Skip to main content

Ferguson


Ferguson

The camera grabs their anger, flings it all over the world to eyes and ears waiting to join the shindig, to benefit from long-distance pain.


Common sense, courtesy, and human kindness are overtaken by cruelty, by vengeance, by a pulsating need to destroy. Burn it down, burn it now.


She remembers the dream, the work, the sweat; the long nights with little rest; she watches them go up in flames to satisfy their animalism.


The alphabet crowd screams their fury, lashes out at any entity except their own despair.  The idiot commentator goes to commercial.


Across town, small children gather to celebrate a birthday, a festival  of life with a Barney theme and alphabet cupcakes with fluffy icing.


Fathers have settled in recliners with beer, letting go of rat-race stress, rejoicing over the four-day weekend, and days of football ahead.


Mothers gather around the children, watching, as they lament the days of cooking to celebrate Thanksgiving, family, and loving togetherness.


And just for a while, they block out the storm, the anger, begging it to retreat, to simmer some more, just for a while, while life endures.

~ Wanda Stricklin Robertson

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

100 miles or less: Rattlesnake Saloon

The Rattlesnake Saloon was opened on Labor Day, 2009.  Dining there is an unique experience. It is way out in the boonies in Colbert County, Alabama.  It is hard to get to, even for locals, but they have had visitors from all over the United States and many countries throughout the world. Sitting comfortably under the huge rock overhang, I couldn't help but think about the people who have sought shelter there from storms or heat.  I can imagine the Native Americans using this place for a meeting area or a dry place to camp for a while.  Not so many years ago, it was used as a pig pen. They have good food and live music and a hitching post if you want to ride your horse there.  Most of us were picked up in a pickup, called the "Saloon Taxi", that runs from the parking lot to the restaurant continuously while they are open. The Rattlesnake Saloon is aptly named.  During construction, workers unearthed a mother rattler with twelve babie...

Amish in Stantonville, Tennessee

Last week, my sis and her hub went with us to the Amish community near Stantonville, Tennessee.  It was a beautiful day, and we love driving to new places and finding new treasures.  We enjoy these mini-trips we take together, where we giggle a lot and get caught up on everything.  Also, the squirrels ate all our tomatoes, so we needed to find some to buy. You know the food you are buying is fresh when they bring it from the field while you are standing there waiting for it. Here is part of what we brought home, and it was all delicious. Stantonville is located in McNairy County, Tennessee, northwest of Shiloh National Military Park.

Old Water Tower in Florence, Alabama

So, we have lived in Florence since 1986 and I didn't see this old water tower until last week.  Shame on me.   It is located on Seymore Street, in a residential neighborhood in Florence. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this tower of native stone was completed in 1890 as the foundation for a wrought- iron tank with a capacity of 280,000 gallons of water. It is 70 feet high and is located on the highest elevation in the city. Water was pumped here from Cypress Creek. It was constructed during the Industrial Boom at which time the population of Florence increased from approximately 2,000 in 1887 to over 6,000 in 1889. It was replaced by the adjoining standpipe in 1935.   (from historical marker on site.)   I'm sure there was lots of planning, lots of discussion about funding, and lots of joy when this water tower was completed.  Not one person who was there to celebrate its completion is alive today, but the water...