our home now.
In 1978, Mom and Dad did a major renovation of the old house. The attic was enlarged to contain a large suite, loft-like in nature, of rooms. They kept the eaves, added two skylights and a master bath and that's where they retreated as they raised two teenaged girls. We were downstairs, they were upstairs...a perfect solution!
In 1998, I divorced and Mom and Dad offered that same upstairs suite to my 4 year old son and I...a haven from a stormy time in life.
My roots run so deep in this place! First, because for so many years I had no roots. Second, because at the most desperate time in my life, it's doors opened again to me to offer rest and healing.
Now, I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, it would take a truckload of dynamite to blow my southern "tush" out of this place!
I've always called it "the yellow house with the red door" but the other day I was outside walking around looking at all the pecan trees in the yard and I started counting them. There are eight right now. Last year there were nine, but something got one of 'em. The roots of those tall trees sure are deep...as deep as I feel my emotional roots are to this most sacred of places. I've named it "8 Pecan Corner"...simple really, 8 pecan trees on a corner lot.

Searching for a new book "muse"

I am stuck! After reading two great books in a row (The Mercy of Thin Air and Mudbound) I am dissatisfied with every thing I pick up! I have been forcing myself to read "Once Upon A Nervous Breakdown" by Patrick Sanchez(which I paid for, by the way!) and I just can't do it anymore. I don't care if I did buy it on a whim at Amazon.com. Anxiously awaiting the opening of the library in the morning where three or four potential books await!I've read on several blogs about Mary Kay Andrews, so one of her Savannah books is on hold, The Secret Life of Bees is there as is one or two more. Hopefully, I will have a more upbeat entry next time. Reading is like a craving to me! I crave reading, I always have! From the time I was a little girl, I would read anything! I remember bookmobiles in the summer, and visiting my grandmother and reading anything she had.I still have original copies of many of the Maud Hart Lovelace "Betsy book" series. My mom read them when she was young and passed down the love of Betsy, Tacy and Tib to me. I am still the same way, but teaching kind of takes the spontaneity out of it for me. May is my grace period, my "personal life brain cells" come alive. I am so thankful!I hope to read away my summer days until my eyes are bloodshot!

The Mercy of Thin Air-descriptive excerpts-fragrances

"She opened the doors. As she reached inside to inspect the shelves, she breathed deeply. A comforting aroma,almost a blend of pipe smoke and cinnamon, surrounded her."

"As I opened the letter from Yale, I let a part of him escape. Andrew's scent infused me, a clean metallic brine that deepened with heat."

" I pick a honeysuckle blossom and touch it to my nose. No matter how deeply I breathe, the scent doesn't fulfill my want for it. The narrow petals dally against my lip. I stare at the slender elegant well and pinch the base from which it grew. Slowly, the stamens emerge. I take the bead of nectar on my tongue. For a moment, the smooth liquid aroma satisfies me. Soon, there is a pile of spent blossoms on my lap."


"'What broke?'Twolly didn't look up.
'The pretty necklace you made for me.' Her cotton nightgown swished as she squirmed within it. I smelled Ivory soap,peppermint, and tree bark."

"The Mercy of Thin Air" by Ronlyn Domingue

"The Mercy of Thin Air" by Ronlyn Domingue. There it is, the first southern book I am officially reading for this summer. Oh my goodness! Set in Louisiana, it deals with Razi, someone who is "in between" life and eternity. Domingue has an uncanny way of describing all those unforgettable southern fragrances that are in our every day lives. One reason I love living at 2o3 Boothe Street is because I spent my teenaged years here. Certain flowers blooming remind me of the May that I graduated from high school. The sounds of May remind of that sweet first love walking me to the door after a date during that same "senior summer". This book is hard to put down and is so much more than a "mystery". Beautifully written, must leave blog for now to continue reading it!

Arrrgh! My home computer is messing with my mind! Please don't think me rude when I don't respond to your comments. My new found "friend", my blog, is inaccessible from home computer right now. Calling in techno geniuses to fix it in the next few days! So far I've begun reading "Lost Souls"(underwhelming me despite the reviews), "Garden Spell"(semi-underwhelming me despite the reviews) and "The Year of Living Biblically"(love it, but not southern based....see? I'm cheating already!) Hope everyone has a wonderful summer and I look forward to being back "on blog" from home soon!

Friday night in Como

If you notice there are two Stark Young novels on my list. This was generated by a conversation at the lovely Como Bed and Breakfast for the Fine Arts Division end of year dinner. Dan Smith was our gracious(as usual) host who shared with me that Stark Young was from Como and that "Heaven Trees" was one of his most well known novels. We walked over the railroad tracks to view the stunning/striking sculptures of Sharon(last name escapes me).Plaster casts of blues musician faces are lined up on closet shelves. More southern stories continued,as her home was formerly owned by Tallulah Bankhead's aunt. Word on the street is that the turret room is haunted. If you have a chance, check out Como. What a cool, hip place, ya'll!
Other books I am considering are thanks to Maggies links...somewhere along the way I picked up these titles there: Garden Spell and Lost Souls. Shelby Foote is on the list because I've never read him before and he lived just up the road in Memphis.

FINALLY! MIRACULOUSLY! I made it to the weekend and to the library! Going to attempt to do a sidebar thing to give you my list, or partial list that I want to choose from.

If I can just get to the weekend and think I will find the perfect "first summer book" to read!

I am chomping at the bit to devote some focus to this blog and to my reading. Fortunately, I don't have "miles to go before I sleep". I thought I would share with ya'll a little superstition that I indulge in every school year. With the first step into the Fine Arts building at the beginning of the year I say, in reference to the summer,"As soon as it began, it was over." and as I take my last step out of the building next Friday(after TWO graduations) I will say the same exact thing, "As soon as it began, it was over." I have done this for years and this is the first time I've ever told anyone. It gives me closure to the the end of summer and the end of the school year. I always say both with a surprised smile on my face and a chuckle.

We are learning to blog in a group setting. Very interesting and I am so glad I'm learning this and not trying to teach this! Way to go, Maggie!