Shellie Rushing Tomlinson
Yea! It's Thursday, and that means Porch Time. Welcome back!
One of my subscribers has suggested a name for our little
community. How does Coon Creek sound to you? It's growing on me...
Billy Joe McAllister might have jumped off the Talahatchie Bridge
a long time before author John Shelton Reed began writing about
the South, but they do have one thing in common--double first
names.
Some people suggest that double names are popular in the South
because our family ties are tighter and there are so many aunts
and grandmas, uncles and papaws to name the children after that
we're forced to double up. I'll buy that in part, but I'm reminded
of something Mark Twain once said,"Southerners talk music."
I'm just as prone to believe that the lyrical quality of all
those Mary Beths, Leslee Annes, and John Tylers continue to appeal
to the Southerner's appreciation of cadence and rhythm.
In addition, I suspect that long ago southern mothers recognized
the benefit of the "dire double" when it comes to discipline. My
sisters and I knew it was bad when we heard the double name roll
call. Years later I succumbed to the same temptation with my own
children. When I needed to issue an ultimatum "Jessica" didn't
sound half as threatening as "Jessica Ann".
Maybe it would be fun to use double names on our porch--just for
a little while at least. I think I'll start us off in my closing
tag and when you write in to the Southern Exchange I'll post yours,
(with your permission of course).
I hope you enjoy this week's emag. Boudreaux is back in the "Chuckles"
feature. I can't help loving that spunky Cajun!
Hugs,
Shellie Charlene
P.S. This Sunday, November the 18th from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., I'll
be signing copies of my memoir, "Lessons Learned on Bull Run Road"
at "Turning Pages" Bookstore in Natchez, Mississippi. If any of you
are in the area, please come out and visit. I'd love to meet you!
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Please forward ALL THINGS SOUTHERN to your friends and family!
(You can also email them the parent site by going to
http://www.allthingssouthern.com and clicking on the link that
says "email this site to a friend.")
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"Chuckles"
THE BIG DOG FIGHT
Boudreaux and Osama decided to settle the war with one
big dog fight. They agreed to spend five years breeding
the best fighting dogs in the world. At the end of that time
the owner of the winning dog would be entitled to dominate
the world.
Osama and his dog handler, Mohammed, found the biggest, meanest
Dobermans and Rottweilers in the world and bred them with the
biggest, meanest Siberian wolves they could find. From their
litters, they selected the biggest strongest puppy and trained it
day and night to fight to its death.
After five years Osama and Mohammed came up with the most vicious
dog the world had ever seen. The animal was kept in a cage with
steel bars that were five inches thick and no one dared get near it.
When the day of the big fight came Boudreaux and his dog handler,
Pierre, showed up with a nine foot long dog, the strangest looking
thing anyone had ever seen! Boudreaux said it was a Cajun Dachshund.
Everyone felt sorry for Boudreaux because they knew there was no
way this poor excuse for a dog could possibly last 10 seconds
with Osama's big, mean animal.
When the cages were opened, the Dachshund slowly came out wagging
its tail before waddling over towards Osama's dog. The Doberman/
Rottweiler/Wolf snarled and charged the poor Dachshund. But just
as Osama's dog got close enough to bite, the Dachshund opened it's
mouth and ate Osama's dog in one bite--leaving nothing at all of
the snarling beast.
Osama came up to Boudreaux shaking his head in disbelief. "How
could this have happened? We had our best people working for five
years with the biggest, meanest Dobermans, Rottweilers, and Siberian
wolves in the world. How did you do this?"
"Dat's easy", said Boudreaux. "We 'ad our best plasic surgins
workin' fo' five year for to make dat alligator look like a
weenie dawg."
(~Special thanks to Jo Whittington for today's chuckle!)
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"A Taste of the South"
If you're the least bit Southern, you've had your share of
chicken salad. But have you had it served as a main dish?
Here's a delicious twist on an old favorite.
HOT CHICKEN SALAD
•4 cups chopped chicken breast ( 6 breasts )
•1/2 stick butter
•2 cups mayonnaise
•4 tsp. lemon juice
•4 tsp. chopped onion
•1/4 tsp. Accent
•4 cups celery, chopped
•1 cup slivered almonds
•1 cup grated cheese
•2 cups plain potato chips
Cook chicken with small amount of water, butter, Accent and salt.
Cut in pieces and mix with remaining ingredients except for
cheese and chips. Put into a large heat-proof dish. Top with
grated cheese and potato chips. Bake at 375' for 30 minutes.
Serves 10-12 easily.
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"Spotlight on the South"
SPOTLIGHT ON VETERANS
"Well," I thought to myself, "I missed it! I should
have spotlighted Veterans Day in last week's emag. This Thursday
will be too late." Ridiculous! I discarded the notion of missed
opportunity almost before it formed. It will never be too
late to honor our veterans! Not just once a year--but every single
day we enjoy the freedom that was born of the sacrifices these brave
men and women made for our country. Today, as a new generation of
courageous Americans step up to protect our liberty, memories of
the heroic efforts of previous soldiers light the way.
I hope you enjoy these links. I scoured the web for you and came
up with some great sites. Do you know the words to the very
familiar, solemn notes of Taps? I didn't. Here they are along
with a link to read more on the history of the song:
"Fading light dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.
From afar drawing nigh -- Falls the night.
"Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky.
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.
"Then good night, peaceful night,
Till the light of the dawn shineth bright,
God is near, do not fear -- Friend, good night."
History of Taps Composed By Major General Daniel Butterfield:
http://www.computingcorner.com/holidays/vets/taps.html
See this great site and get a FREE "Ultimate Sacrifice"
wallpaper for your computer screen:
http://www.computingcorner.com/themeweb/firefght/wtc/wallpaper.html
Here's a link to the history of veterans day:
http://www.usis.usemb.se/Holidays/celebrate/Veterans.html
Last on our veteran's sampler is a link to buy Tom Brokaw's
best seller, "The Greatest Generation." If you haven't read it, I
urge you to get it today. You won't regret it.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375502025/qid=1005521018/sr=8-1/allthingssout-20">The Greatest Generation-Book
Saluting the veterans,
~Shellie
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"It's Been Said..."
"A nation is no better than the individuals that compose it. "
--Cordell Hunt
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It's here! My memoir, "LESSONS LEARNED ON BULL RUN ROAD"
is available at http://www.allthingssouthern.com/books.html
Won't you visit the site and check out the FREE sample
chapter? (If you don't want to use your credit card, you
can snailmail, email of fax the printable order form!)
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"Southern Comfort"
What a sad, dangerous world it has become. As I type these words,
an American Airlines plane has just crashed in New York City.
Maybe, by the time you read this, we will know if it was another
act of terroism; maybe we won't know for some time. It occurs to
me that for the 255 people on board, and those presently unaccounted
for on the ground--the cause of their death became unimportant
the moment they stepped from this world into the next.
Dear readers, my heart is heavy knowing that some of these people
may well have been your friends and relatives. If they were, please
accept my heartfelt condolences. If they weren't, I'm sure you grieve
with me for the families they left behind.
Monday morning the victims of this tragedy woke up and went about
their business as usual. A short time later they crossed into
eternity. I wonder how many of them had heard the Gospel, but put off
thinking about what it meant to them personally? For all my readers
today I offer the following prayer from the third chapter of the
book of Ephesians, vs. 14-21:
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that
He would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be
strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.
I pray that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye,
being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth, and length and depth, and height.
I pray you would come to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus, throughout all
ages, world without end. Amen
~Shellie
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"Southern Exchange"
I love this week's exchange! It comes from a proud grandfather
whose storytelling so charmed me that I couldn't resist allowing
him to use the porch as the ultimate grandparent forum.
"Dear Shellie,
I don't know if you accept bragadocious anecdotes or not, but here
comes a true one:
This past saturday, my grandson Logan, age 6, had his first formal
basketball game in a Lexington gym with cute little cheerleaders and
most of the items that accompany college games.
Logan's dad, himself a splendid basketball player with college hopes
until he injured his knee in high school, has been working with Logan
on dribbling and shooting. Thus, he is far ahead of the rest of his
team and league. Not only was Logan the team's leading scorer, but
he hit the winning basket from mid court. Swish! I'm planning to
write Tennessee's new coach to have him come to Lexington to see
Logan play. Perhaps Logan will give the Vols a verbal committment.
Now, all you sitting on Shellie's front porch, do you think I'm rushing
matters a bit? If anyone doubts Logan's mid-court winning shot, please
write me and we will gladly send you a video his grandmother made of
the shot--a copy of the video we're sending to U.T.
Sincerely,
Billy Frank
(Hailing from the Blue Grass of Kentucky, who can't get rid of the
orange and white. We fly the U.T. flag on our front porch and only have
three bullet holes in it.)
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WHAT SOUTHERN MOMS TELL THEIR DAUGHTERS...
About marriage: "You should marry for love and not for money.
But if you're gonna marry for money--make darn sure he's got
some!" Do you remember your southern mom's advice about love,
marriage, relationships and life in general? Then join the
fun; this project is exploding! Write me at
tomtom@allthingssouthern.com to have your mom's advice
memorialized in my new book: WHAT SOUTHERN MOMS TELL THEIR
DAUGHTERS...
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