Clarksdale, MS water table

This is a phenomena unheard of in NE. In Clarksdale the ground water level was so high, it heaved empty swimming pools out of the ground.

Thou shalt not poke a pipe in the ground, unless there's a pre-determined, proper place for the water to go.

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CROSS ROAD, author Christopher J. West

The story was inspired by the legend of the cross-roads in Clarksdale, MS, wherein a struggling musician sells his soul to Satan in exchange for talent and fame.

As a minister, Chris says, "If a person can truly 'sell' their soul, then supply and demand takes effect A person or entity that might want to own or possess your soul, if you will, may pay a high price for it."

The main goal of his story is, "No matter what happens to you, there's always redemption."

If someone sold their soul, how would they collect on it? Wouldn't they need another body to occupy? Would they push somebody out of theirs? Drugs and alcohol alter the mind opening the aura for anybody to walk in and take over. Is that what they'd do? What do you think?

For the record: "Hear Yee. Hear Yee. My soul is not for sale; I AM the Lord's."

West will read and sign books at the Carnegie Public Library at 4 pm today.

2013 Red Convertible Travel Series

Remembering. Memorial Day 2013

We are One Nation Under God 

indivisible 

with liberty and justice for all.

 Remembering the many who gave their all
Appreciating their sacrifice and our freedom.

 Remembering the soldiers closest to my heart
scared, brave, courageous
 night sweats, malaria bouts, nightmares, regrets, guilt,
standing for the Pledge of Allegiance with hand over heart,
deep love of the USA

 Honoring the named,
the unknown who didn't come home
the families without closure

Remembering the far away and long ago
General Patton buried with his men

2013 Red Convertible Travel Series

Going home, coming home

Windows down, I inhaled the familiar scent of Nebraska soil. It will always be home. The rolling hills. Less humidity. Friendly faces. Warm welcomes. Hugs and back scratches. Visiting school and spending time with my young friends and their families. Watching baby squirrels play in my sister's tall trees. Filling my trunk with books to give away. Cooking with my sister and laughing lots. She made a cream cheese cake that didn't make it to the picnic. I made Southern cheese grits with shrimp they loved. I must return often; it fuels my soul.

Old Fashioned Cream Cake

I yellow cake mix
1 large egg or 2 smaller ones
1 stick of soft butter
   Mix and pat into a 9x13 pan or dish

Mix together:
3 eggs
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond flavoring
Spread over cake mixture in the pan

Bake 350 degrees, if a metal pan, 325 if glass, 30 to 40 minutes  The top should be slightly brown.
See how fast it disappears for you.

On my return to MS, I stopped in Nebraska City at the truck stop on I29  and sat at the counter for faster service. A breakfast burrito was delivered to the man on my far right. I only noticed because he was upset about the sliced black olives on top and refused to eat any of it.  Since I do not have "olive anxiety", I offered to take them. He relaxed and ate his burrito. I enjoyed my olive topped omelet while he talked and talked. Among his other problems, he hated boiled yellow squash, too, after having to eat it three times a day at the babysitters. The poor guy is a hostage of his negative feelings.

I took a side trip to visit friends at Mt Vernon, MO. Moore, OK, had already been demolished. We were in a new tornado warning and took refuge in a friend's basement. When Joplin, MO was destroyed by a tornado, x-rays from their hospital blew more than 30 miles into this Mt. Vernon yard. Our evening was uneventful. Thank God! As they say in the South, "You must have been prayed up."

Tornado warnings continued through Tuesday keeping me in Mt. Vernon an extra day. No problem! If you like fresh ground coffee, go to Keen Bean. Enjoy their pastries, sandwiches, soups and cold drinks, too  Eighth-grader Skylar and I made the cream-cheese cake that did not make it through the day, either. He made the chocolate and oatmeal boiled cookies, monkey bread and Alfredo. His little sister, Adalyn showed us all up by winning numerous games of UNO. Tawnya Krempges is near becoming a National Sales Director for Mary Kay. Go Tawnya! I love MK"s new "TimeWise Repair Volu-Firm". My face feels firmer in just a few days. What will months do? Contact me here or on facebook if you're interested in trying it.

New routes can be interesting, challenging, or just plain dull. In pre-dawn and light fog, I discovered Arkansas has mountains on its west side with high-off-the-ground bridges connecting them. It reminded me of driving in Belgium. I hugged the left lane here, too.

Mississippi greeted me with humidity that slows my steps, proof of mice in the house and two cats doing nothing about it.  I would prefer not to use poison. If you know of a saint who drives out mice, I'd appreciate the info.

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Tomato Aspic Revival

Long ago, and far away, we cooked our veggies, except for cucumbers. I "heard" older women speak of  Tomato Aspic, but I wanted no part of olives and uncooked veggies in jello.Yuk! UnAmerican! If the veggies weren't cooked, I wouldn't eat them.

Life blessed me with all the things I didn't like or was afraid of. Ever curious, I asked a dear Southern friend what a Tomato Aspic was. She smiled wide. Her eyes dilated. Annabell sighed. "I haven't had it in years. I put baby shrimp and olives in mine." It wasn't on my bucket list, but for Annabel, I would try. 

I got busy being Methodist and made Tomato Aspic with Plan B to buy a cake from Kroger.  I added chopped green and yellow bell peppers, green and black olives, Bumblebee baby shrimp, blanched asparagus tips and a finely chopped vidalia onion. The inverted dish fit perfectly on the found-in-the-closet platter. I felt confident the presentation would please the eye first, and hoped the taste would come close to what they remembered. Drum roll! It was a hit! Ladies not only enjoyed it at dinner, they took servings home. I came home with nothing more than a lick left. 

Tomato Aspic

2 envelopes Knox Gelatin                               

½ cup V-8 Juice                                                               

2 ½ cups V-8 Juice

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

1/8 tsp sugar

2 tsp. onion juice

2 tsp. vinegar

1/8 tsp. tobasco

Dissolve gelatin in 1/2 cup V-8. 

Heat 2 ½ cups V-8.

Ingredient options: artichoke hearts; asparagus; green or black olives; green and other peppers; celery; shrimp; or whatever you like.                                                                            

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate in a ring mold, muffin tins, 8 x 8 dish, or your choice. If you plan to invert it, grease the container first.

Cottage Cheese Topping

12 oz. cottage cheese

3 spring (green) onions chopped

¼ cup mayonnaise

1/8 tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. salt

Mix together

If you used a ring mold, place the topping in the center. If not, put it on the side or in a separate bowl. 

2013 Red Convertible Travel Series

River banks are imaginary boundaries

Water boundaries. Wait a minute. Oh, we've diverted it for our use. Hmmm. Maybe that wasn't a good idea. If we let it "go home," so to speak, the MS Delta would be flooded from Cape Girardeau to the Gulf of Mexico. It already has 35', or more, of topsoil. Nebraska got here before I did.

The Missouri River begins in Montana and is the eastern boundary of Nebraska. Record rainfall created the worst flooding in North Dakota in 130 years in 2011. I don't know what this year's record is. Record snows in the Rockies have not yet melted. High water will continue moving southward for some time.

There is no place on this planet where there isn't "weather". We are all in this together. It is wise to help each other. We never know when we're going to need it.

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Pinocchio

A Mexican woven decoration to the left. My handmade one to the right.

I bought Pinocchio in Italy where the author of Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi was inspired in 1880.

His first movie was 1940. Easily led astray by con-men, Pinocchio has a problem with right and wrong. Jiminy Cricket is his "official" conscience. He must be brave . Only when he proves himself deserving of the Blue Fairy's trust, and his father's love, will he become a real boy.

Mediterranean Chiavari Hotel so quiet Dali & I called it the "Dead Zone". We later learned Archaeologists were meeting there.

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Memory Malfunction: the elephant and I

photo by Leroy & Alice Patocka-Fortner in Zimbabwe, Africa.

The elephant leaving the pool must have forgotten something. Me too. I published this picture and a short piece 10/27/09. Over the weekend I came across more information.

The community watering hole attracts sable, impala, bush buck and giraffe. Other visitors needing a sip, slurp or splash are oribi (small tan-colored antelope), zebra, leopard, hyena, eland and blue wildebeest. Wild hogs, baboons, monkeys, warthogs and guinea fowl join the fray. And there are probably other species as well.

Not only do they all come to drink, they bathe, pee and poop in the water. Natives come to wash their clothes and hang them on bushes to dry. Alice and Leroy's laundry was washed in well water, dried and ironed to kill the crud. Here at the pool vehicles are washed, and natives take water home for drinking and cooking. That about covers it.

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Civil War History

I don't know much about it. Nebraska didn't become a state until 1867. Gone With The Wind sticks in my mind as a story of people's resiliency and ingenuity, and a whole lot Rhett romance, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." And poor Scarlet, helpless as a rattlesnake.

In this week's Today in Mississippi, Walt Grayson addresses Mississippi's historical anniversaries. "...the 150th anniversary of the Vicksburg Campaign of the Civil war. Gen. U. S. Grant and 17,000 Union troops crossed over the MS River from Hard Times Landing, LA to Bruinsburg, MS."

"It's also the 200th anniversary of Andrew Jackson's march down the Natchez Trace with his TN Volunteers, hoping to get to the British at New Orleans. And he was following Rachel Robards, a Nashville divorcee, to Springfield Plantation, west of Fayette, where she was staying with family and friends. If you know your history, you know they eventually married and he was elected President. (I just learned that.) The plantation is still standing and will be open for tours occasionally during some of the Natchez pilgrimages."

We had cheese grits and shrimp at noon, and now I'm hungry for MS history.

Walt Grayson is the host of "Mississippi Roads" on MS Public Broadcasting TV, and the author of two "Looking Around Mississippi" books and "Oh! That Reminds Me: More Mississippi Homegrown Stories.     Contact him at walt@waltgrayson.com

2013 Red Convertible Travel Series

Winter in May

The air is charged with anxiety. May is not warming, it's more wet winter. Will it flood? When will it quit raining? Is the snow ever going to stop?

We're grateful we live about 20' higher than the creek to the north of our house. Behind the Levee is another matter. Camps are evacuated. Houses that were raised 17' after 2011 hope they are high enough. Excessive snow melt and rain flow into the MS River could produce flooding for months to come. Farmers aren't able to get into their fields. The mettle of us all is being tested. It's a knee-bender. I am reminded no problem is bigger than God. And being the all powerful, all knowing, everywhere at once Creator, it makes sense to me to align with it rather than do it my own.

I overheard two ladies talking about the "end times" being near. When I was a child, I heard on the radio that people were taking refuge in US mountain caves anticipating "the end".  It raised concerns in my young heart. How come we weren't told? What are we supposed to do? I took note of how many months until "it" was supposed to happen. It didn't. The earth didn't turn inside out. I wondered if the cave-hiders were surprised or embarrassed. That's not to say it couldn't happen some day. Nebraska has been a desert. Large animal bones similar to African species have been found in north central Nebraska. And Nebraska has been part of a large inland lake.

When I hiked the Grand Canyon, I studied nature's cupboard of resting fossils. Saltwater seashells, fresh water fish skeletons, flowers and petrified wood are evidence earth's axis shift.

Whatever does or doesn't happen, I find it beneficial to my peace of mind to ask the Lord to take care of everything and put me where He needs me. In the South they say "You better hope you're prayed up!" I don't know where the water line is on that, but only God knows which prayer tips the scale.

Wishing you warm, sunny days, an unemployed snow scoop, rivers confined to their banks, and farmland  easily growing this year's crops.

2013 Red Convertible Travel Series