I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

storytelling for truth lovers

  • where in the world is the old woman Slow?


    Oh, yes there she is under all the covers while wearing 4 layers of clothes…Charly and Spike huddled next to her.

    Jeopardy Question: If four trees fall in your front yard because they are being purposefully cut down, do they make a noise?

    And the answer is: Yes…just ask Charly and Spike who are afraid it means the end of times and are stuck like glue to Slow.

    Jeopardy Question: How many heating and air companies does it take to fix the heat at Casita de Cardinal?

    And the answer is The Daily Double: We have no idea – today makes 3 and counting.

    Have a great weekend, cyberspace friends – we are meeting our Best Gay Boys Basketball Buddies at the first Gamecock women’s basketball game tonight. Not only are we hoping for a win – we also hope to stay warm for several hours with the other 10,000 fans in the Colonial Life Arena! Go Gamecocks!!

     

     

  • 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.

  • WINNERS OF THE 4TH ANNUAL MEMORABLE QUOTES CONTEST ANNOUNCED!


    The deadline for entries at midnight last night passed without the usual flurry of last minute entries for the Peace and Kindness Fourth Annual Memorable Quotes Contest, and the entries were fewer in number this year but overflowing with outstanding quality.  In other words, choice.

    The theme of Peace and Kindness was liberally interpreted, I might add, and I was good with that. However, the Daddy Glenn L. Morris Award for Quote Mastery goes to Barbara Embick of Gilbert, South Carolina for her quote and the inspiration of kindness from the woman who gave it to her. Barbara will receive a check of $75. for the following entry:

    “One of the people in our town that was frequently in need of help was a guy named Hoagie Hill, don’t know his real name, just Hoagie Hill. Hoagie was probably 40 – 50ish, lived by himself, hermit like because Hoagie stuttered and some of the town people frequently made fun of him or were mean to him. It was quite sad actually. My mother always made sure Hoagie had a meal and always had a friend in her and our family. There was one night as a 5 or 6 year old that I talked to my mother trying to grasp an understanding about why Mom took such extra special care of Hoagie. I particularly didn’t understand because we had a lot of issues ourselves and I guess it seemed like we didn’t have food to spare or the kindness to give. My mother discussed the situation with me and said Barbara, ‘there will always be someone who needs more than we do.’ That’s why the town folk loved her; despite our situation, she always looked for the underdog and she always gave to those in need spiritually and physically. It was a valuable lesson for me and one I always try to live by.

    BTW, I loved Hoagie Hill.”

    My Old Woman Slow Award for Close but no Cigar goes to Lisa Martin in Montgomery, Texas. Lisa sent not one, but three, quotes and I couldn’t possibly choose one above the other so her prize of $50. goes for all three:

    “Kindness is a language that the blind can see and the deaf can hear.” Mark Twain

    “A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.” Steve Maraboli

    “Kindness is just love with its work boots on.” Unknown

    The Granny Selma Award for Trying and a check for $25. goes to Ann D’Onofrio of Eagleville, Pennsylvania who also had two quotes from her mother and a circuitous route of connecting them to the theme of Peace and Kindness:

    “Here are two quotes from my mother. One sort of fits the theme if you squint, the other…well let me do some mental gymnastics.

    One applies to President Kazoo: Mom, trying to give me a sense of perspective, once said about him as a candidate: ‘He chatters through his own teeth.’ She often said that about politicians and religious men, though she was a devout Roman Catholic and Republican. It was her grandfather’s version of ‘he likes to hear himself speak.’ So I guess that’s a ‘kind’ way of keeping one’s inner ‘peace.’ I know…stretch…The next one even more so.

    ‘I’m living my golden years. I get all the years and my doctors get all the gold.’

    So maybe resignation to one’s fate brings peace? She wasn’t one to suffer fools gladly, so this was a way for her to maintain her equilibrium over outrageous medical costs. By the way, Republican that she was, she felt we needed national health care. That was the nurse who saw many years of suffering speaking.

    Wonderful, wonderful quotes and fabulous stories from you all and to quote another anonymous “quoter,” your check’s in the mail.

    Finally, a Very Special Grand Prize goes to Warren Wood of Dennard, Arkansas who totally ignored this year’s theme but scored HUGE points with the judge with his entry:

    “Just because you were elected president doesn’t mean you are presidential.” Sheila Morris

    Warren, if you were here, I would give you a big hug and if I were Ellen DeGeneres, I would send you a check from Shutterfly for $10,000. Since neither of those is the case, I will send you a check for $25. and a cyberspace hug.

    Thanks so much to all of you for participating in this year’s Memorable Quotes Contest.

    Hm…what will we do next year for Cinco de Quotes contest…

    Stay tuned. Have a great weekend, everybody.

     

     

  • 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.