PATSY CLINE'S STOMPING GROUNDS.

Patsy Cline was a hardworking, gutsy woman. That rich voice stilled makes me ache sometimes when I hear her voice and think what we missed by her untimely death. This painting of her is at the Visitors Center in Winchester. The town just commemorated the 50th year of her death.

This chair was part of a set that she was crazy about and moved it with her from place to place.
Virginia Patterson Hensley was her name by birth. She married Cline and then Charles Dick.

At the cemetery, this huge bell tower memorial is dedicated to her. Bells seem so appropriate to me.

Jim and I then stopped by her house. Jim had been once before, but her popularity has increased to the point where you cannot park right in front of the house. Her mother’s home is just across the street.
The house is now open to tours, but, better than a tour is the docents we met,  two cousins of Jenny’s. Jenny is what the family still calls her, short for Virginia.

We had  such fun visiting with Pat, on the left and her daughter, Pam, on the right. They told us about the house, that it at one time had kerosene lighting. The Hensley’s lived on the “wrong” side of the tracks. And much like Janis Joplin, her hometown didn’t exactly accept her when she first became a famous singer. It boggles my mind how mean-spirited people could be to their fellow-man/woman and still call themselves Christians.

Patsy quit high school to take on three jobs to help support mom and her brother and sister. She worked at a Gaunts Drugstore, she worked the counter at a Newburys, and she swept out buses at the Greyhound station. Newburys was right next door to the theater, and they had amateur nights there. Jenny would take off her apron, run to the theater, sing in the program, and then run back to her job.

Pam pointed out a walnut tree that Jenny planted. She loved her garden and always had herbs and a vegetable garden. She had two children, Julie and Randy Dick.

She loved flowers and this is the side yard of the house.

Cousin Pat lived on a farm and cherished the visits she shared with her cousin Jenny as a child.  Her mother was a sister to Jenny’s mother, Hilda, who would babysit them when Pat’s parents came to town to have their wheat ground, or other errands. Pam was only a year old when her famous cousin died. She tells how the relatives excitedly watched the Arthur Godfrey hour when Jenny received the star award and got her big boost.  They have a tape of that event and she enjoys seeing the film and hearing stories about her famous cousin.  It was so much fun talking with them; warm and caring people. We bought a copy of a new book about Patsy.

I grew up without television and not much radio, either. I’ve never been star struck, but I love it when the famous person can be real to you and that is what Pat and Pam did for us yesterday, and we thank you.

We then spent the afternoon at the Shenandoah Valley Museum. A large complex that also includes a Civil War Battlefield site and the Glen Burnie House and Gardens. The house is closed for renovation. It was beastly hot. We skipped everything but the air-conditioned exhibits, and they were excellent.  I’m having family visit us today, so I’ll have to finish the museum part of my blog tomorrow.

SIBLING CHRISTMAS

My sister Dawn spent Christmas with her immediate family in Chico and drove the three hours to my house on Dec. 28th. Brother Norman is my homeless brother and we all get together once a year at Christmas.  Norman is very political and shared all of the letters he has written to various newspapers and congress-people. We played Rummikub endlessly, it seemed with much fun and hilarity.


Yesterday, the rest of the family arrived, Clark, Bill, and Theresa, Clarks Finance. Bill lost his bid for congress. Without my glasses on, I didn’t realize I caught everyone with their mouths full.


We don’t exchange gifts, but Dawn bought me a shirt she couldn’t resist.

She knows I’m an avid fan of Downton Abbey. Mary from Downton Abbey is the figure on the right. If you don’t know the program, well, it may be hard to understand. We had a lot of fun, remembering the program which is set to begin a third series January 16th. I will miss it because I’ll be on the road with Jim.




We talked politics and solved the problems of the world in four hours. We reminisced about being raised with politics at dinner every night when we were growing up. We all have different solutions, it seems. We talked about our thinning ranks.


Dawn reminded me she will be 80 years old on her next birthday.


Norman is 66. Bill is 75. Clark is the youngest at 57. We’ve lost two brothers, Mark and Dan. So, we remember them and tell family stories. There is always a new one not everyone has heard before.  It is time well spent. Today, I un-decorate and say good-bye to another eventful year as I close the house, (mostly the refrigerator) and pack my bags and prepare to meet Jim. (Maybe I can hide the five pounds I put on over Thanksgiving and Christmas.)

DIVORCE AND OTHER ODDITIES.

Little tales from my walking  journals begun in the 1950′s  need this preface.  A person wishing to divorce  in the 50′s  had to give a reason for it. The petitioner had to show hardship of some type for the divorce to be granted by a divorce court. The usual reason given was “mental cruelty”  if you were  incompatible with your spouse.

In Chicago, Mrs. Rum charged her husband with drunkeness-won her divorce and resumed her maiden name of Miss Cork.  (March 10th, 1968)

These snippets are name related, as you shall see.

A women in Los Angeles charged her husband nagged her when she refused to drink with him. She was granted the divorce and resumed her maiden name of Selma Sober.
At one time,  Mrs. Ashe was in charge of the barbeque pits at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Donald C. Crooks was a probate judge in Redwood Falls, Minnesota in 1952.

William C. Wolf  was voted President of the Lions Club in Duluth, Minnesota, also in 1952.

Dr. Michael Fox is an animal psychologist.  (1976.)

I think Dr. Fox is still practicing, but it made more sense to treat the pet owners than the pets, in my opinion. Hmm!  In a sense he did.

Morris Fisher is president of the Wisconsin Fish Company, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Harlan Apple used to be a foreman for the Skoman Apple Corporation of Wenatchee, Washington.

Cardinal Sin has been the archbishop of Manila for 12 years.

Patience Scales has been a piano teacher in San Francisco for 30 years.

Jack Swallows has been hearing puns about his name ever since he moved to San Juan Capistrano. Swallows says:  “I do fly away from time to time, but I always come back.” The radio stations call him every March and October, when the swallows normally  arrive and leave the Mission San Juan Capistrano. They usually ask if he has packed his bags.

Whoo boy. That must get tiresome.
And, from this sign in Pittsfield, Massachusetts:

Ice Cream Cones, Sundaes, and Malts- J. Freeze Proprietor.

My walking journals have taken several phases. I readied six of them and thought I should launch them into the world that they might gather little stories wherever they landed. I placed my name and address in them to be returned. None has come back. I left one at a bus station, another in a doorway of someone who was moving to Texas. I passed one to a friend who sent  it around with members of  his writer’s workshop. I kept one journal, intent on collecting those trivial little stories from the lives of  friends, family and people I meet. For instance, my friend Pam, after a painful second divorce, had the words Never Again  tattooed on her ring finger.
On-line, they never disappear.

SOME DAYS ARE LIKE THAT.

Theresa, my brother Clark’s fiance,  is an excellent cook and I should have taken pictures of the food, since I did such a lousy job of taking pictures of the people gathered at my brother’s  home yesterday. Some days are like that.

Dawn, my sister, with our visiting  cousin, Gary Rowe  enjoyed a rich artichoke dip with a variety of crackers and chips;   brie, pomegranate & pepper jelly, candied pecans, cookies,chips, and assorted drinks. I rarely indulge in such rich foods, but couldn’t resist snacking and drinking a good barbera wine. Theresa makes everything from scratch. Delish!

It is naturally an event when an out-of-town cousin visits.  Conversations around the table get quite spirited and old memories are displayed and hashed over for the fun and laughter they bring.

Clark was known most of his life as Corky, and only took back his real name late in life. He and my son,  Doug work together sometimes.  When dinner was served, I was full of goodies and could have skipped dinner.  I didn’t though.  Why resist the most beautiful Cobb Salad with roasted chicken and bacon, three different dressings;  four different kinds of quiche, jumbo shrimp, and apple cobbler for desert. Naw!  I loaded up and went home feeling like a stuffed toad.  Food for a King or Queen. Some days are like that.

SOLAR COOKING

 We returned to Thousand Trails Las Vegas for another two weeks. As it turned out, we are parked in the same spot, with the same neighbor as when we left 10 days ago. Yesterday was a sunshiney, warm day, a nice long walk and and the laundry done, sets us up for another chance to play in a city that is primed for fun.
 And we got information from Judy Price about how to never run out of milk. There is a product called Real Fresh, from Holland, PA. in 8 oz. containers that keeps milk shelf fresh. I'll let you know how it works. While talking to Judy, she had never heard of a solar cooker. At one time I used one frequently and I love them. They never over-cook your food or burn anything. Food tastes so good from a solar cooker and the work savings alone is worth giving it a try.

This is a fancy solar cooker, meaning complicated for doing a lot of heavy cooking. You can fry on this solar device which  you cannot on mine. (Pictures courtesy of Solar Cooking International.)

 This smaller solar cooker is similar to the one I use.  Its obviously home made. I've made a couple myself, devised out of a tinfoil lined cardboard box. They don't cook as consistently as the foil-lined cardboard box types sold by Solar Cooking International. Nor do the home made ones store well. The 501c 3 organization, Solar Cooking International,  is promoting buying solar cookers to donate to hurricane ravaged  Haiti or other parts of the world where they benefit third world peoples who have thin resources. Instead of buying candy on valentines day, buy a solar cooker for yourself or someone else. When you buy one, it provides four to a needy family in Kenya. A good way to spend $25.
They have an interesting website at:

http://solarcooking.org/

Their newsletter is always full of family stories about people who benefited from solar cookers.