School days remembered - Curtis School Reunion today

Nell Gilmer speaking to the group

Sara Young, 94, visiting with Mary Ann Donaldson

Today was our country school (gone since the 1960's) reunion.  We held the reunion in the picnic pavilion behind New Ebenezer Baptist Church near where the old Curtis Jr High School was located.

People started arriving around 10:30 A.M.and it was a steady stream of people arriving for the next hour.

My friend Janice and I have chaired this reunion for 26 years and every year we say "This was the best reunion ever!" -   except for the year right after Hurricane Katrina when we had so many love bugs invading our area.  A few times it has been cold the
second Sat. in October, but usually it is warm by the noon hour.

We honor a family that attended Curtis school and sometimes an outstanding alumnus.  Today we honored my cousin, Jimmy Blankenship, an only child in his family.  He moved to Alexander City, AL when he was in the 7th grade and spent the rest of his life in northeast Alabama.

We printed a picture of grades 1-3 at Curtis school in the school year 1945-46 on front of a postcard that we used for the reunion announcement.  Today we honored people in the photo, along with Jimmy.

We had 75 in attendance, including spouses, and others. People still bring dishes of the past, i.e., chicken and dressing, homemade dumplings, fried chicken, all kinds of vegetables including sweet potatoes, peas, turnip greens.  The dessert table was laden with a big assortment of goodies and cakes.    Sweet tea is still the drink of choice at these reunions.

People kept visiting long after they had finished eating.  Lots of people helped put things in order and clean up the area.  It was indeed a "reunion" of old friends, old memories, and so much to talk

'Possum in the 'simmon tree; Raccoon on the ground

I  remember as a child hearing a bluegrass song on the Grand Ole Opry
that went something like this:  "Possum in a 'simmon tree; Raccoon on the ground.  'Possum said to raccoon, Throw them 'simmons down!"

We had wild persimmon trees on the farm and if we tried to eat them before the were ripe, it would cause our mouth to pucker up something terrible.  But ripe persimmons were juicy and sweet.  They were always better after the first frost.  We had a hard time getting them before the wild animals ate them up.

Our neighbors have nursery stock persimmon trees in their yards.  Two days ago I picked some of the fruit to slice and put in the dehydrator to dry.  It only takes two days to dry them to make them crisp and sweet.

When you slice the persimmons, there is a beautiful star design.  There are no seeds in the cultivated persimmons. If you wait until the persimmons are fully ripe, the slices are bright orange.

I plan to use some of my dried fruit to make a kitchen wreath for Thanksgiving.  I will use sticks of cinnamon with the persimmon slices, all strung on raffia and hang it in the kitchen window.  Then I will use the leftover to make delicious persimmon bread.

Preparing for another cold winter

Jim and our "free" firewood

My brother Perry cleared the woods along Beaver Dam Creek where he has property near the by-pass in Elba.  He cut the limbs of the hardwood trees for us to use as firewood in our fireplace.  Jim and I loaded this trailer and brought it home and unloaded it, to use this winter.  We love our warm and cozy fireplace when it's cold outside.

You can see the by-pass bridge behind the trailer.  A new bridge has been built for the extra 2 lanes that will be built later.

This is the cabin Perry is working on.  He added the deck first.  This is the back side, facing the creek and woods.  He recently added the windows and the view is beautiful from inside the cabin.

The next photo is a view of  the creek  which borders his property.  He cleared all the underbrush in order to see the creek.  This creek flooded the town of Elba in 1998 when it broke the levee.  There's about 5' of water in the creek when there's a heavy rain.

Our 58th anniversary today - October 3, 2011

October 1953,  At Troy State College

Fifty-eight years ago today, Jim and I were married in a civil ceremony in Greenville, SC.

He was in the army stationed at Fort Rucker, AL and I was a sophomore at Troy State College, Troy, AL.

I met Jim on a blind date in July that summer when he came to the college with a friend, who was dating one of my friends.  Three months later we got married.  And we are still married 58 years later!

How did we celebrate our anniversary today?  By staying home and relaxing after a hectic weekend of reunions (59th high school class reunion on Friday, Grimes reunion on Saturday, and a church picnic on Sunday afternoon at Brunson Farm.

We had turnip greens from our fall garden, left-over pasta salad from the weekend, grilled pork chops, sliced tomatoes and jalepeno cornbread baked in an iron skillet.  After dinner, I prepared a large pot of pear relish, using pears from one neighbor and sweet peppers from another neighbor.

We received phone calls, email messages and facebook messages today wishing us a Happy Anniversary.  I ordered a fresh flower arrangement for church next Sun. morning - for our anniversary.

As one of our sons observed at our 50th Anniversary celebration, we have been "happily incompatible" for all these years.

Looking at the World Through Rose Colored Glasses

Jim tells me that I look at the world through rose-colored glasses.  I look for the good in people and enjoy every thing that God has made.  Like the most beautiful setting sun I've ever seen in the sky late this afternoon.  I rushed inside to tell Jim to come look at it.  

Tea Olive blossoms

I was outside working all morning and enjoyed the butterflies that are migrating.  Big bees were buzzing about and so noisy that I thought for a minute there was a "swarm" of honey bees nearby.  I planted fall flowers and some cabbage plants.  Then I pulled up weeds in the flower beds for awhile.  I kept smelling the fragrant tea olive from the tree growing right outside the kitchen door.


I often think about the Bible verse we repeat every Sunday morning at church:  "This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it."    I am thankful for every day and most of all I'm thankful for good health.  So many people my age have multiple health problems.  I learned about this while working on our school class reunion. For this reason, I keep busy and make good use of every minute of the day.  


My friend, Glenda Williams, sent me this interesting article today via email.  I thought it was so interesting because what the teacher told her class reflects my feelings too. In fact I thought it was me talking!!

Lisa Beamer, whose husband Todd, died in the terrorist attack on 9/11/01, made some comments on a TV news story on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  She talked about how she and her children missed Todd and  how they were coping.  Then she  recalled this story:
  

"I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack.    About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a classroom of students.  As the late  afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on the edge of her desk and sat down there.  


With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and said, ' Class is over, I would like to share with all of you, a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is very important.  Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves.  None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment.

Perhaps this is the Lord's way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day

Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves.  None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment.

Perhaps this is the Lord's way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day.   Her eyes beginning to water, she went on, 'So I would like you all to make me a promise.  

From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice.   

It doesn't have to be something you see, it could be a scent, perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the  way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground.  

Please look for these things, and cherish them.  For, although it may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life.  The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy.  The things we often take for  granted.  

The class was completely quiet.  We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently.   

That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester.  

Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook. 
 

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today.  Go barefoot.  Or walk on the beach  at sunset.   Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double dip ice cream cone.  For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do."   

My Book Club met today

I belong to a book club that meets the 3rd Tuesday morning of each month. We have an average attendance of around 10 people and all sit around a long table in Just Folk Coffeehouse on the town square.  Once a year we make a selection of books to read during the year and then we all start reading. Usually the person that selects a particular book will in turn be the moderator at the meeting when we discuss that book.

We share books or get them from the local public library.  Some of us order them for our Kindles and it's easy to go back and review them just before our club meeting.

Today we discussed a really good book, Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.  I filled in as moderator for a friend who went out of town on a trip with her husband.  I enjoyed reading this book so much that I read it in two days.  The chapters alternated between 2002 and 1942, which was very interesting.  Here's a short review of the book that I copied from Amazon, where I order many of my books:


"Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.


Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an   article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah.  Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life. 

Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode."

When we gather at our meetings, we talk about good books we are reading or have read.  Some have been made into movies, i.e. The Help, a book we read earlier this year.  I was wondering how they could make a movie that would be like the book, with the dialect and all.  The movie pretty much followed the book and was great.  People clapped at the end of the movie  - I guess cheering for one of the main characters, Minnie.    Now we are waiting for the movie "Sarah's Key" to come to our area.  We might have to get it on Netflix next year and watch it on big screen TV at one of our meetings.    

PEAR DAY: Pear Relish, Pear Honey Marmalade, and Pear Bread

Our neighbor Ralph appeared at the door Tuesday with a 5-gallon bucket of pears. 

Today I decided to spend the day processing the pears.  First I had to peel them which took about an hour.  Then the next step was to cut them into thin slices away from the hard core.

 I had already made some pear preserves so i decided to make my favorite, Pear Honey Marmalade.  It is made of grated pears, sugar, and crushed pineapple. I made 2 recipes of that, bringing the mixture to a boil and simmering for about an hour until pears are transparent and the juice thick like syrup.

Then I made several jars of pear relish.  This is so good to eat with vegetables, put on hot dogs and hamburgers, add to salads, etc.  The relish is made of ground pears, green bell peppers, chopped onions, and a couple of red hot peppers.  To this you add a quart of vinegar and bring to a boil, and then fill jars with the hot mixture and seal. 

I made 2 recipes of pear bread, filling a loaf pan and 7 small loaf pans.  I didn't have any pecans to put in it so I sprinkled the top of each loaf with roasted sunflower seeds.  Delicious!

After all this I still had a lot of pears left over.  So I added some sugar and cooked them for about 2 hours and made some more pear preserves.  I'll probably give a lot of them away over the winter.