Helping Me Over the Hill

As I mentioned back in June, the month of July was scheduled for a big family get-together.  It ended up being a month-long celebration to help me "over the hill" for the Big 6-0.  My two sisters, Barbara and Karen, arrived July 1 to kick things off.

Of course visiting me means hanging out with my Dexters.  Barbara has met them before, but it was Karen's first time here on Zephyr Hill Farm, so she had to meet the whole crew.  Here she is petting her first cow, Ebby.

Barbara discovered that when there aren't enough barn boots to go around, cowboy boots work fine for mud, too.

We did some civilized, "girly" things, too, like antiquing--an especially appropriate activity for an old-timer like me!

The last time the three of us were together was five years ago, so this was a special time for us all.  Someone has to be the oldest and hit 60 first, so it might as well be me.  As I like to remind my sisters and my kids, "If I can't be a good example, I'll just have to serve as a horrible warning."

Sadly, the girls had to leave before my actual birthday, but others came to take their place . . .

We celebrated that night at my favorite restaurant with all of us locals: Jim, Monique, Herb, me, Katie (who came in from Houston), and Kara.

Before Katie headed back to Houston, we modeled our new Billy Bob teeth.  What can I say?  It's a family tradition!  She also took me shopping while she was here, so now I actually clean up nice.

Kara had spent weeks planning a special birthday menu that spanned much of July.  Since we love ethnic food, she cooked up an Around the World Food Tour of places we've visited and cuisines we enjoy, including German, African, Persian, Egyptian, Italian, Greek, Spanish and Mexican.

This was the twelve-course Persian meal she prepared one night with a little help from her Minions.

Jim and Monique brought the grandkids for a weekend, and they kept me young at heart.

Jenny and Jean-Marc came down from Ohio to join the local yokels, and we all got our own pair of teeth for some family photo fun.

Misty had to get in on the act, too, and the kids couldn't bear to take out their teeth, so the "serious" photo was only about as serious as it ever gets in this clan.  Fun times to remember, though!

When everyone else had to go home, Jenny and Jean-Marc stayed on.  They were able to use up some leave and get some rest before heading to their new base.

About the time Jenny and Jean-Marc left, Barbara came back with the rest of her family for another week of fun and laughter, like enjoying my youngest nephew's attempt to walk on water.  (Just kidding--see the swinging rope over his head?)

The month of July finally drew to an end and so, like all good things, did the longest-ever birthday bash.  After we waved goodbye to the last of the family, Herb turned to me and jokingly said, "Well, it's over.  You're not special any more."

I didn't believe him, though--I had an entire month full of lovely memories to remind me otherwise.

1163 Mary Street: The Amazing Chronicle of a House, Abandoned But Not Forgotten

This story began in 1962 when three little girls and their family moved--again.  They left their home in the countryside on Route 66 and moved into Springfield to a little rental house at 1163 Mary Street.  Susan and Barbara used to walk to school at Phelps Grove Elementary School several blocks away.  Susan, was in second grade, Barbara was in first grade, and little Karen was just two years old so she didn't go to school.

In the back yard of the little house on Mary Street was a gigantic swing set, like the kind schools have, that a man had given their father.  There was also a tire swing in a big tree.  The three little girls loved to swing.  One day Susan was spinning Barbara in the tire swing.  She twisted the rope around and around till the tire rose higher and higher, and then suddenly Susan gave the tire a hard push in the opposite direction.  Around and around the tire spun until it had completely unwound and started to spin itself back up tight again.  Again and again, Barbara spun around . . . and then she lost her cookies!

One day the girls' parents saw a possum outside.  They were afraid the girls would try to play with the possum, so they told the girls it was mean.  They got that message across so well that Barbara and Karen were terrified of the possum, but naughty Susan thought it was funny.  The girls called it "Possum Blossom."  Sometimes when they were playing outside, Susan would scream, "Here comes Possum Blossom!  Here comes Possum Blossom!"  And she would laugh when Barbara and Karen ran screaming into the house.

In the basement of the house was a little room in one corner.  The girls used to go in and play house in the little room.  It was mostly fun, but just a little bit scary because it was rather dark with only one little window up high.

And then, after just a year in the little house on Mary Street, the girls and their family moved again.  This time they moved to St. Louis.  They moved many times after that, but they never went back to Springfield again, and they never saw the house on Mary Street again.

Many, many years went by--in fact, almost 50 years.  One day Susan and Barbara were talking about all the different houses they once lived in, trying to remember the addresses.  They got on the computer and googled some of the addresses to look and see how the houses had changed.

"What was the address of that place on Mary Street in Springfield?" they asked.

Susan pulled out her old scrapbooks and looked through them (that's because she is the pack rat of the family and had kept everything!) until she found a postcard their father had sent to 1163 Mary.

"Hooray!" they exclaimed and googled the address.  All that came up was a South Mary Avenue.  They looked at the house and wondered if that was it.  Six blocks away was a former school that might have been their school, and it was in the direction Barbara remembered walking (she has a very good memory for directions!)  But how could they know for sure if that was the house?

"Just type the address into google instead of google.maps," Barbara suggested, and that's what Susan did.

Up popped a link that said:

1. 1163 Mary Street: First Floor. - this is the Hand Drawn Map ...

   handmaps.org/recent.php?ID=286

   Sage sent us this map outlining the first floor of an abandoned house she's exploring inSpringfield, Missouri. The back reads, "For HDMA - 1163 Mary Street : ...
2. Amazed, Susan and Barbara clicked on the link and found this website.  Below the intriguing picture were these words:
3. 286 : First Floor
4. Sage Dawson

Sage sent us this map outlining the first floor of an abandoned house she's exploring in Springfield, Missouri. The back reads, "For HDMA - 1163 Mary Street: First Floor." Interested? Check out more of Sage's work on her site: sagedawson.com. Her drawing, Study for Timeline, is also featured in From Here to There: A Curious Collection from the Hand Drawn Map Association. I'm also a fan of this photo showing Sage's drawing in one of our new flat file boxes (archival and waterproof, big time).

Springfield, Missouri, United States

They clicked on the link to her website and found more of Sage's artwork, including this image of 1163 Mary Street, An Abandoned House.  

Susan could not resist sending an email to Sage wondering if this might be the same house she had lived in as a girl.  Within a few days she received a reply.  Sage explained that normally Mary "Street" would be an avenue because of the direction it runs, which is why it comes up as Mary "Avenue" on google.maps, but the city made a mistake many years ago and called it "Mary Street" on the sign.  So yes, indeed, that was the house Susan and Barbara and Karen lived in as little girls.

It turns out that Sage Dawson lived across the street from 1163 Mary Street from 2009-2011.  She was intrigued by the only abandoned house on a street of houses that were well cared for, and she began using the house as a subject for her art.  She was interested in exploring the house to archive and memorialize it along with the many items that were left behind by the last tenants.  Although she was not able to find anyone who had lived in the house, neighbors remembered when it was loved and cared for, and Sage hoped to preserve the good memories someone must have had of the house through her art work about it.  

She explained, "I think it speaks to bigger issues about how the destruction and ruin of spaces and places affect communities and memory."

Imagine Sage's surprise and delight when she received an email from Susan.  More than a year after she had moved away, here "out of the blue," was a resident of the house.

Susan and Sage have exchanged several emails and plan to get together soon.  They have lots to talk about with their mutual love for old houses and the memories they hold and their desire to memorialize the houses and the people who loved them.  And of course they will talk about the old house at 1163 Mary Street and look at Sage's photos and art work while they talk about Susan's memories.  In the meantime, Sage has sent Susan a photo she took of the house.

If you ask Susan, she will probably tell you it is the old house that brought her and Sage together.  After all, the old house on Lookout Mountain used to tell her what to do to restore it.  Never underestimate the power of an old house!

Road Trip

Thursday, January 21, 2010
Thomas and Herb left for CCS about 6:30 a.m., just about when Barbara and I got up. We got ready, fed the animals, and hit the road about 8:15, heading towards Dallas. We drove 500 miles of our 800 mile trip and stopped for the night about 4:30. The highlight of our trip was the welcome center at Vicksburg, Mississippi (as we left the state!). We had no idea we had made such good time, and we thought we were in central MS near Jackson. So when Barbara looked out the window and saw water, she asked the welcome center lady, "What body of water is that out there?" The woman looked at her strangely and replied, "The Mississippi River." She probably wondered what planet we were from, not knowing that the Mississippi River is the border of Mississippi! We walked to the overlook to take these pictures, and Barbara noticed the shadows of the bridges on the water. I thought of Jenny as I took the shot. Are you jealous, Jenny? :)















Friday, January 22, 2010

I realize it makes it read backwards blog-style, but I think it's easier to follow our trip chronologically from the top to the bottom. We drove the last 300 miles, ending up in the Dallas area about 3:30 p.m., but we had sneaky stuff to do! We drove by Mary Beth's house to drop off stuff for Karen's surprise party the next morning and then looked for a store where we could buy plates for the cheese I had brought and the breads Barbara had brought. We ended up at Karen's marvelous Kroger where we had our pick of all kinds of dishes! I'm so jealous of Dallas' grocery stores! Finally, after checking in to our hotel, we made it to Karen's house about 6 p.m. where Justin became my victim for my photo-a-day and where Karen regaled us with chicken fajitas and LOTS of guacamole!















Saturday, January 23, 2010

We kidnapped Karen before 10 a.m., blindfolded her, and drove her to the house of her junior high friend Mary Beth, who had kindly agreed to host a surprise brunch. Karen was petrified that I was going to put her on a horse, so we told her we were taking her to a rodeo. When we arrived, we walked her across the grass and steered her "around that big pile" into the house where 8 of her friends were waiting to surprise her! She was truly surprised! All of the ladies had contributed food, Mary Beth plied us with mimosas and coffee, and she had even put 50 candles on the cake! AND we lit them all! I'm sure you all heard us having fun no matter how far away you live! The ladies and many family members had sent cards and pictures to contribute to a scrapbook so Karen can relive the memories. I won't be so trite as to say "A good time was had by all," but I will tell you that several of us didn't leave until 4:30 that afternoon!
Here is Karen doing the Red Hat thing, since she could (almost) officially wear one--and trying in vain to make us stop taking pictures! She's still not old enough or bossy enough to boss me around! :)















Sunday, January 24, 2010

Barbara and I enjoyed attending church with Karen and Victoria at Grace EFC that morning. Afterwards we met up with Justin, Don Sr., Bev, and Dari Erb at Mimi's, a French bistro, to celebrate again. It was a real squeeze to fit us all into the picture, but we managed!















Monday, January 25, 2010

Happy 50th Birthday, Karen!

We had a fun day, full of laughter, as you can imagine, knowing us! Karen made raspberry bellinis before dinner, and we ended the day with the menu of Karen's choice, prepared by Barbara and me (and served SYLISHLY late!):

Shrimp Scampi
Angel Hair Pasta
Fresh Broccoli with Toasted Almonds and Lemon
Black Forest Torte

We did not put 50 candles on this time, but Barbara is good in math, and she assured me that each candle could stand for 5 years!




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   


Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Barbara and I didn't want to take off the morning after and leave Karen alone to mourn her advancing years :) so we stayed one day extra. Karen showed us the new shopping area near her house and treated us to Mexican food for lunch. That night we had to pack up the car for an early start Wednesday morning, so we said goodbye to everyone.

Our reunion would be sooner than we thought, as I'd forgotten stuff at Karen's house, so she and Victoria ran it over to us. I'm still thinking of things I forgot, though! I guess we'll just have to go back soon!


Here Barbara is packing, while I'm busy taking pictures. That's why my bed is messier!








Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Driving home . . . Poor Barbara had to be my victim again, as there isn't much to take pictures of when you're driving 500 miles in one day! We were in a hurry to get back as quickly as possible because Herb was sick at home with the flu, and Thomas (who had a cold) was doing most of the feeding--including force-feeding Precious her high-calorie supplement. I was just hoping that, having hung on this long, she would make it till I got back.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

I actually forgot to take a picture! We got home to find that Herb, along with Thomas, had made it back to school for the first time that week. He was feeling better, though not good by any means. And Precious, despite having lost 7 1/2 oz. of her 1 1/2 lb. weight, was alive and starting to eat real food again. She just lay on my shoulder for a long time. Thomas is our hero!

Friday, January 29, 2010

After a lazy morning, Barbara and I drove in to Chickamauga to enjoy the shops and cute downtown area. We had about an hour before the predicted bad weather hit--early! So we headed home through giant drifting snowflakes like we'd never seen before. Ethereal!
Barbara was going to take this popcorn home to her family, but it wouldn't fit in my car. Sorry, guys, you'll just have to enjoy it here!

















Once home, we enjoyed the beautiful snowfall safe and sound inside. Herb and Thomas arrived from CCS shortly after we did since school was let out early. We ended up getting over 3" and had our wish come true--seeing the farm covered in snow.

Hitting the Road

I haven't taken today's picture yet; I'm waiting till my subjects arrive! Barbara and Thomas are driving here today. Early tomorrow morning, Barbara and I will hit the road for Dallas. We're going to help Karen celebrate her 50th birthday! We'll be there for four days, and I will certainly be taking pictures, but they will have to wait till I get back for me to post them. Fair warning, Barb and Karen and Justin and Victoria, I have to take a picture a day. Hmm! Four days, four people, you do the math.

Meanwhile, Thomas will be staying here with Herb, helping feed the animals, getting up at the crack of dawn to do it before an early departure for CCS! Poor Thomas! I bet if he has ever entertained ideas of being a farmer, this will put them to rest. Speaking of rest, I do hope he gets some while he's here!

I'll miss you all while I'm gone. Please pray for Precious who is still in the animal hospital.

I'm so thankful for my sisters and excited to have this extended time with them! Together we will soon represent over 150 years of wise, wacky women! As soon as Barbara and Thomas arrive, I'll put their picture right here: