One Pill Makes You Small

Last night I watched the PBS show Finding Your Roots. This first episode of the season involved "the unsolved mysteries behind the family stories of political organizer Donna Brazile, actor Ty Burrell and artist Kara Walker as they learn how the legacy of slavery has shaped their identities."

While I was not familiar with any of these people, their search for their heritage led them back to pre-Civil War era slavery. Donna Brazile and Kara Walker are both black; Ty Burrell (Modern Family) is a white actor whose 4th great-grandfather raped his girl-child slave at 13 - producing a child whose children ultimately produced the actor.

Documents produced during this documentary included sales slips, wills showing the value of slaves, photos, and other paperwork that showed not only the intermingling of race but also the indignity of slavery and the horror of people being considered property.

I felt very small as I watched this, knowing that locally we are having similar discussions about old slave quarters over at the Greenfield site. That's an industrial park purchased 20 years ago that has never paid off and has evolved into more of a recreational area than I think the county administration ever intended.

Botetourt has a lot of history. We do not have a large black population here, but some are descendants of the slaves owned by the Preston family. The Prestons were big-deal folk back in their day and they had a number of slaves.

The slave quarters at Greenfield, being prepped for moving. Photo taken December 30, 2015.

The slave quarters at Greenfield. Photo taken December 30, 2015.

My husband's family, going back to pre-Civil War days, also owned slaves on property next door to the Preston land. My husband's family did not know the ancestor patriarch was a slave holder, apparently, until I ran across a will where the landowner gave his slave property to his wife and children. I imagine some people still living in this county are descendants from those slaves as well - they may not even know it. Unfortunately, much of that history was destroyed in the late 1960s-early 1970s when the farm became a subdivision. By that time the property was out of family hands, and I wasn't part of the family anyway. But I still feel small when I think about it, and what was probably lost. No doubt developers simply bulldozed away valuable historic artifacts.

The impact upon the individuals in the PBS show was significant. The actor was ashamed of his slave-owning grandfather who raped a child. The other women were upset to learn for certain that they had slaves in their background, some of which were sold at young ages. It was heart breaking to watch as they discovered their heritage. They were saddened and angry, as they should have been, at this intolerable treatment of human beings.

This whole affair here locally, wherein slave quarters are being moved to a new location in order to construct a shell building with no tenant in sight, has not been handled well. The county administration, including the supervisors who as the ultimate authority unfortunately end up with all the blame, neglected to inform the public of their plans until the final hour. They have been defensive and disingenuous in their arguments, saying that the public has known for 20 years that the structures would be moved. They need to own their missteps.

Items from the slave quarters. Photo taken December 30, 2015.

Shirley Johnson-Lewis, who said her ancestors were slaves at Greenfield,
 discussed the issue with concerned citizens.
The slave quarters are in the background. Photo taken December 30, 2016.

That 20-year-old plan lay in a dusty folder somewhere and had long been forgotten. Many people who live here now and enjoy the recreational opportunities at Greenfield didn't know such a document existed. The lack of transparency by the administration over this shell building project and the secrecy with which it has been executed has caused the problem. People feel betrayed. The supervisors feel like they are receiving undeserved criticism. There is right and wrong on both sides, as there always is. I understand what is going on but it is a complicated mess. I am not sure the general public actually realizes all that is involved.

Today there is a meeting at the Fincastle library at 1:00 p.m. It is a citizens' group, trying to organize to combat what they see as injustice. While I applaud their efforts, I feel this cause has been lost. The structures are already in the process of being prepped for moving. At least they are not simply tearing them down; they are relocating the structures, hopefully in their entirety if they don't fall apart. So there is some effort to preserve this history, just not in situ, which historians prefer.

View from the slave quarters.
This knoll will be leveled for the shell building. Photo taken December 30, 2015.

View from the slave quarters. Photo taken December 30, 2015.

I don't know what the answer is. I don't believe in tearing down monuments to the Civil War. I don't think the Confederate flag should be waved about - it belongs in a museum as the history it is. I don't think ignoring the past and hoping it will go away is the answer. Many people deny that the problems we have today go back 150 years to slavery, but of course they do. They go back even further than that, to the time of the feudal systems and other forms of control that have always existed. There has always been people at the top and people at the bottom. The fact that I know (knew?) a "middle class" was just the luck of the time I was born in. In the annals of history, the middle class is just a blip.

The world is a very big place. The implications of small actions can have big impacts. Good intentions can turn bad with the twist of a knife. It is a small world we live in, but with very large costs.

One Pill Makes You Larger

The shelves of my local supermarket this morning were completely bare of yogurt.

It is January 4, so everyone in my county, apparently, has gone on a diet. They are joining gyms that they will attend twice, looking up apps for their cell phones, calculating calories, and watching exercise videos on YouTube or Netflix or wherever they can find them.

Dieting and eating well is so complicated that if you type in "dieting" on Amazon, you receive back more than 100,000 results. Type in "eating healthy" and you receive more than 50,000 results.

So there are more than 150,000 ways, at least, to go about trying to lose weight and be healthy.

I am fat. Obese. Large. I admit it. I hate it. Nobody likes to have to purchase plus sizes in the women's department. We just don't. Of course we're rather shop in the smaller sizes. We'd rather wear a dress with a waist and not something that looks like a tent.

Most people are not overweight by choice. I suppose there are a few who are, but I don't know of any.

Do people overeat? Sure. Do they know why? Probably not. Some are emotional eaters - they get upset and reach for the nearest candy bar. Some eat too fast and it takes them a long time to fill up. They don't stop when they are hungry because the message that they've had enough to eat doesn't get to their brain fast enough.

We live sedentary lifestyles now, sitting in front of screens. We don't sweat and work the land and walk behind a cow with a plow. But even people who do outside work, farmers, construction workers, and others, end up with belly overhangs.

I think much of our weight issues are environmental, and I include the "non-food food industry" in that assessment. Much of what we eat is stuff that pretends to be food. I was raised on it, and you probably were, too. My parents had a garden and we ate fresh vegetables, of course, but we also ate TV dinners, sandwiches, hot dogs, bologna, and whatever else. My mother wasn't a stay-at-home mom; she worked. Dinner tended to be whatever she could get that was quick and easy. I tried to help but hated (and still hate) to cook.

Those additives are addictive. Not just sugar, but the things with long names that certainly do not sound like "broccoli." Who knows what kind of changes those chemicals do to bodies?

I have a nephew who is into body building. He eats a strict diet and drinks gallons and gallons of distilled water. Because our water is all polluted, too, you know. We have no idea what we're drinking. My water comes from a well and I am sure there are chemicals - pesticides and such - leeching into the water from the farm. I use three sets of filtration systems on the water I drink, but I daresay that doesn't get it all.

Not all of us have my nephew's desire for muscles, or necessarily the ability and time to eat with such restrictions. And those restrictions apparently aren't healthy - my nephew recently went to the doctor with stomach pains and the diagnosis was his body building diet. So while he might be the vision of a small demi-god, he is not entirely healthy.

For me, my weight issues are multiple. I am too sedentary - an issue worsened by physical traumas that include problems with my ankle (bone-on-bone), problems with my hip and stomach (scar tissue problems from previous surgeries) and a rib in my back that constantly slips in and out, keeping me from breathing well or moving my arm. I have hormonal issues created by a hysterectomy and thyroid issues.

Many of the drugs I take for the above issues, along with my high blood pressure, encourage fluid retention.

I have, of course, attempted many diets. I lost weight on Atkins but felt like crap. I lost weight on Weight Watchers but felt like crap. I am quick to figure out ways to "cheat" on any diet - if it says eat a cup of spaghetti, well, a cup of dried spaghetti turns into a larger portion than a cup of cooked spaghetti, but hey, I still had a cup of spaghetti in the end. I have read many diet books and they all confound me with their calorie-counting and exercises.

The last time I lost a lot of weight was when I had a gallbladder attack and couldn't eat for 8 days. Great weight loss but I felt like crap, and then had the surgery that's left me in a bad way.

I think the answer, for me, and probably for many people, lies in changing our food supply. We need to stop with the pesticides and the chemicals and the things that aren't truly meant for human consumption. We need to clean the environment - air, water, soil - and work at making a utopia, not a dystopia.

Otherwise, I think we will all, ultimately, be fat.

Sunday Stealing: 2016

From Sunday Stealing

This Year Meme (2016)

This Year:
A bad habit I'm going to break: eating too much.

A new skill I'd like to learn: how to draw.

A person I'd like to be more like: my friend Teresa. Or Elizabeth Roosevelt. It's a toss-up.

A good deed I'm going to do: keep an eye on the leaders of my community.

A place I'd like to visit: a hobbit hole.

A book I'd like to read: The Silmarillion by J R R Tolkien

A letter I'm going to write: one to myself for when I'm 60.

A new food I'd like to try: I wouldn't mind going through an entire cookbook trying every recipe, if someone could recommend a healthy and easy one.

I'm going to do better at: watching my mood swings.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

 

Saturday 9: Sleigh Ride

Saturday 9: Sleigh Ride (1993)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Have you ever ridden in a sleigh?

A. I think when I was very, very young. It's a vague memory. Maybe more dream than actual memory.

2) This recording is from Harry Connick Jr's best-selling CD, When My Heart Finds Christmas. This year, did you add any new holiday songs to your personal collection?

A. I did not.

3) Harry was born and raised in New Orleans, a city that seldom sees snow. Have you had enough snow to shovel so far this winter?

A. Southwestern Virginia had its warmest December on record, with temperatures going above 70 degrees at times. So no snow. At least not yet.

4) Speaking of weather, Harry hosted a mini-series on The Weather Channel called 100 Biggest Weather Moments. Do you frequently check The Weather Channel?

A. Not frequently, but if there is something going on I will take a look.

5) Harry's mother was a very impressive woman -- a lawyer, judge and Louisiana Supreme Court justice. Tell us about someone in your family of whom you're very proud.

A. My husband is a very accomplished man, though he would never admit it. He has only a high school degree but is a Battalion Chief in the city fire department. He oversees eight fire stations and has the lives of about 50 men on his hands when he is at work. He is also a farmer and a building contractor. He works terribly hard at all three of his jobs. I am quite proud of him.

Welcome to the first Sat 9 of 2016

6)  Happy New Year! Now that Christmas is over, are you done with holiday music and decorations? Or are you sad to see the holidays end?

A. I am glad to see them over and gone.

7) The New Year's Eve fireworks celebration in Sydney, Australia is famous for coordinating pyrotechnics and music. Have you ever welcomed the New Year in another country?

A. I generally don't even welcome the New Year in my own country - I go to bed and sleep right through midnight.

8) Do you have any New Year's Resolutions for 2016?

A. Not yet. I don't know if I will have any.

9) Looking back on 2015, what surprised you?

A. That I stopped writing for a living. I thought I would be doing that for another 20 years or so. But for once I actually listened to my doctor and have been attempting to de-stress (it isn't working yet).

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Welcome 2016

 

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thursday Thirteen - New Year's Eve

So another year over, another year gone! A new one beginning at the break of dawn. Farewell 2015, welcome 2016 - may all of your hearts be light with joy and prosperity.

I'm late today getting to Thursday 13 - my computer decided this morning to go down and it took some time to get it back (and then the power went out while I was in the middle of writing this). Perhaps one of the worst things, for me, about 2015 has been Windows 10. It has certainly taken up a lot of energy and time that I really didn't have to give.

But onward and upward, as they say. And then with it being New Year's Eve, what will I write about today?

1. So far, I have not made any resolutions for the New Year. I've not thought about it at all.


Has absolutely nothing to do with this post.

2. Some years I choose a power word, but I haven't done that, either. I think if I choose one, it might HEALTHY. But I'm still thinking on it.

3. Yesterday, as the year came to a close, I found that my health is still bad enough that I am still unable to go out and "do" a story as a news reporter. In the effort, I learned that I really don't want to go do them anymore, actually, which was a revelation. I thought I'd never stop wanting to do that but its allure has vanished. Maybe that's because of my health but I think instead maybe I've just grown apart from it. So I think I will be spending 2016 figuring out what it is I want to do with the next five years of my life.

Hollins University. Also nothing to do with this post.

4. I also reaffirmed something yesterday that I already knew - I really don't fit in. I'm an introvert, and while I need an occasional outing, I am not good in groups. That is why being a news reporter worked for me for 30 years. I could be involved yet not be involved. I sat on the sidelines and watched, and then provided information for others. It was a way to teach but not actually stand in front of a classroom.

5. My next phase of life should involve something sort of like #4 - a way to work but not be overly involved. Volunteering has always sounded good and I have done it in the past, but for unknown (at least to me) reasons I tend to rise to the top of the groups. I find myself being nominated for office. Then I am named Secretary or Press Relations or some such, when really all I want to do is attend the meetings, meet and greet, and leave. I have been known to drop out of organizations after being pressed by one person or another to take a leadership role. I don't mind selling the hot dogs but I don't want to be the one organizing the fair.

Trillium. Blooms in April. Also nothing to do with this post.

6. It would be nice to spend more time with friends and family. I am not actually expecting that to happen. Everyone has their lives.

7. Perhaps I should learn something new - take some free classes, or set up my own version of a course in something I'm interested in and watch lots of TED talks or YouTube videos or whatever I can find on the subject. That might be fun.

Bear photographed in 2009. And nothing to do with this post.

8. Maybe, given all the issues I have had with Windows 10, I should take computer programming. :-)

9. Coloring is something I hope to do a lot of. Several people gave me coloring books for Christmas. Very nice books, about mythical places or fairy forests or wizardry. Fantasy elements that interest me. I find it meditative so one thing I plan to do is clear a spot in my office where I can do that daily.

Black swan, 2010. Also nothing to do with this post.

10. This is not a resolution but a must: I need to stay on top of our bookkeeping records better.

11. It would be nice if we could have world peace and hope, but I don't see it coming. I will hope, though, that in 2016 people can be less afraid and a little nicer.

Rainbow 2011. Also nothing to do with this post.

12. Laughter and music are good sounds, ones that I need to hear more of.

13. And I'm looking forward to Downton Abby.


Happy New Year! Thank you for reading Blue Country Magic!

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 425th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Christmas Day 2015

Christmas Day is generally spent with my in-laws.

My sister-in-law (left) and my mother-in-law preparing snacks.

 

The prodigal nephew comes home. We weren't expecting him; he said he had to work but showed up. A pleasant and lovely surprise.

 

My husband apparently pontificating on some important point. That's nephew Chris on the right.

 

 

Mother-in-law's Christmas tree.

 

The opening of the packages.

 

More package opening.

 

My husband had wrapped this parcel in duct tape.

 

The remains of the day.

 


A little food porn to finish it off. Christmas dinner!

Christmas Eve 2015

Christmas Eve is when I held an open house of sorts and folks, generally family, dropped by.

Here are some photos of the day:

Table ready for guests.

 

How I hid my treadmill.

 

My tree for 2015.

 

Packages and decorations on the other side of the room.

 

How I decorated the fireplace.

 

My friend Teresa brought me this lovely painting on Christmas Eve. Didn't she do a fantastic job?

 

My aunt, Carolyn.

 


My husband, apparently eating.



My brother.
 




My brother and his son, Trey.




My father.



Shannon and Rita.

 

Shannon, Rita, and Eunice (my mother-in-law).

Missing from the photos because apparently I didn't pick up the camera while they were there: my sister-in-law, Dina, my niece, Zoe, and her boyfriend, and Shannon's boyfriend, Chris.

Sunday Stealing: Year End

From Sunday Stealing

The 2015 Year End Meme

From the archives!

1. What did you do in 2015 that you’d never done before?

A. I stopped working and writing (for pay). I've never deliberately done that before. I have always had a job of some kind.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

A. I didn't make any resolutions last year. I don't know if I will make any for 2016.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

A. No.

4. Tell us a valuable lesson you learned in 2015?

A. I learned that most people do not change.

5. What was your favorite new TV program?

A. Supergirl!

6. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?

A. Better health.

7. What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

A. Can't really think of any dates. I had nice visits with friends for which I am grateful, but I don't know the dates they occurred. Wait, we had a nice trip to Charleston in the fall. That'll do.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

A. I went from only being able to manage 2 minutes on the treadmill before it bent me over double with pain to 25 minutes before the pain forced me off. It doesn't sound like a big deal but it really is.

9. What was your biggest failure?

A. Diet.

10. What was the best thing you bought?

A. A coloring book.

11. Whose behavior merited celebration?

A. My husband has been very good and kind while I've tried to get more healthy and overcome this weird disability I have acquired.

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and disgusted?

A. 

13. What song will always remind you of 2015?

A. I don't really know. Maybe that Adele song, Hello.

14. What do you wish you’d done more of?

A. Writing and guitar-playing.

15. What do you wish you’d done less of?

A. Playing video games on the computer.

16. What was the best book you read?

A. The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert

17. What one thing would have made your year measurably more satisfying?

A. If I had not had to give up my writing work at my doctor's request (it was more like an order).
 
18.  Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

A. 
 

Starry starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget
Like the strangers that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn of bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.

 

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They did not listen, they're not listening still
Perhaps they never will.

 

     -- Don McLean

 

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

 

Saturday 9: Happy Holidays!

Saturday 9: Happy Holidays! (from the archives)


1. As you can see, Sam (meme author) loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. Yet some children are reluctant to climb into Jolly Old St. Nick's lap. Did you enjoy the tradition or were you shy? Or did you by pass it altogether -- either because you wrote him a letter or because your family didn't celebrate Christmas?

A. As I recall, I wasn't afraid of him, though I remember that he scared my brother once when he dropped by the house (some friend of my father's, I think). However, I don't recall climbing on his lap every year, though I am sure I must have.

2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there?

A. I hope I'm on the nice list. I mean, the worst thing I do is eat raw cookie dough and cut the tags out pillows.

3. Did you ship any gifts to friends and family this year? If so, which one traveled the farthest?

A. The one I sent to England to a friend would have gone the longest way. Others went to Florida and California.

4. Did you buy yourself a gift this year?

A. Yes. On Black Friday, J C Penny's had a nice warm coat marked down to a ridiculously low price, and I needed a new coat. So I bought it. I then donated my old coats to a church that was collecting coats and blankets for homeless people, since I had a new one.

5. What's your favorite holiday-themed movie?

A. It's a Wonderful Life.

6. Thinking of movies, Christmas is lucrative for Hollywood. Have you ever gone to a movie theater on Christmas Day?

A. Once, a very long time ago, we attempted to see a movie on Christmas day but the theater was closed. That was probably 25 years ago. Haven't been back on Christmas day since.

7. Have you ever suffered an embarrassing moment at the company Christmas party?

A. No. That's mostly because I've been self-employed for the last 20 years.

8. What's your favorite beverage in cold weather?

A. Hot chocolate.

9. Share a memory from last Christmas.

A. Hmm. Christmas 2014? My aunt did not make it down to see me for the first time in about 15 years, and it wasn't until the New Year that we were able to visit and exchange presents. She brought along her granddaughter, who at 8 years old is the most well-mannered and brightest child I have ever met. She can carry on a conversation better than most adults. My husband and I were very impressed with her.

As for yesterday's Christmas (which was the last Christmas, right, now that it's over?), my nephew who lives in Florida turned up unexpectedly, much to our delight. He'd initially had to work (he's in health care) but his schedule changed so he caught a flight home.

_____________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Merry Christmas!

Thursday Thirteen - Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas if you celebrate: Happy Thursday, if you don't!



No snow for us this year. This photo is from 2007.

Christmas Eve has always been the day I look forward to more so than Christmas Day. Christmas Eve is all anticipation and excitement. You can still play "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" or "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," which on Christmas Day you shouldn't do because it's more solemn. At least, it is more solemn once the packages are opened.



Santa from a 2008 parade.

When we were children, my mother used to let my brother and I exchange presents on Christmas Eve as a way to calm us down. I am not sure how old we were when that tradition started, but it is one we have continued almost annually.

I have no words of wisdom for the holiday. Not sure what to list for a Thursday 13, either. We are having extremely warm weather - too warm for making candy and other things that do better in cold weather, that's for sure.


Tree-top Star from 2008

So what to write? A list of things I want? I don't want much, though. World peace, less fighting, more empathy - the things that only humanity can change by changing their hearts. Santa doesn't bring those kinds of things.

How about a list of how naughty I've been? Because we all know I am super-duper bad.

1. I ate raw cookie dough. I know, it is the worst possible sin. I mean, what if that raw egg gets me all messed up? I've only been doing this for as long as I can remember, but I did it just yesterday.

2. Tags do not remain on my pillows. I remove them.

3. Some of my writing earlier in the year was okay. I was proud of it, anyway. I did my best.


My brother in 2007. Has nothing to do with my writing. But he has much to do with Christmas Eve.

4. But then I stopped writing, and became sloth-like, because my doctors wanted me to stop having stress and stuff in hopes I would get better. So I played too many video games.

5. Envy overcame me when I saw the new smart phones. I would really like to have one but I am trapped with an old flip phone. Maybe one of these days.

6.  Unless one can lust over chocolate, I am not sure I experienced this particular sin this year.

7. However, I did eat a lot of chocolate, and while my weight didn't exactly climb, it didn't go down, either - so gluttony, here I am.

O Christmas Tree (2009)

8. I became extremely angry over something or another, but it must not have been overly important because I don't remember the incident. I just know my blood pressure went up.

9. A poor deer jumped into the side of my car. I never did know if it was okay, because it limped off and it was dark and foggy. I hate to hurt animals.



This is not the deer I hit. This is just a pretty picture.

10. I cursed. A lot. Sometimes the foul language flows from my tongue like water being turned to wine. I can make a sailor blush, or a football player faint, or something.

11. I coveted one of my friend's abilities to draw and paint and be a wonderful artist. She does it so effortlessly, like blinking an eye or licking your lips. Doesn't even know she's doing it, just doodling is perfection.

Just a Christmassy photo.

12.  I killed spiders. I am sure I stepped on ants, too, but I know I killed spiders. Great big ugly hairy spiders that we call wood spiders that come out from late September until mid-November. They roam my hallway in my house and are monstrous spiders that make Shelob in Lord of the Rings look like a tiny little baby spider.

13. Last, but not least, I circle back to #4, because I stopped writing almost completely, and that is indeed a bad thing. It is a gift and I am not offering it to the world, because not everyone can write. Some people write better than I, but others do not. We should all do what we are best at.

Not my Christmas lights.

Anyway, happy holidays to you and yours - may your days be blessed.

Thank you for reading Blue Country Magic!

_____________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 425th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Little Christmas Eve

In Norway, Sweden, and neighboring countries in Europe, they call the day before Christmas Eve "Little Christmas Eve." So happy Little Christmas Eve to those who celebrate.

Here is one of Santa's secret helpers checking up on me. I hope I've been good!