Only in the South

In 1704 a Frenchman named Nicholas Langlois founded the Societe de la Saint Louis, and so Mardi Gras was established in America, in the South, the deep South. This happened in a place called 27 Mile Bluff, I think 27 Mile Bluff came to be know as Mobile.

The Mardi Gras we know today is, what it is, thanks to Joe Cain. In 1866 Joe Cain revived Mardi Gras after the war had dampened everyone spirits. He did a great job, it’s been going strong and getting better ever since.

My earliest memories of Mardi Gras are with my family, downtown, parking in the double decker garage, walking a few blocks to the parade then piling back into the car and going home and eating candy. Back then, this was the mid-sixties, peanut butter kisses were big, so was serpentine. Beads and moon pies I don’t remember as much.

I also remember being in the Joe Cain Parade back in the 70’s. I was in high school and for a few years there was a party in the Church St. Cemetery. This is where Joe Cain was buried. I went with my Mon and Dad and my little brother. We took food and drink and set up a picnic on one of the huge, raised, grave markers and we Raised Cain. This didn’t last long, I’m sure it was rough on such an old cemetery. But I think that was the movement to start Joe Cain Day.

So they call it the “peoples parade” and it was held on the Sunday before Mardi Gras Day. Anyone could be in the Joe Cain Parade. You could walk, ride a homemade float, ride a bike , skate, dance, play music, anything. All ya had to do was get in line. I remember both the line and the parade never ended. So many people would show up and just get into line and go.

The one year I rode in the Joe Cain Parade was with a group from high school. We had a pickup truck pulling a small trailer. There were way to many of us on the rig and we were throwing meat scraps. One of the guys we were with, I won’t name names but his folks owned Namans Meat Market. So that’s what we were throwing to the screaming crowd. Soon the pieces of meat were being thrown back at us and soon after that a fight broke out, so we just pulled off the parade route and got the hell outta there.

Southern Furniture

So a client I built a swing for ask if I could make some chairs for the front porch. I saw a chair in a magazine and it inspired this chair.

So I took it to her thinking this is a prototype and if she liked it we could tweak the design and build four just like she wanted. That’s one of the fun things about my job, I get to work with cool people who want something different and are really open to all kinds of ideas.

So I showed it to her and a few other folks at the same time and everyone thought it was great. My client ordered three more exactly like it. It is a very simple design. I used antique pine and 3/4″ wood dowels to plug the screw holes. I finished it with only a clear coat, no stain. This old pine really doesn’t need a stain it is such beautiful wood.

Here is a photo of the swing I built for her, I had orders for nine of these last year.

Nice Rack

Down south that phrase conjures the image of a gun rack in the rear window of a pickup truck. I’m talking about my latest job. I am building a few pieces for a local baker I helped with the renovation of his current shop, he is opening his second shop and he called back for more. Here is a photo of a bread rack from the first job. I am doing a different version of it for the new store.

Alon’s is about the best bakery in Atlanta. Over the years he has transformed it into a full on specialty shop. Besides the best bread you can get, he also has wine, cheese, oils, prepared foods and desserts. It is all the best, especially the cheese, the selection is incredible.

Here is a photo of the new bread rack. It is a lot larger than the first. I am also building 23′ of counter top from antique pine and 17 tabletops 24″square. It’s a good job

Good Gifts for a Southern Boy

So I must have been really good this year, I got some great gifts! I’m gonna tell ya what I got so next year if you need to get a forty-five year old southern boy a gift maybe this will give you some ideas.

A Fifty dollar bill don’t suck. With it Stacey got a bottle of tequila and I got a bottle of vodka. Oh what joy!

I live to eat and eat to live, so a cook book is always something that makes me happy. I received a book written by Alice Waters. If ya don’t know who she is do your homework it won’t be hard to find info on her. She has done more for plain old sensible living today then anyone I can think of. She also makes it taste great.

I love to read as well as eat. Irvine Welsh has written many books, some made into movies. This guy is the shit. I took two days off and just read this book, “If you liked school, you’ll love work”. Once you get into some of these short stories, you start to see and love his command for the different dialects of the English language.

Another book I was gifted was Beat, by Christopher Felver. Of course it’s all about the Beat artist. All the usual suspects are accounted for. Mr. Burroughs graces the cover, how fitting, being that he was the “grand daddy” of the beat generation. If that is in fact the word to use, cause that generation has inspired so any artist for the last 55 years, that I consider that movement alive and well. A lot of the bands I listen/listened to rank William S. Burroughs as a huge influence. I could go on and on and on about these guys, the Beats, starting with Kerouac and easily coming up with all kinds of current artist that carry on with that attitude. The book is laid out in a scrap book format, lot’s of photos and nice, neat, short stories with some of the shots.

I love bacon. We all love bacon, even if you don’t eat bacon or pork product, you love bacon, you just don’t yet know it. Bacon, a book by James Villas was a gift from a friend that is in love with good food and knowing how to prepare it. He has taken taken classes on the fine art of Bar-B- Q-ing and has fed me some of the best food I have eaten, I can’t wait to get into this book. I have read a book by Villas before and enjoyed it. He is straight forward and no nonsense, just telling it like it is.

Food stuff is always good to get. Oils, vinegars, cheeses and wines. All good things that I have already been enjoying, and sharing with friends.

I got a couple pieces of art. A small fish print, which I will use as an idea for a painting soon. It’s a fish standing upright, on it’s tail and it is sporting a nice top hat. I also was lucky enough to be given a Pig carved from wood. It is awesome and will also be ripped off, I mean used as inspiration for a painting.

I got a lot of nice stuff and I am used to that. Life for me is so full. I try not to take it for granted. I try to remember to thank God everyday and let Her know how greatful I am. I am so lucky to wake up everyday and know I am gonna get to do what I do, whatever that might be, and to have a life surrounded by such great people. I realize just how lucky I am. I know I am the most fortunate person in the world.

Happy New Year to everybody!

Today

It’s Monday and I missed yesterday. Don’t matter.

If your a peaceful soul, peace will come.

Joseph Arthur, http://www.josepharthur.com/video/ja-slideaway.html

Get passed the Letterman intro and listen

A Southern Christmas

Was the Friday before Christmas and all through the South, a whole lot of folks were running their mouth.

The stock car races were done and not a soul could care, not even the guy with a mullet for hair

The hounds were asleep up under the bed with dreams of big bones in their tiny little heads

Big mama was pissed and Daddy was drunk and he fell asleep in the back of his truck

When out by the outhouse came a big stink, made Daddy stand and try real hard to think

Away from this scene he had to dash, he thought Big Mama was kickin his ass

Daddy ran and he ran and then fell in the snow, how long he laid there he didn’t know

When he did stand up he said “where did ya go?” he thought he was huntin a buck and a doe

But what he did see were some tiny deer and a little fat guy looking kinda queer

He was quite confused and he lay back down and for hours didn’t hear another sound

He dreamed and he snored and though of Exgirlfriends, he could not remember, were there eight or ten?

He thought of their names and made a list, there was Nancy and Patty and Betsy and ….

It took him a minute but he came up with others, there was Lisa and Sally and somebodies mother

He was dreaming of them and it made him real happy then his dreams turned dark and he thought of his pappy

Poor pappy was laid up in the county jail, just a waitin for someone to go his bail

Daddy didn’t have a nickel or dime to his name so poor pappy just lay there going insane

I forgot when I started that this poem was so long, I thought I would rewrite it, boy was I wrong

I guess what I really wanted to say, hope you all have a good Christmas Day!

‘Tis the Southern Season

Like I said a few post back I love the Holidays. There is nothing better than having all your work done, all your shopping done, all your driving done and being able to spend about three or four days, doing nothing but sit around with family and friends that drop by.

I remember Christmas as a little kid, that would have been in the 60’s. I remember my Mom and Dad didn’t have any extra money and I remember never being disappointed.

I remember the year my brother and I got bikes. His was green and mine was blue. I remember when my sisters got a little bitty, blue, stereo. This was my introduction to pop music and whatever my sisters listened to was what I listened to. Today we all have a similar taste in music.

When I was growing up parenting was a lot different then now, we just didn’t get to deep into heavy subjects. I think that was a sign of the times and a southern thing. That’s not to say my folks were not the best parents a kid could have. They may not have said it, but I learned it from their actions.

Like I said, there was no extra money and my Moms best friend was her banker. I can still remember his name, Ronnie Harrison, God bless his soul. That made no difference. We, my brother and sisters, learned what was important. Each other. And we learned through watching our parents how to handle our problems. Face them, fix them and move on. Nothing ever was a problem for long around our house and I think that attitude has served me well.

So I can’t wait to get to Mobile and see everyone, it will be the first time in a while we have all been home for Christmas at the same time. I can’t wait to wake up Christmas morning and do it the way it is always done. No matter who is at Roper Street that year, someone will be elected, or told by Mom to pass out the gifts, once we got them all out we take turns opening them, one at a time.

But for me the best part is after the gifts are all open and it sinks in, there is nothing I have got to do for the rest of the day but sit and visit. This feeling really hits when I smell the sausage cooking for Christmas breakfast. Just like it has been for as long as I can remember.