Fast away the old year passes

fa la la la la, la la la la

hail the new, ye lads and lasses!

fa la la la la, la la la la

I’m a little late for decking the halls with boughs of holly and trolling yuletide carols, but I 100% don gay apparel every time I get dressed. Surely I get points for that. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

I had this ancient Welsh folk tune running through my head on my morning walk today, a walk shortened by inclement weather. This grey day drizzle was reminiscent of my Seattle years before I came to South Carolina in 1972 – reminding me of what I disliked in that breathtaking Pacific Northwest with its majestic Cascade mountain range topped off by Mount Rainier, the glorious evergreens, and the wondrous lakes I loved to drive across going to work every day.Yes, had it just not been the dreary winter where the sun refused to shine, I might have stayed in the city with the bluest skies you’ll ever see in the summer. Fa la la la la, la la la la. Fast away those old years pass…

As I wrote the year 1972, I stopped and got out my calculator to be certain of the math I had quickly calculated. Hail the new year 2022, lassie – it’s the 50th anniversary of your life in Columbia. Goodness, I have lived 2/3 of my 75 years in a state other than my “home” state of Texas which still calls me one of its daughters of the republic. My daddy used to say when I lived in Seattle, you can take the girl out of Texas, but you’ll never take Texas out of the girl. I have the boots, saddle and headstone that would make him smile. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Tomorrow the old year 2021 passes – we will hail the new year with our own hopes for the future wherever we are. I am grateful to celebrate life every new year with Pretty and the rest of our growing family, with our friends in real life, with the exactly 800 followers from around the world of cyberspace whose support encourages me to keep writing, and for the work of the January 6th. Congressional Committee which seeks to uncover the truth of the attack on our Capitol one year ago next week. My hope in the future for my granddaughters and their granddaughters is that we will leave them a safe and sane environment brimming with peace and prosperity, filled with love for one another. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

From our house to yours, Happy New Year!

Please stay tuned.

*****************

Irrelevant conversation overheard by no one at our house this past week.

Pretty: you know if I ever have a cat, I would like for it to look like Carport Kitty.

Me: you do have a cat, and it is Carport Kitty.

Carport Kitty surveying her kingdom yesterday

Carport Kitty rules.

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.

5 replies on “fa la la la la – say what?”

  3. There’s so much to say, but I’ll limit it to heartfelt good wishes for health, safety, and a good dollop of prosperity in 2022 for you, T, and your family.
    May Spike, Charly, and Carl have an endless supply of Milkbones and Carport Kitty a warm condo and all the Fancy Feast she’s pleases.
    Happy New Year!

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