What a Way to Celebrate Women's Suffrage

Hey Girls,

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: those Republicans sure do
know how to celebrate and commemorate. I just heard McCain announce
his running mate, and I heard Sarah Palin's acceptance speech. You
know, Michelle Obama said a while back that for the first time in her
life she's proud of her country, and I tell you what: for the first
time in a long time, I am hopeful about our country.

So hopeful that I feel a burst of energy (at least I guess that's what
it is - been so long), and I'm going to clean my house.

After a bit of mint julep fortification, of course.

More on this later (the Republican VP candidate, not cleaning my house).

Miz Vul

Little Bits

Hey girls,

Miss Etta, count me in: wipe off my chair and get my mason jar ready.
I'll be there soon cause I tell you what - watching this Democratic
whoopteedoo is enough to drive me to drink. Okay if we start September
early this year?

I bet the O'Bamas are already stockpiling bottled water - probably
buying it off the shelves in New Orleans first - so they can upstage
the Republican whoopteedoo when Gus (I can't remember his full name)
hits New Orleans. And you know good and well that the entire press
corps would pull out and leave the Republicans to cover the O'Bama
gang in the role of Good Samaritans. In a heartbeat they would.

I could go on forever, but I just don't have enough energy to pursue
that one this morning.

Wonder if all this rain got here in time to affect the leaf color. You
know, I seem to remember leaves turning in September, but now it seems
like that color doesn't pop out till November. And one thing I've
always wondered about: when the leaves fall, what makes some of them
hold on and stick it out through the winter? It's not something I've
lost sleep over, mind you, but I do wonder about it every now 'n then.

I'm enjoying this overcast day. It's like one of the Steel Magnolias
said: When God doesn't try so hard, I don't feel like I have to either.

Something like that.

I saw some Mint Julep something-or-other in the beauty section of the
drugstore the other day. Foot cream. Or maybe it was face cream. I
don't know, but when I get a minute, I think I'll run on back over and
pick up some to take with me to Miss Etta's upcoming Bourbon
Blasterbration.

Till next time.

Miz Vul

Get Ready to Party on My Porch

Whooppppppeeeeeee. Finally, someone in an official capacity is honoring my spirit.

The governor of Kentucky has declared September as "Bourbon Heritage Month." He's even recognizing Bourban as “America’s Native Spirit” thus honoring the family heritage and deep-rooted legacy of the Bourbon industry in Kentucky. Well, good for him.

That got me to thinking. Why doesn't the federal government also celebrate this spirit of American culture? Well, to my surprise, just last year the U.S. Senate declared September as "National Bourbon Heritage Month."

So come on over gals, this calls for a toast with my special julep juice!

Miss Etta

Gotta Make It While the Sun is Shining

Gals,

Glad to finally hear from ya'll. I'm much too busy right now to set a spell. The sun is shining, and with all the recent rain--- guess what I'm doing?

Of course-- making julep juice. Gotta make it while the mint is fresh off the vine. Why, the mint has been overtaking everything so much that the mister told me to make something out of it or he was gonna cut it down!!

Well, after I finished having my stroke and an attack of the vapors, I glared mightily at the ole coot. I got busy making my juice, but it's been hard with all the stomping of feet and huffing. Why, the very nerve of even a hint of throwing out my mint!

Here's the recipe I'm using right now for the juice:

1 c. sugar
1 c. water
Bring to a boil. Add 12 fresh mint sprigs. Cool and discard leaves.

Pack a glass with ice. Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar-mint juice and throw in an equal amount of bourban. Add water to fill the glass. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Thought that I would try and make up a BIG batch of the starter juice and freeze it in ice cube containers. That way, all I have to do is grab an ice cube, add the special B and water.

Whatcha think about that? You with me?

Miss Etta

My turn to be alone?

I know I most likely expect way to much given how sporatic I have been about setting on the porch over the summer time, but it would be so nice to have company now that I'm back.

I have had such a delightful time this summer! I won't bore you with all the many things I've done though as they kept my little pea-brain occupied but would most likely force my Julep sisters to hide their yawns behind a large glass of cold ice tea (or something with a bit more bite perhaps?).

I am home to stay for a while and hope we can all resume our chats. I will have to say that I am not too very happy with some of the changes that have occured in our fair county while I have been gone! Lest you chasten me unneccesarily, I will tell you that I did my duty and voted absentee in both elections. I was not overjoyed with the outcome of the elections, however I have been in this world long enough to know that life goes in cycles, not all of them to my liking.

Well, come sit, come share and lets talk about this great big beautiful world together!

Depression is all in the mind...

I think we have just moved way too far up Maslow's Heirarchy and have way, way too much time on our hands. All of a sudden we get to lookin' round and we're sitting up there on that pinnacle and we're bored. Or we have more stuff than we need and we've reached those goals or just quit bothering to set them and we get to thinking we're depressed. Some of us are brung up thinking we've got to have more, more, more and we can never live up to those expectations that are slammed in our face every time we open a magazine or turn on the boob-tube. We get depressed 'cause we're never going to get there.

It's all just a bunch of hullabaloo. I think the drug companies like to make us think we just gotta be happy all the time. Well durn it, life has ups and downs. We can't always walk around with a big ol' smile plastered on our face and be happy. It just ain't life.

These people in this country want to know what's depressing they oughta go live in Africa or some other country for a while and they'll figure out real quick what depression is all about.

We get depressed if we don't have two tv's and three cars.

I figured out a long long time ago that I could walk through life feeling poor me-like or I could decide to be happy. Being depressed is darned addictive. It's great to sit around and feel sorry for yourself. Especially if you get in one of those groups that helps you, or so they say. You sit around telling each other how bad you feel and pretty soon you get to enjoyin' feeling that bad and you don't even realize it.

When I was young and I'd start getting down in the mouth and feeling bored and pitiful my Mama would hand me a broom and tell me to go sweep the back porch. I think we need to get these depressed people to find something to do to help somebody else and they'll start to feeling pretty good about their own situation. Go down to the homeless shelter and help feed people once a week for about six months and you'll find out just how happy you can be.

Guess what gals? I'm back! I've missed you all but I sure haven't been depressed for one single day.

Miss Faye

D is for

Hey Girls,

I've been taking a little Vulcation (like my newly-minted word?) this
morning: been cruising the internet reading blogs written by other
gals (so much so I have a cramp in my right elbow), and I notice 2
things:

1. These gals are GOOD wordslingers.
2. These gals are depressed.

Now let me just stop right here and say for the record: it's not just
females who are depressed. There seems to be a veritable epidemic of
depression these days. Seems like everybody I know or am related to or
both is at least a little on the D side of things. Used to be that
being depressed was something you and yours kept quiet, like it was
something to be embarrassed about, something to be ashamed of. That's
not the case now - THANK GOODNESS - and maybe that openness, that
willingness to talk about it will help answer me this: why is it
depression seems to be running absolutely rampant these days? I, being
who I am, want to know WHY. Why so many wonderful, talented, creative,
intelligent, genuinely good people are depressed - not just blue or
sad or down but flat-out depressed.

Is it something physical like we're not getting enough exercise?

Or is it something psychological like we don't have effective coping
skills or maybe we have unreasonable expectations?

Or is it something physiological like our bodies are squirting out too
much of one juice (hormones, neuropeptides, etc.) and/or not enough of
another?

Or (and you both KNEW I'd get to this, didn't you? Go ahead: admit
it.) is it something They put in our parents' drinking water? Or
something They loaded into those free cigarettes? Or something They
put on the fruit pieces used to mess up perfectly good lunchroom Jell-o?

Girlfriends, if we don't do something about whatever causes
depression, pretty soon those who are not depressed (be that of
natural causes or sheer, unadulterated determination) will be the ones
getting the diagnosis and subsequent pills.

I'm just saying.

Miz Vul

Buried and Forgotten??

Lawdy Miss Etta,

Remember me? Why, I used to come and sit on your porch for our daily talks. I just loved them so. And, I do remember the fine punch you would serve.

Guess you thought I was dead. Dead and buried. Well, I am still kicking, but I have been buried. I'm spending most of my mornings try to dig my way out of all the mail that my good neighbor has been sending. How many good neighbors are there around here? Way too many, I think. And don't they know that filling my mailbox with the same letter from several of them a day is the best way to make sure I don't spend any of my precious coins at their doorstep?

Of course, I have to wonder if you have been getting all those letters?

Hope to hear from you soon,
Georgia gal

Days of Celebration

My. oh my, Miss Faye. You really had me going there. I was convinced something bad had happened to you, otherwise you would never, ever leave me sitting here all alone on the porch. Yep, and rehab sure enough would do it. Who could ever take away my special julep juice? Who would ever try?

It's the first day of summer and I'm in love. Yep, you heard me. I'm in love with the cool morning air that's been my companion for the last couple of mornings. Summer is here, let the celebrations begin!

Did you know that yesterday was National Martini Day? Now, I've never ascribed to martinis, although I did like to hear Dean sing while holding his martini. Somebody recently told me he was from some small town in Pennsylvania and they remembered seeing him perform-- before he got famous and all.

Martini Day? What about Julep Day? Don't we need to start campaigning for one?

You gals been following all the campaign news lately? Fascinating, I say. And as soon as I remember what I was gonna say, I will. In the meantime, best go refill my juice glass.

Enjoy the summer sun, my friends.

Miss Etta

Finally out of rehab...

Well, one too many mint juleps and they toss you in the loony bin and try to dry a bodies bourbon soaked body right out. I promise it had nothing to do with my actions sans julep. Can you believe they actually thought my crazy antics had something to do with all the juleps I'd been sipping? Ha. Little did they know. The only thing that keeps me sane is the time on the porch with you ladies. I am SO glad to be out and in the land of the ladies. I absolutely could not wait to get back out here on the porch with you lovely ladies to commiserate and, of course, have another darned mint julep.

Not really. Just thought I'd come up with a creative reason for not writing for so long. You should know me well enough by now to know that I am always restrained and lady-like and would never let me mint julep sipping get out of hand. Yes, I am pulling your leg again. A little imp has taken hold of my nature of late and I just can't seem to settle down and be proper.

I read a book a long time ago that I believe was titled "When I am old I shall wear purple". I have to confess all I did was skim though it but I loved the idea in the poem of the same title. It's all about doing whatever you want when you get older. You can be a batty old woman and wear purple and red (I suppose the red-hat ladies are somehow connected with that poem now that I think about the colors). I've lived that philosophy all of my life. As I get older mayhaps I'll start to wear sober colors just to be different.

The Red Hat ladies (I do believe it should be capitalized) have so much fun. It has really taken off as a club or organization, I'm not sure what category it should fall into. I think we should form our own mint-julep group. It seems everyone is banding together in some sort of fellowship these days. I wonder if the need to be part of a group has something to do with the way society has changed and is continuing to change? It used to be that everyone knew everyone. People grew up being part of a group in most cases. As time has gone on and we have families scattered all over the country, people moving and losing connections, cultures intermingling, the north and the south co-mixing to the point where it's hard to find a good southern accent any more and I could go on and on with examples of how we are losing those old ties that bind. Now we create groups and bind.

It's hard to say whether the changes that are happening in our society are good or bad. There is a mix I think of good, bad and potentially bad. We seem to be able to adapt to the changes, hence the need to join a group to replace those bonds that seem to be part of human nature. I suppose I could go on speculating about what is going on in our world for eons. Only time will tell whether it's good or bad. Jimmy Buffet has a line in one of his songs that is somewhat similar to that last line.

I had to take a short break and go find the song I just referred to by Mr. Buffet. I will leave you with the lyrics and I will leave you wondering where I have been for so many long days. I have run out of time to write and will have to leave you in suspense.

Scales and clocks just can't be trusted
Keys and locks are destined to be busted
Metaphors were never made for keeping score
And I'm feeling for the sound of time

hoo hoo hoo hoo
hoo hoo hoo hoo
hoo hoo hoo hoo
hoo hoo hoo hoo

Is it the answer or just a suggestion
Is love what we truly want or merely a protection
Is this music made to last or crumble like a shell
Is there heaven here on earth or is this really hell

Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong
Only time will tell is there a message in this song
Will it ever make sense will it ever ring a bell
Only time will tell

hoo hoo hoo hoo
hoo hoo hoo hoo
hoo hoo hoo hoo
hoo hoo hoo hoo

Are we destined to be ruled by a bunch of old white men
Who compare the world to football and are programmed to defend
I'd like to try a princess or a non-terrestrial
Who is neither boast nor bashful is there really such a girl

Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong
Only time will tell is there a message in this song
Will it ever make sense will it ever ring a bell
Only time will tell

I woke up this morning feeling absolutely grand
For nearly half a century I've been singing in a band
I'd like to think I'll make it to two thousand and one
Will the party be at my house God I wonder who will come

Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong
Only time will tell is there a message in this song
Will it ever make sense will it ever ring a bell
Only time will tell

Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong
Only time will tell is there a message in this song
Will it ever make sense on this crazy carousel
Only time will tell

(I left out the last bunch of hoo hoo's. Hoo cares unless you're going to sing the song, then you can figure it out yourself that more hoo hoos are needed).

Miss Faye
ta da!