My poor pink lawn flamingos. The pair is weathered and faded. One even had to have reconstructive beak surgery. I plucked them from the front yard when I was repainting the screen door a couple of weeks ago and tossed them behind the house until I could figure out where I'd stashed my pink spray paint. Well, I found that can in a shopping bag in my truck this week, and today was a perfect day to perk those ladies up. For company, I recommend Pandora's Little Feat Radio using The Band for variety, but that's every day.
If your ladies are in a similar state, you will need 4 black buttons, a tube of Liquid Nails, one chopstick or cotton swab, painter's tape and the spray paint of your choice. And a dry day.
First, plant the pair somewhere that a little runaway spray paint won't ruin your perfectly manicured lawn. Wipe them down with soap and water. Let them drip dry for a bit, and then massage them with a dry paper towel.
Meanwhile, get the eyes ready. I put my black buttons on top of some flat abalone shell buttons. Yes, they are delicate, and I imagine I'll have to replace them soon. It's okay. This is where the Liquid Nails comes in. A spare chopstick will help keep it from adhering to your skin...mostly. Please read all of the warnings before using it. Also, keep it away from children.
Next, tape off their beaks with the painter's tape.
Shake your spray paint. Shake it some more.
Spray those birds.
Let them dry.
Let the eyes continue to set while you give the birds another coat.
Drying time again!
Remove the painter's tape.
Glue the eyes to your birds' eye sockets using the Liquid Nails.
Leave them alone a little longer. Get yourself a cold drink.
Replant the pink ladies in a conspicuous location.
A while back, I posted some links all about Super Chikan and his gee tars. Yesterday we were able to catch Mr. Chikan performing with his Fighting Cocks at the Richmond Folk Festival.
Roseanne Cash was headlining, but I was not close enough to the action to share any photos. She opened with "Seven Year Ache" and closed with "Ode to Billy Joe" with solid performances of familiar tunes throughout.
We also were lucky enough to get up close and personal with Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas. You can catch them here, thanks to someone else's camera work from another festival appearance.
If you tune in to the Kennedy Center website on 10/15 at 6 PM, you can see
Mr. Williams and his Cha Chas performing LIVE in DC. If you're in town, it's a free event.
If you need a little more zydeco, I can't resist sharing this Sesame Street bit. Aaaaaa EEEEEE!
But back to Super Chikan and his all-female backing band, The Fighting Cocks.
The tomato vines are thinning out as summer draws to a close. The other tell-tale sign that another season is on the way is eighth grade's open house. I enjoyed meeting new students and parents. It was also nice to visit with parents who were coming around again with the younger siblings of students past.
My Mojo
I had my stack of summer reading and my freshly laminated Blues Trail Map and Po' Monkey's poster to share, but I forgot my mojo and specimen jars at home tucked away in a roomy Partagas Black label cigar box.
A paper doily from The Gallery Restaurant in Merigold,MS.
A white egg shell from the Delta State University Campus in Cleveland, MS.
A silk flower petal from the Chinese Cemetery in Greenville, MS.
An admission ticket from Stax Records and the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN.
An admission ticket from Po' Monkey's Juke Joint in Merigold, MS.
A flying insect from a lily pond on Highway 444 near Duncan, MS.
Soil from Dockery Farms in Cleveland, MS.
A butterscotch hard candy wrapper from the parking lot of K&W Cafeteria in Burlington, NC.
A golf tee from Waynesville, NC.
and rocks from-
Hebrew Union Temple in Greenville, MS
Little Zion Graveyard in Greenwood, MS
the site of the '27 levee break in Greenville, MS
Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial Gardens in Ruleville, MS
It's the last rock that I want to talk to you about today. I picked up that particular rock on the day that I forgot to bring my camera with me, so you'll have to enjoy photographs of the garden using other links.
Most of us associate Fannie Lou Hamer with the moving speech she made to the 1964 Democratic National Convention's Credentials Committee, so moving, in fact, that President Johnson felt that her words would keep him from being elected to serve a second term. He countered with an "emergency" news conference to interrupt the broadcast of Hamer's testimony, which was aired in its entirety on most evening news programs. We think of Mrs. Hamer as a brave advocate for civil rights who told of her own life's struggles in Ruleville, Mississippi.
Gil-Scott Heron's tribute to Mrs. Hamer
And Ruleville is where you will find her today, laid to rest in the town she loved so much. Few of us will ever be in a position to address the nation and the world. But not all revolutions are televised. I want to talk about another aspect of Mrs. Hamer's life. Maybe you know someone like her; maybe you are someone like her. While working to change the way that America treated her citizens, Hamer wasted no time being of service to others in her community. She was a conduit for basic resources and necessities for the people of Ruleville. Mrs. Hamer was in the business of caring, being about her Father's business, she might say.
The song that's most associated with Mrs. Hamer is represented in the garden. You will find the following words spelled out in metal there: "Let Your Light Shine." Lots of people came together to work alongside Mrs. Hamer, but don't forget the power of one person who wants to bring some light into the darkness on behalf of others.
And if you are a teacher, advocating for children with a variety of needs is what you've been called to do. And sometimes you will feel like you are alone with a nub of a candle in your palm.
My favorite Delta moment, by far, was an impromptu one. We were spending the morning with a friend of Mrs. Hamer's, Dr. Edgar Smith. Standing at the front of the tour bus with a microphone, Dr. Smith read a letter from Mrs. Hamer that was written to him and his wife thanking them for their support and remarking on her own deteriorating health. Hearing the letter was like opening a portal to the past and catching a glimpse of a remarkable woman.
After we was finished, from the back of the bus came a woman's voice. Someone asked if Dr. Smith would lead us in a verse of of "This Little Light of Mine." And he did. To sing that song with Dr. Smith while travelling through Mrs. Hamer's Mississippi while surrounded by so many inspired, compassionate educators was a moment of delicious serendipity.
If you want to sing along, here's Bruuuuuuuuuce and Odetta with their versions of the classic.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention Mr. Charles McLaurin, a "foot soldier for justice." Mr. McLaurin met Mrs. Hamer through his affiliation with SNCC, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. We had the pleasure of meeting Mr. McLaurin and hearing his story at Delta State University. You may use the following YouTube video to see and hear him for yourself.
There is plenty of information out there for you to explore regarding Isabel Wilkerson's gorgeous book, The Warmth of other Suns. I won't get too caught up in telling you what you may already know. This title was recommended to us on the last day of The Most Southern Place on Earth, the seminar at Delta State that is the cornerstone of this blog.
I have to admit that books over 500 pages do not call my name when I'm at the library. It's terrible for an English teacher to say that, I know. It's the truth. I favor non-fiction for the bulk of my free-choice reading, so Wilkerson's book had that going for it. Also, my generous aunt and uncle sent me a birthday gift card to Barnes & Noble, so there wasn't a good reason not to buy it. When it arrived, I found that the paperback cover was made out of that material that feels just right against my fingers...you know those Vintage books. Man, it is a chunk! I got started right away.
What is it about? In short, the Great Migration. Wilkerson spent 15 years of her life preparing this book for you, and it shows from the very first page to the last. Her style is musical, flawless. If you read the first page, you will know what I mean. And the first page will beckon you to the second and so on...the book practically reads itself.
You will take it with you wherever you go. You will sit with it in your dentist's office and find yourself in an orange orchard, a cotton field, a rocketing train, a cramped apartment, a buzzing casino or in the front seat of a 1949 Buick Roadmaster. You will carry Warmth with you in your car and hope for stand-still traffic, an impromptu parade of very small turtles or a bridge opening, so you can sneak a few more pages in. You will stash it by your bedside at night, so you can grab it when the sunshine returns the next morning.
The book is anchored by three African American southerners who were part of the Great Migration. The three were chosen to represent the three main routes travelled by those who chose to leave their homes in search of a different life. All three of these individuals were alive when Wilkerson was conducting her research for the book, so they told her their own stories. Additionally, information gleaned from countless other interviews and hours of further research is woven into the telling of their tales.
You won't see a single stitch left behind by the author. If I didn't know better, I would be inclined to believe Wilkerson if she told me that she grew the book with an enchanted seed that was planted in Delta dirt and left to grow on her kitchen windowsill.
Maybe you already know all there is to know about everything. Well, I don't, And you should read the book anyway, even if you think you do. Your eyes will be opened to the basic complications of even planning to leave the South, particularly for sharecroppers. You will also find out about the hardships folks faced once they arrived in other places. Jim Crow had a broader reach than these Southerners could begin to imagine.
I certainly don't want to divulge any of the particulars to you, since you are going to read the book for yourself. I would recommend visiting Wilkerson's website and nosing around. Liking her on Facebook is also worth your while as she has links to related resources and thought-provoking, contemporary issues. I don't want you to miss this one though, so I'm giving you the link right here.
___________________________________________________
Right before I started typing this entry, I took a slice of tomato pie and fig tart to my neighbor, and just now, he came by to hand me a Tom Collins as a thanks. I'm telling you because I'm pretty sure the magic from this book had something to do with it. If your fig tree is ripe too, here's the recipe I started with, but the filling I used was simply wild cherry jam made by my boyfriend's mom, sliced figs, honey...and a touch of sea salt never hurts. Don't skip the lemon zest in the crust though. If you make it without the marscapone cheese, that means you can have some vanilla ice cream on the side. I think I've shared the tomato pie recipe, but here it is again in case your garden tomatoes are taking over your kitchen counters. And how about some music while you cook?
Summertime is perfect for trying out new music and new recipes. If you have access to fresh eggs from happy chickens, give them a try. Your baking will improve exponentially. (Don't hard boil them right away...fresh eggs aren't so good for that.)
I'm lucky enough to live a couple of doors down from a family who sells farm fresh eggs for $1.50/dozen. In order to keep the groundhogs out of their gardens, they play classic rock 24-7. The last time I picked up an order, the ladies were listening to this song by Journey.
I love having eggs over easy with fresh salsa or guacamole. Cornbread is an old standby. But my favorite summer treat that involves eggs is cobbler. If you are lucky enough to live near free-to-pick blackberry bushes, use those. If you can get your hands on some fresh peaches and blueberries, those will be delicious. Get yourself some vanilla ice cream to go on the side.
My favorite cobbler recipe comes from this book.
It's so simple; you probably already have all of the ingredients you need on hand.
American Idol is on the road again. This time there will be a stop in Clarkesdale, MS.
Truth be told, that show makes me nervous,
but I hope to tune in to see some of the local Delta talent.
If you want to check out the Small Town Bus Tour, AI says that they will update their website as more information becomes available, so get your number ready.
I'm already enjoying a mental time machine trip and imagining a young Ike or Sam
playing for a chance at the big times.
WWMD?
What would Mariah do? Would she send those guys to the next round?
Way back when, if you were an African American musician looking for a place to stay the night in Clarkesdale, the Riverside Motel was the place to be.
If you are a person of a certain age, you remember the feeling of your pajama-clad heiney scootching closer to the console television, shag carpet softening the distance between point A to point B. You could never get too close to all of that Muppet magic.
As a child, I don't think that I could quite put my finger on the attraction that I had to the show outside of Miss Piggy's deliciously obnoxious ways.
As an adult, I know exactly what I admire. People/Muppets have ideas. They make plans. They carry them out. They stick together. There's a little singing on the side. Everyone is better for it.
Jim Henson and Kermit were dreamers who put those dreams into action. Optimism and hope. I love that in a frog...and a man.
Did you watch the televised memorial for Mr. Henson in 1990? Do you remember watching Big Bird walk up to the podium? Did you cry like a baby even before he opened his beak? I did. For all of his years as a t.v. star, Big Bird is six. Don't you wish we could protect all of the children of the world from tragedy...even the Muppet children? I do.
What does this have to do with the Mississippi Delta? Jim Henson spent his early years in Leland, MS...and that's where Kermie was born. Thanks to Mike, an avid collector of Muppet memorabilia, our tour bus took a quick, unexpected turn into the parking lot next to Deer Creek.
I got to get my picture taken with one of my all-time favorite philosophers. Kermit, not Elvis. The excitement of meeting up with an old friend was electric.
Kermit's been on my mind a lot today. Mainly because of the round-the-clock news coverage of a recent horrific event. For many of us, movie theaters can be magical, nostalgic places. I have fond memories of seeing the Muppet films on the big screen, and who can forget "Goonies"? I got sick when E.T. got sick. I was concerned about leaving the theatre while Han Solo was stuck in that suffocating chocolate bar. What do you mean the movie's over?
It's good to be sensitive to how much of the ongoing news coverage seeps into our children's consciousness. As the adults in their lives, we may need to try to manage how much goes in and how it is digested. Here's a journal article that may help with that.
The Children's Television Workshop was so thoughtful in providing quality, intelligent programming for children. And do you remember when Mr. Rogers spoke right to you? He asked you questions and appeared to listen to your responses. Isn't it great to be heard, especially when you were a kid? I'm not here to tell you how to raise your child, but I think we all could use a little more uplifting, creative and goofy fare in our entertainment diets. Adults included.
Every time I hear this song, I still get all choked up and inspired. I think it's because I feel so hopeful that maybe there are more lovers and dreamers out there to balance out the conflicts that tend to dominate our airwaves. I know that you are one of them, and I hope this song reminds you of the magic that comes from films, friends and big ideas.
Put on your cotton socks and get ready to dust the kitchen floor. It's a Stax dance break. Let's celebrate the amazing talents of Booker T. and the MGs as the house band. Their fingerprints are all over that Memphis soul sound we love so much.
Sam & Dave/ "Hold On, I'm Comin'"
Otis Redding/ "Try a Little Tenderness"
Johnnie Taylor/ "Who's Making Love"
Linda Lyndell/ "What a Man"
The Bar-Kays/ "Soul Finger"
Booker T and the MGs/ "Time is Tight"
This young lady was groovin' at Stax.
Better than a pile of pancakes. Look at that vinyl!
Here lies Mr. Johnson in Little Zion's graveyard. (Davis 7/12)
Robert Johnson is a man of many mysteries. The supposed deal with the devil is only one of them and probably the easiest to dismiss as a bunch of nonsense.
It's called guitar lessons.
Who killed Johnson? Who knows?
But most folks think that the murder had something to do with a woman.
Where is he buried? One of three graves. That's where.
I'm inclined to believe that he's buried in the graveyard of
Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church.
That's where the Blues Trail marker says he is anyway.
And where are the "crossroads"?
Not in Clarkesdale, even though there's a big ol' garish pair of guitars there.
There's a crossroads closer to Dockery Farms
that seems like a plausible place to hitch a ride.
Ask Dr. Brown to point you there.
If you want to spend some time on Johnson's trail, I recommend that you accompany John Hammond in his investigations. There's also an interview with a man who has heard someone confess to killing Johnson.
Here's a section from the documentary "In Search of Robert Johnson."
We've already talked a little bit about money in rural Mississippi-- as in there isn't enough to go around. In the minds of some Mississippians it's money that has replaced skin color as a dividing line.
Church fans.
Let's return for a moment to the town as well. We'll start on Money Road, just north of Greenwood at Little Zion Church. Here we met Deacon Sylvester Hoover and joined DSU's Dr. Henry Outlaw, Jim Abbot who is a local representative of the ACLU, as wells as the son of a lawyer who served on the prosecution team during the Emmett Till trial. The four men led us in a panel discussion of the Till case.
Before you watch though, you are probably somewhat familiar with the landscape of Greenwood since The Help was filmed here. (I know that I'm an English teacher, but if you only saw the film, you really should read the book.)
But back to Emmett Till. Part of our tour of the local community included a stop at Bryant's Grocery. Below you will see the legendary Dr. Luther Brown standing next to the Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker. He wrote the text for this important plaque that marks the spot where young Emmett bought chewing gum and allegedly whistled at the store owner's young wife.
Here are the crumbling remains of the Bryant Store. It is currently owned by one of the jurors from the Till case. You can own it for 3 million dollars. If you buy it, please let Luther know, so he can help you preserve and interpret the site.
The Till jury is best remembered for delivering a remarkably swift decision (not guilty) in the case. Unfortunately, it wasn't because justice was swift. One juror even bragged that the decision would have come sooner, but they stopped to have Coca-Colas.
If you've been following my blog, you know that I've already written about Till at length, so I won't repeat myself. If you'd like to see the FBI files on the Till murder for yourself, they are available here.
The next photo might seem strange to you. It's Clint holding a popular Delta snack. Children down here love Koolickles. Each day included a "taste of the day," and we ate Koolickles in front of the Bryant Grocery. It seemed odd at first to eat a snack in front of such a terrifying site, but it's always good to be reminded of a child's life. Were Emmett a teen visiting his family in the South today, he'd surely get in line for a Koolickle at the local store.
Till is remembered for his death for certain, but up until his kidnapping and murder, he was known for his outgoing and fun-loving nature. Who among us can say that we've entertained our school pals by showing our baby fat and making our tummy roll like the waves? There are countless lessons to be learned from Till's murder, but today let's be reminded of the joyful life that he lived and his mother who loved him so.
Velvet Elvis spent yesterday morning at the homeplace. I took him to Tupelo on our way back home, and he was his usual accommodating self as he posed for pictures. Thankfully, it was just the two of us, so there were no witnesses to this event, but I'll let you in on the details. See for yourself.
We stopped on Main St. too, but E took it easy in the truck while I checked out the scene.
Elvis has an historic marker in Tupelo
as well as a Country Music and Blues Trail marker.
Here he is singing "That's All Right, Mama."
Here's Mississipian songwriter Arthur Crudup performing the same tune.
This Blues Trail marker is on Main St. in Tupelo and alludes to Shake Rag as a musical influence in the local community. Although Elvis was a young teen when his family moved to Memphis, it's hard to doubt that Shake Rag contributed to the sound that he developed as a performer.
We didn't have time to visit Graceland on our way in, but here's the Graceland cam, if you want to see who's lining up right now. You can take a virtual tour here. Or do you need the free Elvis for iPad app?
For a finale, how about Elvis singing "Suspicious Minds" in one of his white jumpsuits? Thankyouverymuch for reading. Enjoy.
Po Monkey's Merigold, MS residence turns into a social club on Thursday nights. You can find your way there using the free Blues Trail App since there's a marker to honor Mr. Monkey right outside his door. All of the siblings in his family were given animal pet names, so that's where "Monkey" comes from. There's a $5 cover charge which is used to pay the DJ. Beer and soda are reasonably priced. If you decide to visit, give yourself a a forcefield of mosquito spray before you get out of your vehicle.
Doctor Tissue plays soul tunes with all of the enthusiasm of a roller rink disc jockey from the 70s. He's situated in the back of Monkey's home where he can survey the crowd's energy, until the crowd gets too thick to evaluate. But the tunes keep coming. Why don't you dance around your kitchen to one of his selections right about now?
My favorite magazine, The Oxford American, has arranged for you to have a peek inside. When you watch this clip, imagine at least 50 more people in this sometimes juke joint. Also, the videographer manages to make the space appear larger than it is, but the joy of the place is evident. Step this way.
Finally, let Dr. Luther Brown tell you all about it in this article from Southern Spaces.
And Lee Aylward wouldn't want you to leave without hearing one of her favorites.
This one is all about art...so I'm going to rely heavily on photographs here. If you visit Merigold, MS, stop in to see Mr. Lee McCarty and his gardens. Better yet, arrange to also eat at the nearby Gallery restaurant where your feast will be served up on his original artwork...lovely, functional pottery from Delta dirt. If you see a squiggle in his designs, that's a nod to the Mississippi River. McCarty's work is reasonably priced, so stock up and plan ahead for the holidays.
Are you planning to tour the gardens? Bring a camera and bug spray.
