Charm of the Carolines

Memorial Day 2019

Before we head out for our Memorial Day Weekend, before the picnics, before the day spent on the lake, before hitting the sales at the mall or making homemade ice cream with the family, let's take a moment to reflect, remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice to put the Free in Freedom while serving in the US Armed Forces. 

I've heard it said that Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day, and that might be true. Except many families in the south observe Decoration Day each year but it's not on Memorial Day. Decoration Day may have started as a time to honor the dead, but where I live it is more like a family reunion where people visit the family cemetery and clean it up and then enjoy a potluck dinner on the grounds. My family observes Decoration Day on the first Saturday in August. My sister-in-law's family from Mississippi observes it on the Saturday before Mother's Day. 

In 1882 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this poem...

Decoration Day

Sleep, comrades, sleep and rest
On this Field of the Grounded Arms,
Where foes no more molest,
Nor sentry’s shot alarms!

Ye have slept on the ground before,
And started to your feet
At the cannon’s sudden roar,
Or the drum’s redoubling beat.

But in this camp of Death
No sound your slumber breaks;
Here is no fevered breath,
No wound that bleeds and aches.

All is repose and peace,
Untrampled lies the sod;
The shouts of battle cease,
It is the Truce of God!

Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!
The thoughts of men shall be
As sentinels to keep
Your rest from danger free.

Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Poppy became a popular symbol of Memorial Day after the poem In Flanders Field was published on May 3, 1915, by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae describing the poppies that grew over the soldiers graves in WWI. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

 

Happy 10th Anniversary "Charm of the Carolines!"

I can't believe it's been a decade since I took a week off from my job to learn how to use Typepad and elementary HTML programming in order to publish my blog. Are they still called blogs? It seems so archaic now. It was the end of May 2009. Facebook had only recently made the leap from college campuses to the ubiquitous platform it is today. Instagram and Pinterest weren't even created yet. MySpace was the only social media that had gone mainstream. 

To read that very first blog post, click here.

When I started the blog, it was simply a hobby, a place where I could publish tales and belles lettres about things I love, and interesting tidbits picked up from where I live, and some of the interesting people who live around here, plus beautiful gardens, traditional holidays, local events, and highlights of beautiful, historic home, and recipes, tons of scrumptious recipes, all to honor my southern roots.

My dear friend Ginger lived in Iowa at the time and suggested I write more about Southern Belles, southern history, and traditions, and general "southern-ness."  "Like, what is a Cotillion?" she asked. I"m happy to share what I know. I love the south, my home. Yet I also love New England, the mid-West, the Northwest, Europe, and places I've never been. It's hard to discriminate when my love of history, historic architecture, good food, interesting people, holidays and fun events are universal. 

It's been a learning process, especially thinking of all the faux pas that had to be corrected, apologized for, and blushed through. More importantly it has been an inspiring, creative outlet feeding my curiosity and love of photography and word smithing. 

Later in 2009, I wanted to go further into creativity and rekindled my love of painting. I've always loved painting and art, but it took a backseat while attending graduate school and building a marketing career. But I missed it. I would go to galleries and museums and exhibits, and I started to notice nearly every Nashville painter gave credit to their instructors and influencers, and one name was repeated again and again, Hazel King. 

Who was Hazel King? I must find this woman. 

As luck would have it, or fate, or holding all things in divine order, Hazel King was a 90 year-old painting instructor who taught through Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation at the Centennial Park Art Center five days a week, and a new series of classes was starting in September. I had to be enrolled. The only problem was I worked five days a week and traveled out of state several times each month. How would this work?

Fortunately I had weeks of accrued comp time stored up, plus vacation time, and a supervisor who was leaving the company unbeknownst to anyone, and he agreed to let me take off from work ten Tuesdays in a row to take the class. I am forever grateful Gary Dittman!!!

And then started the next journey, to work towards becoming a self-employed Artist!

Charm of the Carolines has never swayed from its original mission, but oh has it expanded to include more of the things I love, including scripture, books, fostering rescue dogs and cats, mid-century living, and painting. You'll find my art peppered in the regular blog posts or dedicated blog posts or you can click on "Honoring the Muse" and read a dedicated section to painting, teaching, taking workshops, attending Plein Air invitationals, students, art dates, all things Artist. 

And mid-summer next year, I'll be celebrating my Ten Year Anniversary of being a self-employed artist.

Thank you for visiting with me, sharing your thoughts, allowing me to share mine. Thank you for rescuing dogs and cats and sharing my posts with your friends to get the word out when there is an unwanted animal in need of fostering or a forever home. Thank you for registering for my classes and workshops and purchasing my paintings. Thank you for your comments, for your photos shared with me for reference for future paintings, for your enthusiasm and questions, and insights. 

I can't wait to see what the next ten years hold. 

 

The Tennessee Titans Caravan Tour

You just never know who might be coming to town. 

My friend Sonja got a call last week to inform her the Tennessee Titans Caravan was adding a Spring Hill 'meet and greet' to their tour.  Several members of the Tennessee Titans football team came to Port Royal Park to meet the public, sign autographs, and throw football with kids. 

Sonja is the Director of Programs for Spring Hill Parks and Recreation, and it was her job to work out all the details. And she was sworn to secrecy!  She said it was the hardest thing she ever had to do, and I don't doubt it. 

Officer Lovett was assigned to protect Marcus Mariota. Lucky duck!

I'm not sure who was more popular, Quarterback Marcus Mariota or T-Rac. 

Look at that sweet, little face. Pure joy. 

Other team members to visit were linebacker Kamalei Correa, linebacker Rashaan Evans and linebacker Sharif Finch.

The visit to Spring Hill was the Titans’ second out of 18 total stops at numerous locations throughout Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama.  The tradition began in 1998, when the Titans Caravan tour started as a means for players to engage with local fans and communities across the region. In the past 20 years, they have visited nearly 1,000 local towns.

Click here to see a schedule of the Titan's 2019 season. 

River Sisters, the Giver

"The peace and prosperity of Nancy Hilderbrand's existence on the banks of the Tennessee, the ancients' Giver of life, is disrupted by the Removal of 1838, when native peoples are stripped of their lands by Federal powers greedy for gold and fertile soil. "The finest seamstress outside New Echota," Nancy, widowed, with child, and awaiting deportation from the miserable internment of the stockade near Ross Landing, joins forces with Kaquoli Hicks, a devoted teacher left without students, and Sara Colaquee, a young girl left without parents. Their talents and strengths make them a formidable assemblage.

Nancy had determined: "The men in blue might strip them of their heritage and steal from them their home, but they could not taint the color of their blood, the nobility of their character. Their big knives were no match for the long, gleaming, razor-edged blade of hatred sheathed in her soul. Their big knives could only pierce the body--at worst, setting the spirit free. Hatred could do so much more."

River Sisters, the Giver is the account of these courageous women, as they escape captivity, make their way back to the river valley, and, ultimately, gain entrance and acceptance into "white" society. Nancy declares: "The future is in our own hands. We must make a way for ourselves. Whether it be white, Cherokee, or something in between--it must be a way that is right and good for us. And I must make a way for the children." Like the Giver itself, the lives of the "sisters' take unexpected turns, sometimes churning and with hidden dangers. Motivated by the past, accepting the challenges of the present, and unable to anticipate the future that lies ahead, the "river sisters" preserve the mark of their noble character on generations to follow." 

Are you counting down the days to summer with hot afternoons, lazy reading on the front porch swing, the backyard hammock or on a blanket at the beach? (Or possibly in the air conditioning draped across the davenport?) Several publishers have offered me several books to give away this summer starting with Lucky in Love. Lesley Stevenson was our lucky winner of that book, but there will be many more opportunities to win. 

Leave a comment below for your chance to win, or to the Charm of the Carolines Facebook page, and be sure to follow the page, or to my Instagram page SusanElizabethJones_Art, and be sure to follow. You may enter up to three times (once on each platform) and if you tag a friend that will count for additional chances, one for each friend tagged. On June 1 a random number will be selected from Random.org.  The winner will be contacted by email or private message (depending on the platform) and asked for their shipping address. And that's it! Easy, Peasy, Lemon-Squeezy!  This Give-away is only for residents of the US. 

Once I receive the shipping address of the winner, I'll congratulate him or her on this post and ship the book. I'll also set up the next book give-away. Check back often!

On June 1, we'll be giving away River Sisters the Giver, a wonderful new book just published on May 3, 2019. And there's more! Make your plans now to come meet the author, Jan Dearman, at Viola's Pizza Company at 7 Lynn Street in Viola, Tennessee at 2pm. The restaurant will start serving at 3pm, so stay for the best pizza in town!

 

Congratulations Leslie Ann Stephenson! You are our lucky winner!!

Miniature 19th Century Furniture Sample

Bob and Wanda Bell recently donated this fabulous miniature dresser, circa 1850 to Rippavilla. Kate Wilson, Executive Director, happily accepted this wonderful and generous donation from Wanda and Bob Bell.

In the 19th century, small samples of home furnishings to scale were carried around a territory by salesmen to show examples of their wares which could be ordered and created on an as-needed basis. It was never meant to be doll furniture, as many think it is today. However, it makes great doll furniture. I love it!

I don't know the history of this particular piece, but I will be at Rippavilla next week and will find out. This piece is just one of several miniatures on exhibit at the mansion. 

Make your plans to visit Rippavilla next time you are in middle Tennessee.