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THE leader-tribune
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Do you see what I see? It’s
rain! At this writing I am trying
to contain myself to keep from
running outside in case we
see it again. Our parched lawn
and wilted shrubs and trees are
drinking as fast as they can
the tomato crop or what we
will be a crop is standing tall.
What a long-awaited blessing.
Things on the homestead
humming along as usual -
crisis after another. Got in
van one hot day and it
stayed hot with the AC
open. Wouldn’t you know
the hottest day of the year
I need a new compressor.
to worry. I squeezed into
vintage Oldsmobile and
slowed down since. Bad thing
that you can’t get in and out
the olds like you can the van.
can skid out of the van
it has leather seats. Getting
and out of the olds is like
ting in and out of a sardine
The seats are some type
stuff that one can’t slide on.
you try, your pants or skirts
halfway around. And you
to step down into it too.
steering wheel rubs my
- which is no fault of the
but I’m too old to have my
cramped.
■o >, Mr. Mrs. John
William Slrmon of *
*1 Fort Valley, are pleased to
I announce the engagement \ v /
of their daughter, Joyce f
■ I Elizabeth Slrmon to John
I Damon Watkins. Joy is the
granddaughter of Mrs. Anne
Long of Rome and the late
> I James F. Long of Cartersvllle
and Mr. and Mrs. John Slrmon
I I of Perry and the Late Joyce
I Norwood Slimon of Perry. She
I is employed In QossviUe, Tn.
I at MastefCorp In Marketing Ik
i. Advertising. John Is the son of
1 Mrs. Lucy Watkins of Elba, Al.
and the late Robert Watkins of
gf a Orlando FI. He is employed in
Cookeville, Tn. as an FT A
|| 3 July Specialist wedding They in Cookeville, plan a Q f 1
H S Tn. make where their they home. will /J
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Scott Smith
One must not complain, how¬
ever, at least I have an extra car
that is really coooool!
I’ve finally reached a point
in my elderly life when I real¬
ize that many of my working
parts are no longer working.
Things are getting stiff. Other
parts are getting loose. Some
creak, others flap. Dr. Shoup
noticed years ago that my blad¬
der was down around my knees.
I now have appointments with
every specialist I know. I want
an exam from my hair roots
to my toenails; also eyes, ears,
nose, throat, spine, hips, knees,
entrails, etc.
My glasses haven’t been
changed in 10 years (literally)
so I suppose my cateracts are
still there and doing well. My
replaced knee is all out of whack
as is my “good” knee due to
getting on all-fours to pull up a
carpet from the bathroom. Must
have done quite a number on
those old bones. 1 now waddle
like a duck - but of course, that’s
nothing new.
1 gained nine pounds on
candy, that was 90 percent off
CVS so I think I need to sue
them or something - or perhaps
sue my doctor for not sewing
my mouth closed.
SOCIAL
I had a bad spell of “dropsy”
this past weekend. There are
days when I can’t hold onto
objects to save ray life.! reached
in my cabinet above the stove to
get the box of salt I knocked a
container of sage to the floor, it
opened and sprayed the whole
floor. I cleaned that up then
opened the fridge to gpt an egg,
dropped the box breaking six
eggs in the process. I cleaned the
floor again.
Never having been a quitter,
I hung in there with my cook¬
ing. I dropped ray fresh cabbage
1 was about to shred into the
soapy dishwater. I rinsed it and
cooked it anyway. Dawn deter¬
gent doesn’t taste too bad once
you get used to it.
While looking in the freezer
for frozen apple fingers to fry,
a half pork loin slipped out and
landed on the top of my foot. I
think I added a few new words
to my vocabulary but I promised
I’d never use them again but
Lordy, that hurt!
While setting the table, a salad
plate slipped from my fingers
and broke on the floor. I filled
the bread pudding dish too full
and now have a large black
poop of crusted whatever in the
bottom of the oven. I’m afraid
Magnolia Moments
Faye Jones
LT Writer
to use the self-cleaning thing
because of fire.
As you can see, it has been
a long week at the farm. But to
get healthy, I’m drinking more
water and eating an apple a day
- along with a swig of apple
cider vinegar. That’s a winning
combination so 1 should be up
to snuff in no time! Handsome
Husband Doyle is staying on the
sidelines - watching and prob¬
ably hoping that whatever ails
me won’t rub off on him.
Have a blessed week and do
something for someone you
don’t like. It builds character.
JUNE 6, 2007
*4*. ♦ * si tl
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( Lindsay Mr. are son, the and plaasad graduation Christopher from Mrs. to Gaorgia Eula announce of Lindsay Lamar thair Tech
l r . with a B.S. dagraa in civil
> ♦ * ' anginaaring on May 5,
2007 and a B.S. dagraa
in appliad physics from
i Morahousa College on
1 May 20.
Christopher is a 2002
Ij graduate of Poach County
l High School.
Stevie, Me and
Harper Lee
Stevie, my long-time chum,
has no better friend than me.
This honor I bestowed on myself
after I took off, chasing Pulitzer
prize winning author Harper
Lee. All for Stevie’s sake.
I was zipping south down I-
65, headed toward Mobile when
I saw the exit for Monroeville.
Without thinking twice, I
whipped the car at break-neck
speed off the interstate and
drove an hour out of the way to
the small Alabama town.
See, Stevie has had her heart
set for quite a while on obtaining
an autographed copy of To Kill
A Mockingbird and Monroeville
is home to the reclusive Lee.
For a few years, I had heard
it rumored that a store there
carried signed copies. So, for
Stevie, who has no better friend
than me, 1 went in search of that
signed copy.
What I found, instead, is a
puzzling story of Harper Lee’s
self-imposed exile and a town
that caters to her wishes of pri¬
vacy.
Driving into Monroeville,
there is no mention of Lee or
her internationally-acclaimed
book that immortalized the
town. There is, however, a mon¬
ument to and other mentions of
Truman Capote, Lee’s childhood
friend and her inspiration for
the book’s eccentric child, Dili.
There were even huge banners
that unfurled down the outside
walls of the enormous court¬
house with Capote’s likeness
and name on them.
But unless you knew, you’d
never know that the tiny hamlet
is the birthplace and home of the
woman who authored what the
American Library Association
has called the most influential
book of the 20th Century.
I drove around the square then
parked in front of a combination
gift/book store. Inside, I found
a wonderfully friendly woman,
somewhere in her thirties. I told
her what I was looking for and
that I had heard a store in town
carried signed copies.
She frowned and shook her
head. “Used to. But that store
closed a few months ago. Don’t
know where you could get one
now.”
We launched into a conversa¬
tion about Lee. “Is she really as
reclusive as rumored?” I asked.
“Pretty much. She lives on
the next street over but, to tell
the truth, 1 have no idea which
house. She keeps to herself.”
“How long have you lived
here?” I was thinking that where
I come from, if America’s rtiost
famous novelist lived there, we
would know which house, how
often the lawn is mowed and
what time she rises in the mom
i
5A
Dixie Divas
Ronda Rich
Columnist
ing and settles in at night.
“All my life. I grew up here.
My parents did, too. Mama owns
this store.”
Now, I was truly incredulous.
“And you don’t know which
house she lives in?”
“Not a clue.” She paused,
pinching her lips together for a
moment then continued. “She
came in here once to get a greet¬
ing card. A lady recognized her
and spoke. Miss Lee turned right
around on her heels and walked
out without a fare-thee-well.”
On my way out of town, I
stopped at the newspaper,
Monroe Journal, which, inciden¬
tally was once owned by Harper
Lee’s attorney father who was
the true life embodiment of
Atticus Finch.
“How come there isn’t any
tribute to Harper Lee in this
town?” I asked the editor.
He shrugged and shook his
head., “I guess ‘cause she don’t
want none. She’s like that. You
don’t see her ‘round much but
she lives here mostly. Got an
apartment in New York, too.”
The receptionist spoke up
suddenly. “I see her every week.
Every Wednesday, she walks to
that paper box outside the front
door and buys a paper.”
The editor’s jaw dropped in
surprise. “She does?”
“Hmm-huh. Every
week.”
I left Monroeville without
Stevie’s signed copy but I uncov¬
ered an interesting revelation.
Harper Lee may be reclusive
but her privacy is also respected
among her lifelong neighbors.
They don’t even talk about
her among themselves. Which,
of course, breaks all the rules of
Southern nosiness. Huh, 1 mean
friendliness.
Ronda Rich is the best-sell¬
ing author of What Southern
Women Know (That Every
Woman Should) and The Town
That Came A-Courtin ’.