Casa de Canterbury, A Retrospective: Part IV, Hope Springs Eternal

Posted bySheila Morris 14 Comments on Casa de Canterbury, A Retrospective: Part IV, Hope Springs Eternal

If winter comes, can spring be far behind? Yes, apparently it can be far, far behind in 2017 because today is the ides of March and our high temperature at Casa de Canterbury is supposed to be 47 degrees this afternoon. We had a low of 25 this morning and while we are grateful to avoid the blizzards of our amigos in the northeast and certainly don’t want to complain, I is cold…you is cold…we is all cold in the sunny South just a few days short of official spring. Brr…we are sending our hope for spring weather to everyone in the northeast who is shivering and shoveling snow today.

As the moving days get closer, I find more and more hidden treasures in my office that create more and more indecision. To keep or not to keep. That is the question. Where on earth do I put these memories…

Red paced, Chelsea panted…

Annie and Ollie contemplated the meaning of life

in the spring of 2011 in our back yard 

Welcome to Forest Hills from the magnificent 

trees at the corner of Canterbury and Westminster.

We will miss them.

Manning Avenue behind Casa de Canterbury

 Casa de Canterbury – the intersection of two worlds

Lyon Street Community on Manning – 

Forest Hills on Canterbury Road

We will miss our neighbors in both worlds.

Oh my, the azaleas and dogwoods

are incredible in the spring

Pretty and I are still trying to figure out what to do with our Casa de Canterbury marker – unfortunately, our next house number is not 2501. Other than that small detail, we could carry it with us to Casa de Cardinal. (What’s with this “C” thing?)

Spring is my favorite time of the year – next to fall – because it’s the time when new life bursts on the scene, green becomes a real color again, hope springs eternal for a fresh start; which is exactly what Pretty, Spike, Charly and I are about to have as we leave Casa de Canterbury after eight awesome years. We leave with a bucket list of memories, hope for the future and gratitude for the opportunity to once again move on…stronger together.

Casa de Cardinal – our new home

our knees are doing a happy dance!

Stay tuned for more updates.

Published by Sheila Morris

Sheila Morris is a personal historian, essayist with humorist tendencies, lesbian activist, truth seeker and speaker in the tradition of other female Texas storytellers including her paternal grandmother. In December, 2017, the University of South Carolina Press published her collection of first-person accounts of a few of the people primarily responsible for the development of LGBTQ+ organizations in South Carolina. Southern Perspectives on the Queer Movement: Committed to Home will resonate with everyone interested in LGBTQ+ history in the South during the tumultuous times from the AIDS pandemic to marriage equality. She has published five nonfiction books including two memoirs, an essay compilation and two collections of her favorite blogs from I'll Call It Like I See It. Her first book, Deep in the Heart: A Memoir of Love and Longing received a Golden Crown Literary Society Award. Her writings have been included in various anthologies including Out Loud: the best of Rainbow Radio, Saints and Sinners New Fiction from the 2017 Festival, Mothers and Other Creatures; Cowboys, Cops, Killers, and Ghosts (Texas Folklore Society LXIX). She is a displaced Texan living in South Carolina with her wife Teresa Williams and their dogs Spike, Charly and Carl. She is also Naynay to her two granddaughters Ella and Molly James who light up her life for real. Born in rural Grimes County, Texas in 1946 her Texas roots still run wide and deep.

14 replies on “Casa de Canterbury, A Retrospective: Part IV, Hope Springs Eternal”

      1. His tone and unusual dry wit were fabulous, Sheila! xo May he and the others find out that “all dogs go to heaven.” I sure liked that animated children’s film with Huey Lewis and the News singing. 🙂

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  5. It’s fitting to see a picture of the old guard together at Casa de Canterbury. What great memories to take to your new home. Charly and Spike will spice up the new digs with their own special brand of canine antics. It’s hard to leave, but you’ll soon make a Williams – Morris “mark” in your new community… two creative, adventurous Lesbians and their dogs. 😘

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    1. Thanks, Ann. I appreciate your encouragement and send it right back at ya!
      I anticipate some spice from Charly and Spike for sure – an unfortunate squirrel has a nest in a little outbuilding in the back yard. I would like to post a Danger, Danger sign for the unlucky fellow but will just leave it to Spike. 🙂

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