I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Category: Personal

  • if I could turn back time…oh that’s right, I can


    Each year we have an opportunity to turn back time for an hour which is probably less than Cher was singing about when she had her hit song but then hey, nothing’s perfect.

    I don’t like fiddling around with time twice a year with the fall back, spring forward shenanigans we have manufactured to trick ourselves because doing so makes me question whether time is real or an illusion. If we can recklessly give and take an hour every year, who’s to say that hour really exists…and then I go downhill from there about the whole issues of time travel, is one hour really sixty minutes or is that just a television show, who shot JR…you see, some rabbit holes are better left to rabbits.

    Today I watered the plants in the back yard which is a leading indicator of rain.

    As the rain fell softly, I happened to look out in our front yard and saw the spectacular combination of the last brilliant summer pink crape myrtle blossoms competing with the burst of other colors that signify autumn is here.

    I may have to turn back time tonight, but this is an hour I don’t want to lose.

     

     

     

     

  • Pretty has Halloween treats – no tricks


    Happy Halloween to our cyberspace amigos from all of us at Casita de Cardinal – hope you  have fun and high frivolity complete with walking dead figures as far as the eye can see…

    I have never been a costume person, but I rarely meet a piece of chocolate candy I don’t like so Halloween isn’t a total washout for me.

    Permit me to offer one memory of a Trick or Treat I went on with my friend Butch Foster when I was a little girl living in Richards, Texas. I must have been five or six years old, and Butch was a couple of years older. It wasn’t the candy I remember – no, not the candy.  But I can still smell and taste the homemade popcorn balls made with fresh popcorn and Karo syrup that my grandmother gave us when we knocked on her door. My hands got so sticky when I ate the popcorn ball, but who cared. It was scrumptious. (I’m not sure Butch was as impressed as I was.)

    And now, here’s a treat from Pretty that will surely send you racing to her antique booths in Little Mountain this week – check out the chair and bench!

     

    Stay tuned.

  • man of Appalachia


    When Walker Williams (83) and his brother Dit (89) go looking for a good time these days, they get in Walker’s car and take a drive north and east of Landrum, South Carolina where Walker lives now toward a tiny holler called Spillcorn in Madison County, North Carolina where both brothers were born…literally…in a home that has stood the test of time deep in the heart of Appalachia.

    no wonder the brothers come back here to their old home place

    yep, Spill Corn is a real place

     Walker’s cousin John offers a drink of cool water to anyone who drops by

    one country store in the back hollers of Madison County

    Walker leads the way inside

    (I think the rice krispie treats were homemade – delicious)

    The little convenience store is like the old general stores – it has a little bit of everything. If you’re on a long drive, you better make a quick stop and visit with Ethel who likes to know who you are, who your people are, and what you’re doing way out here.

    Appalachia unvarnished

    According to our tour guide Walker (who is Pretty’s father btw), the tobacco barns are empty now, the cattle herds smaller and the only source of revenue left for most of the people who have remained in this remote area is logging…raiding their timber to sell down the mountains.

    deep poverty exists in these mountains, and yet an occasional oasis appears 

     

    this road leads to the notorious Appalachian Trail

    thank goodness the “color came late this year”

    pair of goats interested in visitors – any snacks?

     

    another cousin, Robert, cuts his wood for any neighbors

    who might need it in the harsh winter

    a river runs through it…the sounds of rushing water penetrate the stillness

     the barns of Madison County – Walker has asked me to

    make a photo book for him – he already has captions for the images

     

    we’ll have plenty of material for his book

    this man of Appalachia saying goodbye to the mountains for today –

    until next time

    Such a treat to spend the day with Pretty, her dad and sister Darlene in the middle of these magnificent vistas that are an important part of their family history. As my friend Meghan commented on Facebook, “these are the good ol’ days for you.”

    Right on, sister.

     

  • #STAND AGAINST HATE


    corner of Main and Laurel – parade starts here

    where are my peeps?

    where’s our group?

    for sure YOU rock, little sis!

    These girls rock, too – ALL TOGETHER NOW!

    you girls totally rock!

    my chariot for the parade – SC Gay and Lesbian Guild parade entry

    (Thanks to Mar-la-ti-dah (l.) for giving up her ride in the Guild chariot)

    Guild President CC (r.) drove us and served as dj for our fabulous parade music

    (oh, no, she didn’ have ABBA and Dancing Queen  oh, yes, she DID!)

    Robin Ridgell and the Famously Hot Mar-la-ti-dah strategize before parade

    floats getting ready!

    hurry up – don’t be late

    Pretty waiting for Matt Tischler’s Light Brigade to organize

    Baby Tonks’s very first Pride Parade – Mother beaming

    this family walked beside me and made me proud

    Rob is ready!

    Let’s go!

    The Pride Parade made an important statement once again to the city of Columbia and the state of South Carolina as we laughed, sang and chanted our way down Main Street for the first nighttime parade in our history. The crowds on the sidewalk clapped, cheered and waved their own flags to the gays and their families and friends who they knew were taking a stand for equality in a time when equality is under attack by a hostile administration in Washington, D.C.

    I will never forget the older attractive African American woman sitting in a wheel chair on the sidewalk waving a small Pride flag at me as we rode by her. She was smiling with real happiness for what she was witnessing, and that brought tears of joy to my eyes.

    Nothing rained on my parade last night – none of the usual group of protesters appeared – and my last view as we left Main Street was my favorite float.

    Stand against hate. All together now.

  • I just love the gays!


    SOUTH CAROLINA PRIDE PARADE: LIGHT IT UP!

    Friday Night, October 20th. 7 – 11 p.m. on Main Street

    Pretty will be marching with the Rainbow Light Saber Brigade led by annual head cheerleader for the gay Pride celebrations Light Brigade Captain Matt Tischler who says there are a few spots available in his regiment tonight so check with his FB page for updates and instructions on where to meet and when.

    This is our first year for a nighttime Pride Parade in the almost 30-year history of Pride Parades so Light It Up, Columbia!

    Tomorrow the Famously Hot South Carolina Pride Festival starts at noon and goes on until ??  Take the whole family, why don’t you?? The Harriet Hancock LGBT Center sponsors a special area for children’s entertainment.

    P.S. I hope to see you tonight – I’ll be wearing my Pride beads in memory of Freddie Mullis and in honor of Dick Hubbard who loaned them to me to wear in Pride Events until they find a permanent home in the Queer Section of the Caroliniana Library at USC. Freddie and Dick wore these colorful beads, bracelets and rings in the 1993 March on Washington.

    P.S.P.S. I won’t be walking with Pretty – I’ll be riding in the Business Guild automobile with the Famously Hot Mar-lah-ti-dah who ended her instructions for our meeting tonight with the words, I just love the gays. I do, too, and we party tonight in Columbia, South Carolina!!