Will The Circle Be Unbroken
I was reading this article in Southern Living a while ago called “Song of the South” where the author was talking about how much music is a part of the culture of the South and it can break out spontaneously in any number of locations, and I happen to agree with her. I disagree that is it is more formal in the North, but maybe that is just my family experience. The concept of how important music is was driven home for me this past summer.
I think I have mentioned this before, but I come from a very musical family. My Dad’s father had a degree in music, served as the music director of the family church, and was a composer and arranger. Played a number of instruments and was a fan of music. My Dad’s mother sang in the church choir for probably 60 of her 86 years on this earth and went to every free concert she came across from when they lived in Chicago until they moved to the South. All five of their children played a musical instrument and sang. When my Dad was a teenager he even played the drums in the band on the Bozo The Clown show. Seriously. My Dad grew up in Chicago and my grandfather worked in communications and television, so all the kids were in commercials or something… my Dad the band. Anyway, my Uncle Bri is still in a jazz band and my Aunt Wen is a music teacher. Every single one of my cousins can sing and play some sort of musical instrument.
Granted, everyone but me. I tried playing the flute in middle school and was awful at it. And my best friend will testify that she has heard me sing on key exactly three times in our nearly twenty-year friendship. My Aunt disagrees with her, but I still know I don’t sing well. If I didn’t look so much like every member of my family, I would think I was adopted. And even though I clearly did not inherit the music gene, I did get a very big appreciation for music. Love it, just like all the other members of my family.
So, when my Nana- my Dad’s mother, passed away this summer, it wasn’t a surprise that music was a big part of the celebration of her life. Honestly, even with my very bad singing voice I sang to her every time I went to see her in those last few weeks. I changed the words to the Stevie Wonder song ” I just called to say I loved you” to ” I just came to say I love you.” She smiled every time, but I’m pretty sure her hearing was gone by then, so my bad voice didn’t matter. For her funeral, my cousin Jenna, my Aunt Wen (the music teacher), and my Aunt Sue all sang the first half of Amazing Grace a cappella before asking the congregation to join. It was a perfect tribute.
It was at the wake that evening that the fact I was in the South really came out. There were probably 30 of us there… my family and friends of the family. We were all about to eat- a fabulous spread of fried chicken, rice and gravy, deviled eggs… I need to remember to do a whole blog on the funeral and wake experience… that food was something else, but I digress. So, as we gathered in the kitchen around this great platter of fried chicken, we started to hold hands to bless the meal and pray in memory of Nana, and as we waited for everyone to get there and in place, someone started to hum “Will the circle be unbroken” which I associated as a country song but apparently it is religious as well.
But some of the lyrics go:
Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by
There’s a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the skyWe sang the songs of childhood
Hymns of faith that made us strong
Ones that Mother Maybelle taught us
Hear the angels sing along
It was completely unplanned, but there we were, these 30 plus people, standing there holding hands, stomping our feet and singing “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” as loudly as we could. It was cathartic actually. Letting some of those emotions out through song. Nana would have liked it and I honestly can’t imagine that happening anywhere else but in the South… especially with all that fried chicken! You can see a YouTube clip of the song below, starts at about the 55 second mark!
Game Day!
A very true quote, even though I’m pretty positive the guy who said it was talkinga bout soccer… I’ll take it in context of the South 🙂
Happy Game Day, folks!!
Reflecting: September 11th
Every year when September 11th comes around I always am struck by how quickly time has gone by in the last 12 years, how much has happened at the same time, and how it still just seems like it wasn’t all that long ago. I often struggle on this day and every year I have a mix of emotions. First, I always want the day to be happy because it is my Dad’s birthday. I want to think about that first. Then I move onto remembering, and sometimes there are moments where that is still gut-wrenching and I get tears in my eyes.
Leave the world better than when you found it
It was a beautiful September day today. I tossed on light jacket on my way out of the house because there was a coolness in the air. It burned off quickly as the morning passed, but it was reminder that fall was near. Leaves have started to fall off the trees, even down here in the South. The sky was a beautiful blue, with the sun shining and I spent most of the day outside talking with students and hosting an event (I remembered sunscreen this time). It was a perfect start to the day, the same way it was 12 years ago.
I teach on Monday and Wednesday, and as I was walking to class this afternoon, it dawned on me that the freshmen milling around me on the way to class were in first grade when this happened. They were about six. That not only makes me feel old, but it also makes me think about how they remember the day. They were children, I hope that they were sheltered from some of what we saw, and that their parents came up with the best way to explain what was going on for them. I realize they’ve seen it on TV as it has been remembered over the years. They’ve seen the pictures. They’ve studied it as a part of their history and civic classes. They’ve paused to remember and even to do service to honor of those who lost their lives. But I wonder if they will every truly understand the emotion of that day… the utter terror, the confusion, the shock and the overwhelming sadness that swamped everyone I knew. How in an instant the entire world that we lived in changed. I get that they live in that changed world, they deal with the after effects… but to understand that day, I wonder. In a few years the entering freshmen class will be the children of 9/11… the ones that were born in that year. And after that, will come the students who hadn’t even been born yet. That is going to be odd. And I started to wonder, how to we begin to honor a day so big, when the population we work with may not care as much as some of us who are older. That will be interesting to tackle.
I’m over-analyzing, I know. I work at my alma mater, and I’m around places every day that hold memories for me as a student, but I rarely spend my days thinking about that. Working there as an adult, as a professional, is a vastly different experience than being there as a student (as it should be). September 11th though, is different. It is the consistent one day of the year where I actively think about my own college experience. I remember so much of that day, and the days that followed. And I can’t help but look around me on days like this, and look at these amazing students that I work with and teach, and realize how vastly different our experiences are, how different the worlds we’ve grown up in have been.
As I was outside at that event today, there were several tables set up where anyone could write a thank you to our local veterans and first responders, to thank them for their service. There were lots of students wearing America shirts, or patriotic colors, and plenty of them not only stopped to write a note, but went out of their way to do so. There was one young man who stood in the middle of the walk way and loudly sang Toby Keith’s “The Angry American.” That was different. They may not all remember it in great detail, but they care.
I think this whole mess with Syria has also made me pause and think more than normal. I don’t know what my opinion is about Syria, other than the fact that it is a mess. What gets me more today, is that twelve years later I can look back and see the clear path of where we went as a nation after that day. It wasn’t just a day were we saw such loss, but it was a day that set our nation on a path that has impacted all of us. Two wars. Two long and hard wars, fought far from home by brave men and women. I know many people who served in those wars, many who came home and some that didn’t. And I guess I just want that to all be over, and that makes Syria confusing and scary for me. Okay… that was a tangent, sorry. Focusing.
So, we celebrate another anniversary today. Another year where we remember all of the people who were lost too early and the families who will always grieve for them. We remember the start to these two long wars where we’ve lost so many wonderful people. And while I am reflecting on this day and the emotion that surrounds it, I am also thinking positively. I wrote cards today to veterans to say thank-you for your service. I bought cookies for the people behind me in line at the bakery. I tried (I didn’t totally succeed) to be nice during the morning rush hour and not honk my horn at people. I reminded the people I love the most that I love them and that they matter to me. I tried to be kind, to do good, to show love. I try to do this every day, but I tried extra hard today. Because for me, that is what I would like to see more of… if we each tried a little harder to be good, to be kind… and we all made a collective impact… well, that would be a great legacy.
Desmond Tutu “Do your little bit of good”
That’s my ramble for this 12th anniversary. Less in shock and less confused than I was 12 years ago, but still left with a lasting impact. Do you stop to remember this day? How so?
Translation Tuesday: Lord Help Us
Another Pinterest find. I mean really, do I even need to explain this? I certainly say it enough!
Lord Help Us
Translation Tuesday: Smothered and Covered
In fairness, we have had a relatively calm summer here in the South. It has been the 6th wettest on record and the heat wasn’t bad at all. We never even cracked the triple digit mark, unlike last summer when we hit 113 degrees in June! It has been pretty nice up until a few weeks ago and now it is so hot, I feel as if I can’t breathe.
I’ve talked about it on here in the past, how hot it can be and how the humidity descends around you like a warm and wet blanket. It has just been so nice for most of the summer, it lulled me into a false sense of security! So today’s translation is more of an observation, shared via an image on Pinterest, smothered and covered! Not only does smothered and covered refer to how you can have your hashbrowns served at Waffle House… it also refers to how it feels living in the humidity!
smothered and covered
For those of you that have experienced the South in summer… do you agree?
The Sunburn
One of the highlights of living in the South is the weather. I really don’t like snow all that much, so living in an area that rarely gets snow is fabulous. I will take those hot and humid days of August for a mild December-February any day. Living where it is warmer also means you get more time outside with warmer weather… pool season is late April/ early May until October here. This means that sunscreen, tanning lotions, swimsuits and hats are often available. I generally am pretty good about using sunscreen if I’m going to be outside, and if I’m at the pool I usually have on a big floppy hat. Generally.
Then we have the occasional screw-up. I had a major event for work this week that had me running around outside in the heat and humidity from 8:45am-3:15pm. I even made the point to stop and buy new sunscreen on my way to work so that I would have a full bottle. I had a big staff working with me and I kept asking everyone if they had sunscreen and enough water, because I didn’t want anyone to get burnt or dehydrated. Somewhere in my concern for everyone else I forgot to check on myself and I got fried. Even though I put sunscreen on my neck, arms and legs a couple times, I still got a bit burnt. The major problem was that I completely forgot to put it on my face and I also forgot a hat. So I got REALLY burnt on my face/forehead/ hair line. And now I look like I have the worst dandruff ever because I’m peeling at my hairline. Add to the fact that I was wearing big sunglasses, .so the area around my eyes is pale still. It is a disaster. But, I’ve got lots of moisturizer and aloe, so it will get better.
The story above is really just a precursor to another story about another sunburn. And I’m only sharing it in hopes that it makes the Bestie laugh. She loves to bring up this story, and she’s been having a rough week with her Dad in the hospital. So Tammi, this blog is for you.
The worst sunburn I have ever had in my life happened during a trip to Indian Rocks in 2009. It was so bad that it is still being brought up and rubbed in my face nearly five years later.
It started because I was exhausted. It got worse because I decided to use a new product. I had just wrapped up a whirlwind semester at Country Club College and I was completely and totally exhausted. I think I went from graduation, to close out, to getting on a plane to go to Florida in a two day period. It was nuts and I was really tired. The adopted family had gotten down there before me, so they picked me up at the airport, we had lunch and ran some errands and then had time for some fun on the beach.
I remember clearly all I wanted to do was sit in my chair, dig my toes in the sand, listen to some music and read a book. I set my chair up in a good spot, put my towel on it and got my new sunscreen out of my bags. Spray on sunscreen. No lotion, no mess. I thought it was a brilliant concept and I stood there on the beach and sprayed it on my skin, with the breeze blowing and the sight of the ocean calming me. I pulled my floppy hat on my head, plugged my Ipod in and sat down in the chair to relax.
And I promptly fell asleep.
For nearly two hours.
I felt pretty good when I woke up, there is nothing quite as relaxing as sleeping by the ocean. I didn’t even notice any problems until that evening, when I started to see the tale-tell hints of a burn. Then, as the evening went on, it kept getting worse. It wasn’t an even sunburn. It was in odd shapes and odd designs all over my body. I mean, flaming red over two inches and then pale white on the other side. It was odd. AND THAT IS WHEN I READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SUNSCREEN. Apparently you have to actually rub the sunscreen in still. Also, if it is windy (remember I mentioned that nice, calming breeze) you need to apply a little more, and do it a little closer to the skin. So, I ended up looking like this for the week…
One
The pizza slice
Two
The worst sunburn ever
It was painful. These pictures only show one leg and one arm. It was bad on the other arm and leg too. And that “pizza slice” shape lasted for months. Not the burn, but if you looked you could see the darker area of skin that was in the shape of a pizza slice. Now, anytime anyone of us gets a sunburn, we all compare it to how bad the pizza slice burn was. Nothing has beat this yet. Which is good, because this wasn’t pleasant. But it did provide a lot of laughs, as I hope it does again today.
Fall is here…
And by fall, I mean the start of the best season ever… football season! It has been nearly 240 days since my team has played a game and tomorrow that ends! Hooray! FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE!
Keep Calm
So, I’ll be dressed in my school colors tomorrow and ready to cheer on my favorite team! So excited for the game tomorrow, the sense of excitement that will dominate campus and, let’s be honest, the tailgate food (I see some pimento cheese dip in my future) ! Who else is ready for some football?!
Translation Tuesday: Kiss My Grits
Ah, a new Translation Tuesday! Look, consistent blogging, go me! Today’s translation is a phrase I need to use more often. I really struggle using curse words… the f.bomb is pretty popular in my house. But I have nieces and nephews who are beginning to learn words. So I need to find better substitutes and this is a great one.
Kiss my grits is a nice Southern way of saying Kiss My Ass. Doesn’t Kiss My Grits sound prettier?
It also has a back in the day reference to a sitcom called Alice I think. It was set in a diner and I vaguely remember it from when I was a kid. One of the characters who was an eccentric waitress made the comment a lot. So, do any of you use the phrase kiss my grits?
Summer Strawberry Cake
Oh Pinterest, how I love thee. I don’t know what part I love more… the fun recipes and infographics I pin, or the fact that I don’t have to bookmark a billion pages in my internet browser anymore. It may be a draw. However, one of the best recipes I got this summer was for a fresh strawberry cake and it was YUMMY! Huge hit with the fam and the office. Really, it was a perfect summer treat. The original recipe I pulled from Pinterest is here
strawberry cake
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice, divided
- 8 oz. plain or vanilla, Greek yogurt
- 12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Steps Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Grease and flour a Bundt pan
- Sift together the 2 ¼ cups of flour, salt and baking soda. Add in the lemon zest, set aside. Note you are NOT using all of the flour at this point!
- Cream together the butter and sugar
- Beat in the eggs one at a time
- Stir in 1 Tbsp. lemon juice. Again, note you are not using all of it!
- Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt
- Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour and then gently add them to the mixture
- Pour the batter into the pan
- Bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean
- Allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan and then remove from pan to cool completely
Steps Glaze:
- Use the remaining 2 Tbsp of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Whisk together to make a glaze
- Pour over the top of the cake, be sure cake is already on stand or in carrying dish.
Enjoy!
close up strawberry cake
Translation Tuesday: The Silent G
So, I was invited to join a “This is MY South” Board on Pinterest and it is so fun! First it is my very first ever group board, and want an interesting concept. Would have been so helpful with all that damn wedding planning for all the weddings I was in back in 2010! Anyway, I found this gem on there today:
And really, this is SO TRUE!
-Fixins’
– Fixin’ To
– Just Playin’
– Headin’
– Whatcha Wearin’
-How’s it goin?
And so on and so on! How many can you think of?!
Apparently, there is this game called hockey
Now. As you all may imagine, hockey is not the most popular sport in the South. I’m not saying it doesn’t have fans here, I’m just saying there are some things that have a bigger popularity… football, golf, etc. However, as I am sitting here watching the Stanley Cup (not exactly by choice) I’ve realized that my knowledge about hockey is based on three things:
1. The Mighty Ducks movie series. Ah, my appreciation of Joshua Jackson’s good looks started when I was about 11 I guess. I saw all three of those films and loved them. And it was the first I ever really heard of hockey. It was also the driving factor in my need to get inline skates (ah, to be a tween wanting to fit in during the early 90’s). I also loved the movie the Cutting Edge, which came out at roughly the same time and had a smidge of hockey in the story line.
2. A kid in a class I taught last year was from Jersey and was OBSESSED with hockey. Every free paper topic he had, he wrote about hockey. As a result, I was pretty up t o date on the whole strike/lockout thing this past fall as a result of reading his papers.
3. Growing up in Ohio, we did have a minor league hockey team that was pretty popular. Actually, maybe we had a major one too… I don’t really remember. I do remember that my friend Kelly, who moved from Minnesota to Ohio, loved hockey so we would all go in high school. She got to watch the game and the rest of us got to scope out the crowd for cute boys. Ah, to be a boy crazy teenager again. So, I didn’t exactly pay attention to what was happening in the games.
I mean… there is a puck, they have to basically go in a time out box, it is fast, can be pretty bloody. That’s enough right? Maybe I can even name 5 teams… the Bruins, the Blackhawks, the Rangers, the Flyers…. or, maybe four? Quiz me on some football and I’ll do better.
The point of this is, it made me start to wonder what sports are popular in other places and not the South? Hockey is one. I am guessing downhill sking, cross country sking, speed skating. Other winter sports? I don’t know if rugby is that big here and I don’t think lacross is as big down here as it in the North. What else am I forgetting? I think it is kind of fasciating how we have some things are just so regional. I guess soccer is a good example on a bigger scale. HUGE all over the rest of the globe, but not nearly as popular in the US.
Oh, and I’m cheering for the Chicago Blackhawks for those of you who are wondering. My Dad and his siblings grew up on the North shore of Chicago, we love all Chicago teams…. da Bears, the Cubbies, occasionally the Bulls. Too bad I didn’t even realize Chicago had a pro-hockey team until this month. But lets go Blackhawks!
And oh my…. it looks like they may win!!
Oh they did! I’m sure my Dad and Uncle have lost their voices cheering@
Things Southerners Love
Personally, I am a huge fan of #1, #8 and #9
In fact, I have the urge to go watch Gone with the Wind and have a big bowl of popcorn and a Coke!
Southerners Love
What is missing from this list? Other than being specific in saying SEC Football!
Pineapple Pecan Cake
I like to bake, for those of you following this blog, you’ve figured this out by now. I don’t know what the deal is, but I have been on a super big baking kick lately and I think my office has certainly appreciated it! I really wanted something with fruit and pecans in it the other day, but struggled with what to do. Peaches are starting to come in, but they are not amazing until around the 4th of July. Blueberries are good right now, but I really like those with cupcakes and I wasn’t feeling cupcakes. Then I got a craving for some pineapple, and that’s how I settled on the Pineapple Pecan Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. I got the idea from the http://www.keyingredient.com and made a few tweaks.
Pineapple Pecan Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soad
- 2 eggs
- 1 20 oz can of pineapple (crushed) with the juice
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Icing
- 1 stick of butter (softened)
- 1 80z container of whipped cream cheese
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 TBSP vanilla extract
Steps
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour a 9×13 baking sheet
- Mix the flour, sugar and baking soda together
- Add in the two eggs, pineapples and juice, and pecans. Mix well, but don’t beat
- Pour into pan and bake for 35-45 minutes
- Remove and let cool
Icing
- Combine all four ingredients in mixer
- Mix until smooth
- Once the cake is cool, spread all of the icing all over the top and sides
Pineapple Pecan Cake
Serve with a glass of cool milk, because it is rich…. but SOOOO GOOD!
Suggestions for St.Pete/Clearwater Area for vacation
As I mentioned the other day, I had a great time on vacation in Indian Rocks last month. It is just outside Tampa and nestled right in between Clearwater and St.Petersburg and I love it! Below are some of my thoughts on places to eat and things to do if you are in the area for vacation.
Food
- Dockside Dave’s. It is a total hole-in-the-wall dive with occasional crappy service but some fab food. Be sure to get an order of the fried veggies as an appetizer! You have not lived until you have chowed down on some deep fried carrots, broccoli, onion rings and so on. I’m not a fan of the deep fried cauliflower, but love everything else. Make sure you mix the ketchup and horseradish sauces together to dip them in! Their burgers, grilled chicken sandwich and the grouper sandwich are all pretty good too. But be sure to have the fried veggies!
Fried veggies at Dockside Dave’s
- JD’s. Another out of the way place that has a lovely view of the channel with a live band and dancing on the weekends. Their house salad dressing is homemade and I could probably eat a gallon of it, but I really love their grilled shrimp skewers. Really well priced and really good. We actually ate their twice this past go around.
Grilled Shrimp at JD’s
- Boston Market and Sweet Tomato. Yes, they are both casual dining chains… but we don’t have them near me. I can’t tell you how much I miss being near a Boston Market. Love those damn corn muffins. And then Sweet Tomatoes is just yummy and who doesn’t like a good soup and salad bar? Oh, and they have yummy blueberry muffins!
- Cody’s Original Roadhouse. I believe this is a Florida only chain and it is soooo yummy. Good tex-mex mix and yummy rolls. I had a grilled chicken quesadilla that had really great flavor. Plus, they have a great early bird special (we were with a baby and a toddler, remember?).
- Crabby Bills. Eh. okay seafood. A tad overpriced, but the t-shirts are funny.
- The Boardwalk Grill. Small location with not great A/C… but who the hell cares, the food was sooo damn good. A tiny hole-in-the-wall at John’s Pass (a restaurant and shopping area) that has the best fries ever. I mean… it was just a WOW. I had a grilled chicken sandwich and it was so good I wish I could go get another one. Go there. Bonus points because the entire crew working were awesome and made all of us laugh, including Lili, and went out of their way to make little JR and his parents comfortable by pointing them to the best AC location!
- TJ’s Italian Cafe. Great deal on pizzas if you order early and they are yummy. The Chicken piccata was okay and they didn’t have the best seating for kids, but the pizza and salads were really good.
Activities
- Beach, beach and more beach. It is gorgeous. I could sit out there for ages playing in the sand, reading a book, or taking a long walk. I should be upfront though and tell you all that I don’t really love to get in the water. I like the movie JAWS a little too much and don’t like to get in much higher than my knees or thighs. But I can tell you there are some easy access sandbars that my fam likes to swim out to… so look for those.
- Or… pool, pool and more pool. It is on the beach, so there is the no concern of sharks! And kids love it!
Please ignore my blinding paleness in this picture. My skin had clearly not seen the sun in a year.
- Things that involve boats. You can rent them. You can go para-sailing. You can go waterskiing. You can go on a sunset dinner cruise. You can go on a dolphin tour or any other number of things. We opted for the dolphin tour this year and went up to Clearwater. You can also pick one up in John’s Pass. It was a lot of fun and since we didn’t see any dolphins on the first go around, they give you the opportunity to come back later and do another cruise for free. Which we did. We planned ahead and did the first tour early in the week, so we could fit in a second trip later if needed. I am happy to report that there were dolphins on the second go-around!
- Outlet malls. The Ellenton Premium Outlet Mall is just south of Tampa, so it takes abotu 45 minutes to get there and you have to go over the HUGE Sunshine Skyway bridge (which is a toll, btw). The outlets are nice and it is wear I bought my very first COACH purse a few years ago. There is a great selection of stores and I wish I had had more time to shop… but I was being distracted by an ongoing text conversation while I was there (ahem) and was in a rush to get back in time for dinner. So the distractions were probably good for my wallet, but I did get some good deals!
- Wagon Wheel Flea Market. Oh, you don’t know what you are missing if you don’t make a stop at the Wagon Wheel during the weekend. Not only is it great for some fabulous people watching, but it is the BEST place to find sunglasses. Seriously. Be sure to go to the front building near the road, to the booth that is in the corner… they have the best deals every year, without fail. Wagon Wheel. Your mind will be blown. And you will get a good chuckle from people watching, promise.
- John’s Pass. In St.Pete… great little shopping and restaurant area. A good way to spend an cloudy afternoon!
- Amusement Parks. Busch Gardens is right there in Tampa and then it is only about an hour and a half to Orlando with Disney and Universal. We have made the day trip to Disney several times from here, but this is the first time we took Lili and SHE LOVED IT! My most favorite part of the day happened to be when she woke up from a nap. She was conked out for about 45 minutes in her stroller, so the adults had gotten some snacks are were just parked under a tent resting our feet and talking while she slept for a bit, there was a HUGE mural behind me with all sorts of characters on it and it was the very first thing she saw when she opened her eyes. She just kept saying “oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness”as fast as her little two year old excited self could get the words out. PRECIOUS.
So that is my review of things to do in the St.Pete/Clearwater area. What have I left out?
convertedsoutherner 
