My husband the oil mogul

When my grandmother died a few years ago, I inherited about 1/500th of an oil well in Mississippi. My husband, a poor English boy who grew up watching Dallas on television, almost died himself of happiness.

"Relax," I said. "I didn't really inherit a complete oil well. We aren't moguls now." The checks I get from the oil company might be up to $100 a month but then I have to pay a share of the operating expenses too so that takes a lot out of it. So basically we might get 20 bucks a month out of it.

But my husband is so happy being an oil mogul -- he pores over any statement we get, just like he is JR Ewing.

Today we got papers about investing in some new deep-drilling operation. Mel is in heaven right now, looking over seismic surveys of the area, aerial maps of the proposed site and mineral leases.

I thought it was cute how excited he gets over nothing so took a pic.

Public enemies

The release of the new movie about John Dillinger reminded me of secret family history that I wanted to make sure I told my daughter so the information wasn't lost.

I had a great-aunt who fell in love with one of the Dillingers -- Frank -- got pregnant and wanted to marry him. My great grandfather was so mortified that she would think she could marry into the mobster family (when John Dillinger was Public Enemy Number 1) that he refused and made her give the baby up for adoption. This destroyed her; she was never the same again.

Isn't that sad that she would have to give up the love of her life and her baby because of public opinion against the family? I wonder what happened to her child. She must have worried about the baby for the rest of her life.

What happened with her and the Dillinger boy was considered so terrible, however, that no one spoke of it in the family, and it wasn't until the funeral of one of the elder members of my family that someone told me so I would keep the information alive for another generation.

Gone with the Wind published on this day in 1936

Gone with the Wind was published on this day in 1936. Every Southern girl of my generation knows the story well. And as we know today, and here I am quoting a source on the Internet: "Many historians regard the book as having a strong ideological commitment to the cause of the Confederacy and a romanticized view of the culture of the antebellum South."

Whatever you think about the book, Southerners know it well so I thought some background trivia would be appropriate today.

"As several elements of Gone with the Wind have parallels with Margaret Mitchell's own life, her experiences may have provided some inspiration for the story. Mitchell's understanding of life and hardship during the American Civil War, for example, came from elderly relatives and neighbors passing war stories to her generation.

While Margaret Mitchell used to say that her Gone with the Wind characters were not based on real people, modern researchers have found similarities to some of the people in Mitchell's own life as well as to individuals she knew or she heard of.

Mitchell's maternal grandmother, Annie Fitzgerald Stephens, was born in 1845; she was the daughter of an Irish immigrant, who owned a large plantation on Tara Road in Clayton County, south of Atlanta, and who married an American woman named Ellen, and had several children, all daughters.

Researchers believed Rhett Butler to be based on Mitchell's first husband, Red Upshaw. She divorced him after she learned he was a bootlegger. Other historical evidence suggests the Butler character to be based on George Trenholm, a famous blockade-runner.

Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, the mother of US president Theodore Roosevelt may have been an inspiration for Scarlett O'Hara. Roosevelt biographer David McCullough discovered that Mitchell, as a reporter for The Atlanta Journal, conducted an interview with one of Martha's closest friends and bridesmaid, Evelyn King Williams, then 87. In that interview, she described Martha's physical appearance, beauty, grace, and intelligence in great detail. The similarities between Martha and the Scarlett character are striking."

Tomorrow is another day.

The Evolution of a Tomato

(This was an email sent to my kids and a few others and one of those "others" asked me to share on the blog.) 

Okay.  You may find this trivial ...but, I'm so proud of this tomato because I grew it and it was a solitary, independent enterprise. And, this is the prettiest tomato I've ever seen: perfect in size, shape, color. 

 

Not the first time I've been involved in tomato growing but this time it was just me doing the planting and growing, watering and watching.  You recall I'm a BFFG (bona fide farm girl) and my childhood summers were a glorious mix of tractor-driving, sand-dune excursions (looking for and finding arrowheads) and vegetable-growing and picking.  Mom kept tiny salt shakers and we'd pull tomatoes off the vine and eat them right there in the garden.  I also remember that at least one time we drove to town and sold produce on the street corner in tiny Hugoton, Kansas.  Mom canned those tomatoes so Dad would have them for his fried potatoes in the winter months.  She also made ketchup in addition to the canning, and jelly and jam processing.  What an industrious, talented and smart woman!  

 

Well, I must give you the facts on this particular tomato.  It weighed in at 10oz, 3 3/4" in diameter and retained the prettiest little crown of green stem, with not a blemish on its shiny red surface.  And, get this:  Its texture upon eating is firm and has that "just right" tomato taste.  

 

I'd been dreading the thought of taking the knife to this tomato.  I just didn't want to cut it; I wanted to find a county fair and put it on exhibit and win the 1st place Purple Ribbon.  But, this was the day to experience it's culinary glory ... just right for eating...so I had to do it.   

 

Sorry you can't be here to have a tomato and mayonnaise sandwich.

 

What we would be wearing in 2000 as predicted in 1930s

Check this video out. It was made in the 1930s to predict what we would be wearing in the year 2000. I would love to wear a glass dress, and wearing a flashlight on your head to search for an honest man seems like a good idea too.

Gotta Love the Natchez Life

Today I was reminded why I love the life in Natchez.

This afternoon I went to a magnificent duo piano concert at First Presbyterian Church, which is impressive in its own right. These two world class pianists were brought to Natchez through connections with a church member. It was truly awe inspiring.

I could have gone to a poetry reading at an art gallery or a opera presentation at an antebellum home. But instead I went to a neighbor's, who serves scrumptious homemade ice cream on her porch every Sunday evening in the summer. This was the opening night, and it was standing room only - all the porch rockers were full.

It's summertime - and the living is easy.

Demise of an Oak

I was walking my dog along the Natchez bluff this morning when I noticed an oak tree had recently been cut down. I know the city lost many trees during the recent storm, but I don't think this tree was a victim of that, other than possibly losing a few small rotten limbs. The tree trunk and limbs, that lay on the ground, appeared healthy, so was chopping it down absolutely necessary? Wouldn't a simple pruning of the rotten limbs be a more efficient solution to preserving this tree?








I noticed a few weeks ago someone parked under this particular tree, on a Saturday night (I guess while at Bowie's Tavern) and a limb fell through the sun roof, into the car, cracking the front windshield--oops! What bad timing. I hope this wasn't the reason for cutting down this large old oak tree; isn't parking on the bluff illegal?




I also noticed two Mockingbirds sitting on the branches, now laying on the ground, refusing to abandon the oak. If you look closely, you can see the Mockingbird sitting on the tip of the limb:


I know it's sometimes necessary to cut down trees, if severely damaged or rotten, so I hope the city had an appropriate reason. We need to preserve these beautiful oaks on the bluff whenever possible. Trees not only enhance our landscape and provide shade on these blistering summer days, but they help the environment as well. Trees absorb CO2 while emitting oxygen. Trees subdue noise pollution and reduce erosion by storing water and breaking the force of rain that falls. So I hope the city exhausted all options before chopping down this lovely oak.