Shellie Rushing Tomlinson
Hello everyone, welcome to my porch! I'll make you a deal, if
you can read fast, I'll talk fast, 'cause I have tons of things
to chat about. ~smile~
First, I've got to tell you about last Thursday. It was so much
fun! I was at Mangham Elementary School in Mangham, Louisiana
where I'd been asked to read/tell stories from my book, "Lessons
Learned on Bull Run Road." Let me tell you, the kids were great!
And the more they laughed, the more I "hammed". Afterwards, I
sold and signed a slew of books and posed for pics for a
presentation. Mercy! I thought I was famous! The next morning I
quickly found out I wasn't. Just like Cinderella, I had to make
coffee, cook breakfast, start clothes, tend to clients, etc.
Bummer! Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted.
On another note, I was happy to meet those of you that made it
by the ATS booth at the Catfish Festival Saturday. I wish all the
porchers could have been there, although I realize that would've
meant major road trips for some of you. (Not to mention several
overseas flights. ~smile~) In case you're wondering, the catfish
was wonderful; at least the few bites I was able to swallow in
and around the booth's visitors. Oh, and while I was there I made
plans with Randy Prewitt and Stacey Pardue, from our local CBS
affiliate, to put their cookbooks in the All Things Southern
online store. Watch for these soul-satisfying cookbooks soon.
They're chock full of good southern recipes. You'll find one of
Randy's dishes in this week's "Southern Recipe". Let him know if
you try it, ranprew@foxsale.com.
I'm sure he'd like to hear from you.
Whew! I'm gonna take a breath and let you "get on with the getting
on." Ever heard that one? It's an oldie but it speaks.
Hugs,
Shellie
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~~Chuckles~~
"HERE'S THA RULES"
I thought I'd seen all these lists, but somehow I missed this
one. I hope it's new to you, too. I know it made me chuckle.
~Shellie
"ATTENTION ALL VISITORS TO _________! (Please insert the southern
state of your choice.) HERE'S THA RULES!"
1. Pull up your pants and take that earring out. You look like an
idiot.
2. It's called a "gravel road." No matter how slow you drive,
you're going to get dust on your BMW. So, drive or git outta the
way.
3. Yeah, we all started hunting and fishing before we started to
school. Sure, we saw "Bambi" but we got over it.
4. Go ahead. Bring your $600 Orvis Fly Rod--but don't cry when a
catfish breaks it off at the handle. We have a name for that
little 10 inch bass you're fishing for--we call it "bait."
5. That bent-over farmer did more work before breakfast than you do
all week, including your visits to the gym. He does't need your
respect but he surely DESERVES IT.
6. If your cell phone rings while we're in the woods waiting on
a buck, we'll shoot it. You might hope you don't have it to
your ear at the time.
7. If you bring "Coke" into our homes, it'd better be brown, wet,
and best served over a glass of ice.
8. You have a $60,000 car? We're not impressed. Heck, we drive
tractors, cotton pickers and hay balers that cost a quarter
million dollars--and we only drive them a few weeks each year.
9. Yeah, we eat catfish, deer, rabbit, and squirrel. You want
sushi? It's available at the bait shop.
10. What's that? People are waving at you in your car and smiling
at you on the streets? We call it being friendly. Try to understand
the concept.
11. And finally, we still believe in the Bible; that Jesus is the
only way to get to Heaven because Adam's sin separated man from
God. Don't you?
Please, ENJOY YOUR VISIT. You might even like us so well you'll
want to stay. But, if not, well, there are interstates running
four ways: north, south, east and west. JUST PICK ONE.
~ "The Georgia Rules" is an Internet chuckle making the rounds.
This version was submitted by Joyce Dixon of Southern Scribe.com
Thanks, Joyce!
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~~A Taste of the South~~
"Randy Prewitt's Crawfish Bread"
• 2 cups crawfish tails
• 1 can mushroom soup
• 1 cup cheese spread, jalapeno style
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 loaf French Bread
• salt and pepper to taste
Cut French bread loaf from end to end and scoop out most of the
soft bread in the bottom half. Break scooped bread into small
pieces. Chop crawfish into 1/4 inch pieces and saute' for five
minutes in small amount of water. Mix together the cheeses, cooked
rice, bread, water, mushroom soup and the crawfish. Microwave the
mixture for one minute. Fill the scooped out area with crawfish/
cheese mixture and wrap in aluminum foil. Bake at 25 mintues
in preheated 300 degree oven.
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Please forward ALL THINGS SOUTHERN to your friends and family!
(You can also email them the parent site by going to
http://www.allthingssouthern.com and clicking on the link that
says "email this site to a friend.")
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~~Spotlight on the South~~
SPOTLIGHT ON THE 2002 NATIONAL CORNBREAD FESTIVAL
April 27th and 28th, 2002
Few meals say "southern" like hot cornbread crumbled up in ice
cold milk and eaten with a spoon. So, when I heard there was a
cornbread festival coming up, I felt duty bound to feature it
in our "Southern Spotlight". If you're anywhere near South
Pittsburg, Tennessee or if you're just looking for a reason
to take a weekend trip, look no further. I've got the festival
for you.
For starters, there's a 5K run, and a bass tournament on tap.
Add the arts and crafts booths and the mechanical bull rides
and you're cooking up a southern festival to beat the band.
Did I say band? That reminds me, if you're in an Old Time,
Blue Grass or Tradtional Country band, there's a jam band
contest waiting on you.
Of course, since it's all about cornbread, there's the 2002 4-H
Cornbread Cookoff, the 2002 National Cornbread Festival Cookoff
sponsored by Martha White and the 2002 Celebrity Cookoff! From
Razzle-Dazzle Cornbread to Creamy Seafood Pie with Herb Cornbread
Topping--just the names of some of the entries will make your
mouth water. (Note to my local porchers: Our very own Venus Lacy,
former great from La. Tech and the 1996 Summer Olympics Women's
Basketball Gold Medal Winner will be competeing in the celebrity
cook-off!)
This year's special guest is a lady they're calling the New Queen
of Bluegrass Music, Rhonda Vincent. Dolly Parton calls Vincent
a talent, a beauty, and a special human being. And Dolly isn't
the only country music legend to blow Rhonda's horn. Alison Krauss
says, "Rhonda's music and voice have been incredibly important
to me for the last ten years. I can't wait for the rest of the
world to catch on and see what they've been missing."
Rhonda Vincent and The Rage are bluegrass music's reigning
Entertainers of the Year. Rhonda was voted Female Vocalist of the
Year in both 2000 and 2001 for the International Bluegrass Music
Association (IBMA), and also received Female Vocalist (Contemporary)
and Album of the Year honors by SPEGMA for 2001.
Throughout her success Rhonda's commitment to her family has
topped her priority list. She has been married to Herb Sandker
for 18 years and they have two daughters - Sally (15) and Tensel
(13). On her 1998 release, "Yesterday and Today - 30 Years of Music",
there is a song called "How Far Is Heaven" that Rhonda recorded
with her Mom and Dad when she was 5 years old. She recreated that
song for the final track of the CD -- this time with her Mom, Dad,
Sally and Tensel. With her beautiful voice and love of family,
Rhonda Vincen is a perfect choice for this bona-fide southern
celebration.
Buy Rhonda's CD: "The Storm Still Rages"
Listen to the National Cornbread Festival's World Reknown Theme Song
~Shellie
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~~It's Been Said...~~
"The South is the only place in the world where nothing has
to be explained to me."
--Woodrow Wilson
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~~Southern Comfort~~
How I wish I could just hear a big booming voice when I
need an answer from God. You know--the hand on the wall type
of thing. I've been thinking...our occasional lack of
communication, mine and God's, do you think it's on His end
or mine? Yeah, that's what I decided, too. God chooses not to
compete with all the other noise in my life. In His wisdom He
knows that getting louder isn't the answer. I had a teacher
in elementary school that always lowered her voice when we
were rowdy. The louder we were, the softer she talked. But,
she knew something! Invariably, we'd pipe down to hear what she
was saying. I've decided God uses His inside voice for this
same reason--so I'll get still and listen.
So, I've been practicing listening to God. Most of us make a lot
of decisions every single day. The majority of them are small,
not your life-changing, this-better-be-a-good-one type of decision.
That's fine; I'm using these little ones to sharpen my listening
skills. When I need to decide between this or that, (example: how
many t-shirts to order),I ask God to tell me which one would be
best. Guess what? I still don't get the booming voice, but most
of the time the answer I come to feels right, like it's already
settled and I just found out. The way I see it--the more I listen,
the better I'll be at hearing when I have a more serious question.
Maybe this sounds like nonsense to you. Maybe God speaks to you
in His outside voice. If not--if your hearing tends to be dull
sometimes, too--I urge you to practice on the little things. It
works! Go ahead, "bother" Him; He loves it.
~Shellie
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~~Southern Exchange~~
Your letters:
Dear Shellie,
I've been passing around your ezine for weeks here in Alabama.
I'm originally from Thibodeaux, Louisiana and I must say you bring
back those childhood memories.
I remember the awful pink rollers we were forced to curl our hair
with every Saturday and then go grocery shopping with mom. I had
always wore my hair to you-know-where. But, when I turned 16, I cut
it short and now at 44 I still refuse to wear it long. ( I guess
I think those awful things will find me again. LOL!)
Here is a girly-girl for you:
We had one of those oyster shell driveways that seemed miles long.
To keep up with the neighbor crew of boys you had to be able to run
barefoot over these shells and look like you enjoyed it. Today I can
still run over most anything in my bare feet. Non Girly-girl or
what?
Thanks for a wonderful ezine.
Randyanne
Mc Calla, Alabama
(Randyanne, thank you for the story. I can relate. My feet are
more tender now, but when I was young they were as tough as boot
leather. Hugs~Shellie)
________
Dear Shellie,
I noted in reading last week's emag that Lewis Grizzard was turned
down for a part in a movie because he was too Southern. He did get
a part in an episode of DESIGNING WOMEN which I loved and watched
religiously. He was just his own bumbling, Southern self! I've
read and enjoyed all his books (I think).
Sybil Bayles
Monroe, LA
(Mrs. Sybil, I practically mourned when DESIGNING WOMEN ended! I
remember that episode. I believe he was the Sugarbaker girls' brother.
Right? Thanks for writing. ~Shellie)
________
Hi, Shellie,
One of your last issues reminded me of several things. We enjoyed
lightening bugs as children up north, too. Did you know that land
pirates on the Outer Banks of North Carolina would tie lightening bug
jars around the necks of donkeys and horses and lead them along the
sandy hills to confuse ships who thought they were approaching a safe
port? They were run aground to be pillaged and thus was born the name,
"Nag's Head". So, use your lightening bugs for good and not evil! LOL
I also enjoyed the story of the little girl afraid of cricket and
cicada noises. Years ago, when we lived in Maryland, one of my little
boys finally told me he was afraid of our incessant whip-poor-wills.
After I explained they were birds with a nocturnal call, he could
sleep. Down here in Florida we have the larger relative, Chuck Will's
Widow. He's listed as such in the birdbooks and indeed his call sounds
very much like that. But, if you're close, you hear other syllables.
My dad, who grew up in Texas, said it was, "Chip Flew out of the White
Oak!" Every time I hear them during mating season, I think of my dad.
Spring has arrived here and frogs are starting to "talk" at night.
When the rainy season comes it will be cacphony. I love Frog Music!
Hmm...I write so much in reply, I shoud start my own site! :) But,
since I have no idea how to do that, I will continue to enjoy your
charming weekly.
Regards,
Duane Plummer
Port Charlotte, Florida
(Duane, thanks for your memories! I wasn't just entertained, I
was informed! :-) Shellie)
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ATS NEWS:
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to get the
t-shirts in the online store before this mailing. (I've obviously
been listening to way too many politicans.) I promise to have
them in by next week. Sidenote: I'm drafting Phillip to model
them. He's less than thrilled. :-)
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~~A Southern Definition~~
"If you've never swung from your knees on a swing set or tree
limb...you could have been a girly girl."
--Shellie Rushing Tomlinson
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(pssst) I'm hard at work on WHAT SOUTHERN MOMS TELL THEIR
DAUGHTERS...If you've been thinking about sending in your mom's
wisdom, it's time to quit procrastinating. You know she wouldn't
like that. :-) Here's the project description again:
WHAT SOUTHERN MOMS TELL THEIR DAUGHTERS...
About love and marriage: "It's just as easy to fall in love
with a rich man as it is a poor one!" Do you remember your
southern mom's advice about love,marriage, relationships and
life in general? Then join the fun; this project is exploding!
Write me at tomtom@allthingssouthern.com to have your mom's
advice memorialized in my new book: WHAT SOUTHERN MOMS TELL
THEIR DAUGHTERS...
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