gather together

Once again we were burying a family member who should not be buried. Another funeral that we should not have to attend, another person we should not have to miss, not yet, not this soon, not this suddenly, not this young.

I say though, it’s a damn good thing we’re such a BIG family (although some of us Taffs better start multiplying or we won’t be numerous forever…), because when we gather together it is still wonderful, it will always be wonderful won’t it? Aunt Sherry’s funeral necessitated a particularly unique opportunity for our family to travel together. Together the extended Taff family greeted Texas friends, comforted and provided distraction to J, S, and C, together we got on a plane, together we arrived in Mississippi, and together pilgrimed to her burial place in Betheden, to a church, a town and a people that are near to all our roots but mostly belong to Sherry. Together we buried her.

We will miss her and forever curse the suddenness with which she unfairly disappeared from our midst, but the togetherness we still have we will be sure to cherish.

Texas and Mississippi Taffs at the San Antonio airport

for aunt sherry

I think Aunt Sherry would like these.

Neverland

J clipped the orchard (of his own volition!!) but he didn’t get too close to the house cause, he said, rabbits were running every which way like crazy (my own words).

Douglass Manor

I’ve been wanting to get out to MD’s house for the longest, ever since i first heard about it. We’d heard that he’d taken the family homeplace and parred it down to suit his needs, not that we have any such plans, but the idea is obviously intriguing in a time when we waver between wanting to preserve buildings that are, though we love them, unfit for our current use. Often these homes built for large families and sometimes servants combined, are simply too large for us today, especially when we’re considering them second homes. Mom was equally interested in MD’s house since i’d given her the run-down so after the 5th Sunday Sing at X-Prairie we attended May 30th, she managed to invite ourselves over. M was party to it as well and we couldn’t've done it without her.

The house used to be a dogtrot log cabin which is evident in the retelling. However, when MD was growing up here it had already been covered with siding and interior walls i suppose, a common practice in upgrading one’s domicile from the rustic log look. A second story was added too to complete what i imagine was a basic 2/2 structure.

It was 1981 when MD and his wife renovated the Douglas homestead. The second story came down leaving only a tiny loft for kids and grandkids, and the width was narrowed by several feet on each end. Stained glass windows from a home near Cooksville were salvaged and surround the large headboard in the bedroom to the right of the hall entrance and a variety of windows flank the chimney at the opposite end of the cabin (for it is back to that status now) reaching up the tall wall of a lofted room. The kitchen is tiny, almost a kitchenette tucked off the living room in the center of the house. Family and antique wardrobes and chests provide storage the way closets do today, and in general the pieces of furniture in the house fit and fill each place. The very original logs are exposed in the entrance hall which has kept the front door of the larger home to make for a very interesting juxtaposition that i love. It is cozy in a wonderfully good way. One could feel like Thoreau out on his pond there.

Presidential Failure in the Garden

“Five acres of peach trees at twenty-one feet apart will furnish dead wood enough to supply a fireplace all winter, and may be kept up at the trouble of only planting about seventy peach stones a year.” —Thomas Jefferson

I’m reading about TJ and Washington’s gardens in my Historic Landscapes and Gardens class (!!) and it’s quite interesting to read of their failures, fellow gardeners sympathize so well with such things even those of us with minimal experience. Near the end of his life it sounds as though TJ had a few too many experiments going on, his cultivation of the Italian grape was not alone among his failures and I particularly love (in a sad sympathetic way) the above depressing quote.

new blog!

for my Atlanta life at last.
http://atlantadays.wordpress.com/

the Pecan Crop 2010

we picked up pecans at Sunshine over Thanksgiving (which Mom, P, R and I spent in Louisville with a mighty big crew of Tripletts and Boydstuns). But the pecans, now they are something to write home about. Of course I got pecans on the way to mississippi off hwy 78 between Georgia and AL, one of those stretches of the drive i always seem to meander off of I-20. Seeing this sign (below), how could i not stop?? I had to be certain there would be pecan pie. His pecans, however, your typical Stewarts weren’t even his own and had been brought to him from down south of Montgomery. At Sunshine the one tree in the yard, was bountiful, along with a smattering of others. Mom even gave a few bags away (to me who had her own) after shelling them.

Good to know the pecan trees will keep producing even without Mil to care for them.

phew

phew
I cannot think of the word “phew” (as in “Phew!” or, similarly, “whew!”) without first thinking of Philip, who used this word prolifically back in the day. He must’ve read it somewhere, because he took care to enunciate this awkward exclamation of relief, he might’ve even pronounced the ‘p’ somehow. Anyhow, I’ve always understood his pronunciation of the word because the second thing this word brings to mind for me is Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie books which I was obsessed with in Elementary school. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s father was forever saying “phew!” and it stuck with me because of it’s awkwardness in our modern language, it seemed outdated and unpronouncable, so I, unlike P, never really tried. These days, however, “phew” is a very fun word to have in my vocabulary.

snow shutdown

We are still snowed in here in the atl, and we with no heat, here’s how our days have gone:

day 1: (sunday) snow starts at 8pm and doesn’t stop, by midnight there’s inches and inches all over the city! Nimby doesn’t know what to think, he chases every footstep he takes and doesn’t want to come in til he’s figured it out.

day 2: wake up to a beautiful white world, precipitation stopped along with the heat in our house. brrr. J braves going to work for some reason (one 6 cars on I-20 he reports, one of 4 people at work: Home Depot hdqtrs. we think he’s crazy and suspect lots of others do too). Viv’s work canceled but it’s so cold (by now 58 and going down) in the house we trudge up to the coffee shop, VERY few cars braving the roads which are mostly icy under that snow. we settle in there for a few hours, then walk home for lunch, picking up space heaters from B on the way. we don’t want to drive to Lowes after all. the afternoon and evening is spent at midway pub (opened at 3 with one bartender) with the whole neighborhood. some people walked 45 min (about 2 miles) to be with friends and beer. it’s quite packed by 9 when we walk back down the middle of Flat Shoals Rd.

day 3: no one going to work again. we set up office in the kitchen (and J at his desk in the connected bunny room), but the space heaters aren’t cutting it, the rest of the house is 48F and our room not much better. at noon i brave the roads to get backup. much better. temps still below freezing but the light traffic seems to be clearing some roads. our street is still a sheet of ice though.

day 4: (wednesday) busy day at work, still a sheet of ice outside the front of the copy shop. we’re the only copy shop open apparently so people are calling us from all over the city. fedex and ups not delivering, great. icy walking everywhere, all these cold nights turns any moisture on the ground to ice.

day 5: (thurs morning) our yards still a thick block of ice, it cruches underfoot, but you have to walk hard on your heels or you’ll slide.

oh, heat? who knows. I haven’t been in my room for more than clothes (which i leave overnight in the bathroom) in days, sleeping in C’s bed cause it’s closer to the bathroom which is warm (:

being at Sunshine in the cold has really prepared me for this, it ain’t bad atall!

to Give or What to Give

since the spring I have been doing the layout for Sevananda Coop’s monthly newspaper/newsletter. Of course I have always had much I’d like to SAY in such a publication but this is my first article and I’m fairly proud of it (: please note: contributions also from editor MM and copyeditor Rex

pdf story

By Emily Taff, Sevananda Working Member

Last year, my mom suggested my three siblings and I have a gift-free Christmas. We were all grieving the loss of family members who recently had died, and I know she was dreading the melee of holiday shopping. But the four of us successfully protested; by taking away the chance for us to give to each other, we would’ve been denied the opportunity to consider each loved one that was still with us. I enjoy thinking about friends and family members on my list and considering what they would like. It’s exciting to find a present I know will thrill those I love, whether it’s a pair of socks, a book, or a piece of art. The process requires me to consider not my needs and values, but theirs. Gift giving, at its best, is a selfless activity that forces us to think outside our own narrow desires and concerns and should be an important part of our lives whether we celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, or any other celebration during the year.

By giving gifts, we partake in a ritual that demonstrates we care. This expression makes us, the giver, feel useful, loving and just downright good. Gift giving is an important part of human interaction and defines relationships and strengthens our connections to those we love . Frequently, it is the giver who reaps the biggest benefits. This is why, while it seems reasonable to cut back on spending and our consumerism during the heavily marketed holidays, banning gift exchange completely may not be the best solution.

While some promoters of gift-gifting during the holidays promulgate an insidious consumerism that creates stress and is detrimental to the environment, there are plenty of opportunities for gifts that are meaningful for the receiver and take our impact on the earth into consideration. Gifts do not have to be grabbed from the crazy throngs of holiday peddlers, nor does giving necessitate our participation in the ever-expanding consumption of goods. We can buy conscientiously. We can make and bake our gifts. And we can make ourselves and those around us feel good! Here are some thoughts on how to do that:

Buy Conscientiously
Choose gifts that illustrate your commitment to sustainable living by reducing your impact on the planet and supporting causes that are meaningful to you.
• Organic herbal teas and fair-trade coffees are perfect gifts for most people. They don’t clutter homes because the recipient consumes them. In addition, you and your loved one can enjoy these goods knowing that your dollars support sustainable businesses.
• Support disadvantaged artisans in developing countries by purchasing gifts such as jewelry, stationery, musical instruments, and household goods from companies and stores that provide a market for their wares such as Ten Thousand Villages (www.tenthousandvillages.com).
• Give gifts made of reused and recycled materials. Stores such as the Re-Inspiration store on Atlanta’s Westside (www.reinspirationstore.com), offer art and products made primarily by local designers with found materials.
• Local handmade products are also available directly from the artisans at markets across the city and permanent marketplaces such as the beehive boutique in the Edgewood shopping center (www.thebeehiveatl.com).
• If the support of artists and craftsmen closer to home interests you, shop on www.etsy.com, where goods are created from scratch or repaired and decorated for great recycled gifts.

Make or Bake Your Gifts
Of course, there are still many ways to give without buying a darned thing (except maybe ingredients from your favorite co-op!). Check out these ideas and look for others at www.buynothingchristmas.org.
• Get into the kitchen! Create delicious homemade treats like fudge, cheese straws, breads, preserves, or even premix the dry ingredients for breads and other baked goods.
• Make your own gifts out of reused materials such as hand-stitched books and journals http://www.homemadegiftguru.com/homemade-journal.html.
• Create cards and enclose a poem for someone.

Gifts of Your Labor
• How about providing a friend with a voucher for your labor. For example, you may provide babysitting services, house cleaning, or help turning the soil in your recipient’s garden. My nerdy brother once gave everyone a ticket for a “free computer check up!” or “hard drive backup!”

Gift Certificates
• How about a meal at an organic good restaurant or a health spa?
• Museum or other arts organizations offer memberships that will allow your friends and family to take advantage or free events over the course of an entire year.

Re-gift
• Pass along a gift to you to someone who might appreciate it more. While a faux pas to some, what’s wrong with re-gifting items if they will delight the recipient?

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, make sure your recipient knows the thought and the values that went into their gift. Giving is an opportunity to share your ideals with others, and to identify and promote common goals and ideas. Here, without preaching, you are able to pass on the ethics that matter to you, doing your part to make this world a healthier place. Doesn’t THAT make you feel good?!