I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Category: Reflections

  • Casa de Canterbury: A Retrospective Part II, Autumn


    Once upon a time on the corner of Canterbury and Manning in a city called Columbia lived a family of two lesbians and their dogs.

    And the family was happy in their home which they called Casa de Canterbury because one of their dogs (The Red Man) spoke fluent Spanish.

    For years and years the old woman Slow and Pretty and their dogs lived in the casa which saw seasons come and go because that is the way seasons act.

    The old woman Slow got slower and slower as her knees rebelled whenever she climbed or came down the 14 steps connecting the first and second levels of the casa. Even Pretty’s younger knees grew so angry with her she had to get a new one in 2016, but that really didn’t help her very much and didn’t help Slow at all.

    And so it became clear to Slow and Pretty they had to leave Casa de Canterbury for…what? new digs. So that is what they are going to do. They are moving west across the Congaree, Saluda and Broad rivers closer to Texas – but not much – to West Columbia, South Carolina, which is not to be confused with where Slow went to high school: West Columbia, Texas. How weird is that? Let’s hope she isn’t confused by this coincidence.

    As the family says goodbye to Casa de Canterbury, they invite you to take a little trip down memory lane with them through a few of the seasons at their casa over the next several posts.

    Looking up Canterbury Road

    toward Casa de Canterbury

    (November, 2012)

    The Red Man on backyard patrol

    (fall, 2012)

    Amazing foliage at Casa de Canterbury

    on Manning Avenue side of front yard

    (fall, 2012)

    Coming home to Casa de Canterbury

    from Worsham Street

    (October, 2012)

    From 2010 to 2014 the two lesbians and their dogs were bi-stateual because they lived on Worsham Street in Texas and also at Casa de Canterbury in South Carolina. They felt like they were always on the road between the two places they called home.

    Pretty was in charge of driving

    and dog walking while Slow was in

    charge of…well, nothing.

     (October, 2012)

    Pretty busy, busy with 5 dogs at Casa de Canterbury –

    they all became a blur

    But she was never too busy to celebrate Halloween.

    Pretty at the Mast General Store

    (October, 2012)

    Stay tuned for winter. Summer, fall, winter, spring.

  • Casa de Canterbury: A Retrospective – Part I, Summer


    Once upon a time on the corner of Canterbury and Manning in a city called Columbia lived a family of two lesbians and their dogs.

    And the family was happy in their home which they called Casa de Canterbury because one of their dogs (The Red Man) spoke fluent Spanish.

    For years and years the old woman Slow and Pretty and their dogs lived in the casa which saw seasons come and go because that is the way seasons act.

    The old woman Slow got slower and slower as her knees rebelled whenever she climbed or came down the 14 steps connecting the first and second levels of the casa. Even Pretty’s younger knees grew so angry with her she had to get a new one in 2016, but that really didn’t help her very much and didn’t help Slow at all.

    And so it became clear to Slow and Pretty they had to leave Casa de Canterbury for…what? new digs. So that is what they are going to do. They are moving west across the Congaree, Saluda and Broad rivers closer to Texas – but not much – to West Columbia, South Carolina, which is not to be confused with where Slow went to high school: West Columbia, Texas. How weird is that? Let’s hope she isn’t confused by this coincidence.

    As the family says goodbye to Casa de Canterbury, they invite you to take a little trip down memory lane with them through a few of the seasons at their casa over the next several posts. Enjoy.

    First day of summer, 2016

    one of Pretty’s bottle trees

    Charly’s first summer at Casa de Canterbury

    First figs of the season

    also possibly the last – the tree was never prolific

    Summer flowers

     

    a rose is a rose is a rose…by any other name

    Charly listens to the sounds of summer

    perfect place to cool off in summer heat

    so, so hot out there 

    (summer, 2012)

    did somebody say HOT?

    back yard in the summer of 2012

    tres amigos brave the heat

    Stay tuned for fall. Summer, fall, winter, spring.

  • My International Women’s Day


    I wrote this piece on March 08, 2017 and feel it’s worthy of inclusion in my Women’s History Month this year. I hope you agree.

    Spring, 2017 will be the year I move on to my 71st birthday. I know, I know…unbelievable…and apparently my Mouth Almighty, Tongue Everlasting in my seventies shows no sign of a slowdown – if anything I seem to have gained speed with my posts following the not-too-distant sixties.

    As I looked over the more than 80 posts I’ve made since April, 2016 when I began this year by talking about the need for a personal tune-up, I am amazed at how many opinions I’ve had on such a wide variety of topics. Geez Louise. Somebody stop me. I can’t shut up. Case in point, read on.

    Change is in the air at Casa de Canterbury this spring, and Pretty and I are excited about our trip to New Orleans for the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival March 24th. – 26th. I’ve been invited to participate on a panel called Home is Where the Art Is, or is it?  Plus I will do a reading from my short story that will be included in their 2017 anthology. I’m super thrilled.

    We’re hoping to go to Dallas the following week for the NCAA Women’s Final Four the first weekend in April which would give us an opportunity to return to Worsham Street for a long overdue visit with The Little Women of Worsham and the Fabulous Huss Brothers. That would be icing on the proverbial cake. (Michael Reames, are you making me a real birthday cake this year? Money is no object. Pretty will contact you.)

    Today I was cleaning out my extensive collection of family memorabilia which always reminds me of my need to let these pictures and items go – just let them go. They take up space needed for…what? Office supplies. Packing materials. Unsold books. Carolina Panthers commemorative coins. Five years of tax returns. Old cameras.

    This is one of the pictures I found –  I totally lost it when I saw the image of these two significant women in my life before their respective illnesses took them to a different place.

    m

    My two moms, Selma and Willie, and me

    This picture was taken in 2007 during a visit with my mothers for both of their birthdays in March of that year. Five years later in the spring of 2012, Willie died on April 14th. and Selma followed her eleven days afterwards on the 25th. Wham, bam…gone. Were they ready to go? Of course. Had they suffered long enough? Surely. But the loss of two women who had such monumental influence in my life was devastating. I felt like my connection to what had been my home was broken and couldn’t be fixed.

    In reality and from the perspective of five years down the road from that awful place, the connection to home and family isn’t really lost. Powerful images of the people in my past live on today and remind me of what is most important for the future.

    Today is International Women’s Day, a special time to honor the women we cherish, a day of reminder that our world would be very different without the women in our lives; it’s a woman’s day away from the ordinary.We are lucky because they’ll only be gone for one day and will be back with us tomorrow.

    Pretty, the adventure continues, and I thank you for the home we share and the knowledge that you’ll be here tomorrow morning when we start another day together.

    For the rest of my women friends and followers in cyberspace, celebrate yourselves today. You are enough.

     

     

     

  • Celebrate Good Times!


    What do weddings have in common with the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball tournament championships?

    Ding, ding, ding – and the answer is The Daily Double or, in the case of the 2017 Lady Gamecocks, The Annual Triple. That’s right, Sports Fans. This year’s Lady Gs are the gifts that keep on giving – over the weekend they won their third straight SEC Tournament Championship much to the delight of 8,000 fans who drove 100 miles north from Columbia to Greenville, South Carolina which was the site of this year’s tournament.

    (By the way, my new best friend ESPN analyst Nell Fortner was in the stands for the final game Sunday afternoon and finally “came out” as a Gamecock fan after the game when she donned an official baseball cap for the SEC Champions. Nell, Yes!)

    A’ja Wilson and Kaela Davis made the All-tournament team and A’ja was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the week to add to her laurels as SEC Player of the Year for the regular season. You know what I love about her? Everything. She plays with grit and gusto, a never-say-quit spirit that inspires her teammates to focus and finish.

    As for the rest of the Lady Gamecocks, you know what I love about them? Everything.

    As for Coach Dawn Staley? How do I love thee – let me count the ways…

    Which brings me to the weddings. Saturday afternoon I skipped the semi-finals of the basketball tournament to attend another event that made my heart sing. Two young lesbians were married in a gorgeous ceremony attended by their biggest “fans,” the family and friends who promised to stand with them as they began their life together.

    The setting was a pastoral one outdoors on a lovely farm at sunset. As the colors in the sky changed from blue to shades of pink and red, the two brides exchanged their personal vows mixed with humor, promises to be faithful and most of all, to love. The smiles on their faces as they turned to walk down the aisle between the rows of white chairs and benches for the guests were, I’m sorry I can’t think of another word, radiant.

    The party afterwards was perfect with tons of food, drinks and be merry to the tune of live music in the farm’s version of a barn which was way too fancy for anything with four hooves. For sure everyone there had two feet – and most of them were dancing. One of my favorite moments was the first dances with the brides and their fathers…

    A wedding and a 3-peat SEC Championship – a beginning and a finish – both the best of times and causes for celebrations.

    Life is good.

     

  • A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever


    University of South Carolina Lady Gamecock Kaela Davis (#3) stole the basketball from a Vandy guard and dribbled it hard down the court toward her goal as the Vandy player tried desperately to retrieve that ball from her. Gamecock teammate Allisha Gray (#10), who always has a nose for the basketball, ran full speed parallel to Davis on the other side of the Vandy guard. The trio barreled toward the goal at an amazing speed as Kaela leaped toward the backboard apparently for a difficult lay-up when all of a sudden KD made a no-look bounce pass to Gray who caught the basketball and effortlessly made the lay-up for the two-point score.

    Man, oh man. Pretty and I were sitting with our Gay Boys Basketball Buddies in our regular seats at Colonial Life Arena which are directly above and slightly to the right of the goalpost – just in the perfect position to see the three women thundering down the court and cheer the beautiful pass from Davis to Gray as the ball swished into the net. It was a Harlem Globetrotters moment.

    My words don’t do it justice, but to me, as Granny Selma used to say when she was in her right mind, that pass was a thing of beauty. Whoa, Nellie.

    Davis and Gray are both junior transfers from different schools playing their first year in the Gamecock uniforms and figuring out how to maximize their play together is no small task for Head Coach Dawn Staley, but last night’s efforts against Vanderbilt showed a maturity and presence for the whole team that was fun to watch.

    001 For every game this season, my personal heroes have been our big girls who endure heavy blows to their bodies during the games but still have a smile for the fans whether they win or lose.

    001

    #41 Alaina Coates

    002

    #22 A’ja Wilson

    Alaina and A’ja are two fierce competitors who strike terror in the hearts of their opponents when they control the rebounding and scoring in the paint. They don’t mess around, sisters and brothers. You better have on your Big Girl uniforms when you come to play against them because they will be your worst basketball nightmare if you aren’t prepared.

    The good news is we won last night – the bad news is we are getting to the end of the regular season play, and Pretty and I are wondering what we will do without the Lady Gamecocks in our everyday lives. Sigh.

    Let’s hope our post-season play goes all the way to the Final Four in Dallas this year – now that would be a memory-maker!

    (My thanks to the USC Gamecock Basketball Gameday for the unauthorized use of their pictures.)

     And thanks to our Best Candy Maker friend Dick Hubbard for another thing of beauty this week…yummy…creamy fudge…mouth-watering…Happy Belated Valentine’s Day to all our cyberspace amigos!

    dick-hubbards-fudge