Folks

This wonderful piece of folk-art needlework was an exhibit from the NW Washington Fair. I would rather own this piece than something by Monet. (and I love Monet.)

I am the product of simple folks. Dad was a lumberman. Mom grew up on a farm. I grew up listening to Hank Williams and Loretta Lynn. We planted gardens and canned everything we could harvest.  Mom sewed many my school clothes on an old treadle machine and bought what she didn't sew at Sears and Roebuck. Dad spent many Sundays on the riverbank salmon fishing; partly because he loved to fish and partly because we needed the meat. They were resourceful folk, my parents, using their earthy skills to provide for their family. I love that about them. And I love it that even though I've had the opportunity for education and advancement beyond what was available to my parents; my roots are deeply planted in the soil and my tastes will always lean toward the honesty and simplicity of the country. Unpretentious. I know first-hand what it takes to make something by hand or grow things from scratch, so I'd gladly take a hand-made quilt over a cashmere blanket, a pretty folk-art drawing  instead of a masterpiece, and a Mason jar full of daisies fresh picked from the garden rather than long-stemmed roses from the florist. Sometimes I just have to chuckle at the things I learned as a child, particularly the music. Dad used to love to sing old country songs that were a little 'wild'. The other day I heard myself singing this old tune that Dad loved to sing while doing 'Miller Stomp' (a kind of cross between Irish step dancing and country line dancing)...

I won't go huntin' with you Jake
but I'll go chasin' women.
Put those hound dogs in the pen
and stop your foolish grinnin'.
The moon is right
and I'm half-tight
and life is just beginnin'
No, I won't go huntin' with you Jake
but I'll go chasin' women!


Yep, that's right! Hard to believe that Mild Mannered Debora would know this song...my repertoire of country songs is much wider than you might imagine! And though I'm much more at home with 'Amazing Grace', I have to say, I'd give anything to see my folks whirl around the living room to the Tennessee Waltz again, or to kick up my heels and do the 'Miller Stomp' with my Dad just one more time!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok02ZZMCtPY

(Click this link if you're in the mood to do the 'Miller Stomp! Note: turn my playlist (lower right side of my blog) to off first, so you don't have two songs going at once.)