Tag: Big Front Porch

Posted on

Miles To Go Before I Sleep…

10.16.23

Hello, friends of the Big Front Porch! It’s been awhile, so I thought it was a good time to catch up on some news and adventures (see the post date? I got sidetracked for about a week with the ol’ Delta crud….all better now).

Even though I grew up in Mississippi, I don’t ever remember a summer that was so hot for so long….brutal. And even though the temperature has finally started to cool down, we still need some rain…the ‘Father of Waters’ is mighty low.

A couple of summers ago, as we were all crawling out of the ‘Covid Cave,’ I tried a couple of SUV camping trips and had a blast! But this year, with the summer temps being so high, I delayed my car camping trip until a couple of weeks ago. Here’s a recap (feel free to skim or skip if you don’t have time…I got a little wordy):

I was once again delighted to join my friend and musical buddy, Dr. John Mulder, to perform at this year’s National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) conference, held this year in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dr. John and I had the privilege of producing a studio album (in early 2020 right before the Covid shutdown) of songs  that came out of the hospice community called The World Around the Bed, so we sometimes have the opportunity to perform at related conferences. If you’d like to listen to the project, click here. There are also some wonderful videos on YouTube associated with the project.

Two summers ago, I headed north to a gig in Michigan. Last summer, I headed southeast to a gig in Florida. So this year, since I was already headed west, I took some time to enjoy the downtown Little Rock riverfront area and the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum before continuing towards Texas to visit a couple of cousins I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. 

I made my way through the blue highways of Arkansas, stopping for lunch in Hope before landing at my first camping stop near Mt. Vernon, TX. It was a relatively new RV site, and shall we say, not exactly ‘finished,’ but the manager was kind and offered me a spot near the bathhouse. However, it was not on level ground, so in order to avoid blood rushing to my head all night, I flipped my normal sleeping position 180 degrees and tucked in to start reading an actual BOOK (wifi not always great at RV sites and campgrounds) that was recommended by an old friend and that had been sitting on my bedside table for over a year. Little did I know how much I would enjoy it…it’s based on a true story and it has a specific connection to my old farmhouse in Tennessee. As the chapters advanced, I felt connected to the protagonist and her adventure and sensed that I was finding a bit of myself reflected in the story. I finished the book during the noon hour of the last day of my trip, sitting under a shade tree in a park in downtown El Dorado, AR. Good thing I had a clean bandana to wipe back the tears. I reached out to the author a few days later to make the personal connection to the place mentioned above, and she graciously sent a reply. Small world, indeed. Here’s one  link to The Ride of Her Life…a unique story about courage and kindness and belief in the goodness in others:’ 

 

A Texas thunderstorm woke me the next morning, precipitating a change in my normal breakfast camping routine. Good thing a big truck stop was only a mile or so away. Grabbed some hot coffee, washed the mud off my sandals and continued west into Sulphur Springs, TX where I found the local joint with the most pickup trucks parked outside…guaranteeing the best breakfast in town. The goal was to make it to the Dallas suburb of Southlake to join the aforementioned cousins for lunch. It’s been a few years since I’ve driven in Dallas traffic…nope, no sir, not for me anymore. I’m fine with a Delta traffic jam [driving painstakingly slow behind large farm tractors and implements. Needless to say, I was a bit underdressed for the restaurant where we gathered, but no one seemed to mind. We swapped places more than once at the table, so we could spend the two hours we had together catching up on two decades of news about children, grandchildren, work, health issues (Sidebar: if any of you out there have a real need for speed, check out the https://www.motorsportranch.com/ and my cousin Jack might take you for a ride you won’t forget!).

I spent the night with my cousin Lisa, her husband and their four-legged menagerie at their place on top of some rolling hills outside of Maypearl, Texas. She has the kind and gentle heart of her grandmother, my mother’s older sister, whom she loved and cared for. Time well spent, cuz, even if it was short…

The next leg of the trip had me headed on the backroads east, through the Texas towns of Corsicana, Ennis, Tyler, and Kilgore before crossing into Louisiana to find my spot for the night. I had reserved a spot through the Corps of Engineers website for campgrounds, Recreation.gov, but couldn’t get a real sense of the place online. It was a late afternoon drive around Shreveport to the road that led to the campground. Although my map showed me to be correct, I began to get a little concerned for the miles I was traveling on a two-lane road and then along a raised levee, but at last, a small, clean, well-kept campground came into sight inside the levee of Bodcau Creek. I pulled up to my assigned site and asked a gentleman seated outside of his nice RV for some info. Turns out he, a native Cajun and his wife, from Michigan, downsized everything a few years ago, bought their RV, and now travel. We swapped some stories, talked about music, and I gave them a copy of my Gospel CD, Farther Along. After cooking some hot soup for supper, I tucked in to continue The Ride of Her Life, this time with my head pointed in the regular position. A heavy fog had settled by morning when I woke, and as I crawled out of my cocoon, my campsite neighbor asked, “You’re not leaving yet, are you?” “Nope…just answering nature’s call first at the bathhouse.” “You made me cry last night.” Seems the wifi was strong enough for his wife to do a little research on my website and he had listened to “The Heart of Dixie.” The power of a song…that made me smile. After the fog burned off, I packed up and headed out on the home stretch, taking two lanes in north Louisiana and southern Arkansas into my last stop in El Dorado. On the way back, there was still cotton standing in the fields of the Arkansas Delta, but the combines and pickers were steady busy and it won’t be long before all the fields in Arkansas and Mississippi are put to bed. 

When I pulled into my driveway, I had travelled almost 1,200 miles…a number that is just a little under the word count of this story:) Write on!

Posted on

God Shed His Grace On Thee…

Happy 4th of July holiday from the Big Front Porch!

Since last we visited, it seems like we sort of eased on through spring and now find ourselves navigating these summer days with some really oppressive heat…hope you’re finding ways to stay cool.

In April, I was pleased to represent Cleveland as its Music Ambassador at the long awaited Music Tourism Convention, held here in town after two postponed dates due to COVID. Deep Roots musicians entertained at some of the events and Mississippi’s favorite new country group, Chapel Hart, closed out the convention at GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi. Lots of folks from the USA and abroad got to experience the magical, mystical Mississippi Delta…good times:)

Right after the convention, the Women in the Round returned to the Delta for another show at GRAMMY Museum Mississippi. Pam Tillis and Ashley Cleveland made a return visit, and this time…after several tries…the wonderfulsongwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman was able to join us. It’s still one of my favorite gigs, and I am grateful that we got to do it one. more. time.

 

After catching my breath, the Big Front Porch, in partnership with the good folks at the Mississippi Songwriters Alliance, hosted the Mississippi Songwriters Festival – Delta Region, the first ‘satellite’ festival of the parent festival on the Coast. The 25+ local songwriters that participated had a chance to share their original songs with each other and the public over two nights.

 

 

 

 

Three professional songwriters, Bridgette Tatum, Clay Mills, and Sean Gasaway, came down from Nashville to play their ‘hits’ and present a couple of music business workshops. Most of you have heard my ‘sermon’ before that, in regards to the music business, “It All Begins With A Song,” so it was great to have an event that focused on the gifts and talents of the unsung folks who lay their hearts bare and put pen to paper trying to say those things we want to say but don’t know how…it’s a gift, to be sure. Hug a songwriter next time you see one. The Deep Roots music initiative continues its mission to strengthen community through music by providing live local roots music in area venues five nights a week, thanks to the support of the City of Cleveland and the talented musicians and audio techs that bring that music to the public each and every week. Just last week, I was honored to join the Mayor and other representatives from the City of Cleveland at the annual Mississippi Municipal League convention to accept a Municipal Excellence Award in the Spirit category for towns over 10,000 in population! Yay us!

 

Seems like I’m leaning into the slower tempo of summer more easily this year…not sure why…perhaps it’s the ‘significant birthday’ earlier this year…or perhaps it’s due to a more focused intention of being in the moment, whether enjoying the taste of a perfectly assembled tomato sandwich followed by a slice of sweet watermelon, or the joy found in a minimalist seasonal wardrobe of shorts, T-shirts, and flip-flops, or witnessing little miracles and blessings of God every day…right where I am. I am grateful.

I’ll wrap up this summertime post with little history from Wikipedia about one of my favorite patriotic songs…”America the Beautiful.”Stay cool, y’all…until next time, Tricia

 

The lyrics for “America the Beautiful” were written by Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, and the music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two never met.

In 1893, at the age of 33, Bates had taken a train trip to Colorado Springs. Several of the sights on her trip inspired her, and they found their way into her poem, including the wheat fields of the heartland of Kansas, through which her train was riding; and the majestic view of the Great Plains from high atop Pikes Peak. 

Just as Bates had been inspired to write her poem, Ward, too, was inspired. The tune came to him in 1882 while he was on a ferryboat trip from Coney Island back to his home in New York City after a leisurely summer day and he immediately wrote it down. He composed the tune for the old hymn “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem”, retitling the work “Materna”. Ward’s music combined with Bates’s poem was first published together in 1910 and titled “America the Beautiful.” _____________Wikipedia

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

Posted on

Beauty and Kindness

One of my favorite spiritual writers, Joan Chittister, does not believe in writer’s block. She says, “You must jump into the middle of a line and trust that God will take you to the end of it.”

Good advice…that being said…I’m jumping in:)

I’m a little late with what was to be an Eastertide post, and the official start of summer is only a little over a month away, so I wanted to check in from the Big Front Porch with a few small stories about beauty and kindness…two things we can always use more of…

It has been a particularly beautiful spring around the Porch in the Delta…with the exception of the F1 tornado that skipped through town, dropping one of the old oak trees in the street two houses up from me. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

But in the days after the storm, spring really starting showing out! The chinaberry and sweet olive blooms (transported from home), the huge purple Dutch irises (originally from a housemate’s yard in Dallas 30+ years ago), wisteria (purple AND white), a banana shrub, and the sweet smell of Confederate jasmine drifting through an open window. All stunning examples of the beauty and artistry of God…

Along my driveway fence, I have one flaming orange rose bush (see above)…planted by another’s hands long ago…perhaps it was planted by our resident rose master, Ms. Jane Dunlap. ‘Miss Jane’ was recently awarded the Louise Godwin Award from the Keep Mississippi Beautiful organization. The Louise Godwin Award recognizes individuals who are exceptional when it comes to helping keep their communities cleaner, greener and more beautiful, and believe me, Cleveland is one of those especially beautiful communities thanks, in no small part, to our public rose gardens, lovingly nurtured by ‘Miss Jane’ for over 50 years.  I only hope that if I make to 90, I can still play a G/C/D chord on my guitar or a simple scale on the piano!

‘Miss Jane’ Dunlap

“There is a built-in danger in old age which, if we give in to it, makes aging one of the most difficult periods of life, rather than one of the most satisfying – which it should be. The danger of old age is that we may start acting old.” ______Joan Chittister 

A few weeks ago, an online post/picture of a scruffy, battle-scarred old orange tabby cat popped up on a local social network, asking if anyone knew the owner. Within hours, a half dozen folks from the neighborhood responded, identifying the old warrior by various names__Big Daddy, Rudy, Frank, Scar, Buddy. Seems he traveled a large territory on a regular basis, receiving food and attention at every stop. Recently, one neighbor noticed that he seemed weaker and perhaps ill. She was able to catch him, and through her generosity and kindness, had the ol’ fella neutered, wormed, and treated at a local vet. The online group monitored his progress and shared good wishes for recovery and a better life for Big Daddy/Scar/Rudy/Frank/Buddy__and it seemed he was doing well. But a week or so later, he took a turn for the worse and went away. Online, we all promised to keep watch for him, but we never saw him again. Our neighbor that had provided the most care for him found his body under her back steps, and gave him a proper burial in her backyard. We’ve all been sad about it, but grateful that his last few weeks of life were filled with more comfort and love than perhaps he had known earlier.

Buddy/Rudy/Scar/Frank/Big Daddy

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”_____Gandhi

Veterinary services for an old tomcat—homemade pimento cheese from a neighbor to say thanks for the music—A favorite hymn sung by request at the graveside of a stranger___Fresh cookies for grieving family members and friends of a beloved coworker___these are the things that make us into a community. Kindness.

Wars continue to rage on the other side of the world; gun violence is on the increase; social media pulls us towards ‘doomscrolling’ and the idea that ‘we are not enough’…

But take a look around at what we have____roses and music and old cats and good neighbors___it is enough.

“The service that the whole world needs from the elders is not the service of hours spent and time put in and documents finished and machines fixed. There are untold numbers of people who can do all of those things. No, the service of the elders is not a service of labor, it is a service of enlightenment, of wisdom, of discernment of spirits. Only the carriers of generations past can give us those things, because wisdom is what lasts after an experience ends.”
― Joan Chittister, The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully

Look up___beauty is everywhere.

Look out___kindness abounds.

Peace be with you:)

Tricia 

P. S. Get ready for live local music…starting in June!

Posted on

There Is A Season…

Hello, friends…hope you are doing well as we head into a long-awaited Delta spring:)

As we begin this season of Lent, I thought I’d share a few things in this post that have been meaningful to me recently…I hope you find meaning in them, too.

First things first… the good folks at Thacker Mountain Radio in Oxford visited the Delta for a remote show at DMI last week, and the broadcast is set to air this Saturday, March 12 at 7:00 pm CST on Mississippi Public Radio. As the ‘guest author’ I sang a few tunes and had a conversation with their wonderful host, Jim Dees, and then sat back to enjoy the performances of my former student Keith Johnson, “Prince of the Delta Blues,” the Bobalows, DeltaRoX, and the Yalobushwhackers with guest musicians Fish Michie sitting in…a great afternoon!

I subscribe to a daily reading from Frederick Buechner and found this piece particularly inspiring…enjoy!

Creation

TO MAKE SUGGESTS MAKING SOMETHING out of something the way a carpenter makes wooden boxes out of wood. To create suggests making something out of nothing the way an artist makes paintings or poems. It is true that artists, like carpenters, have to use something else—paint, words—but the beauty or meaning they make is different from the material they make it out of. To create is to make something essentially new.

When God created the creation, God made something where before there had been nothing, and as the author of the book of Job puts it, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (38:7) at the sheer and shimmering novelty of the thing. “New every morning is the love / Our wakening and uprising prove” says the hymn. Using the same old materials of earth, air, fire, and water, every twenty-four hours God creates something new out of them. If you think you’re seeing the same show all over again seven times a week, you’re crazy. Every morning you wake up to something that in all eternity never was before and never will be again. And the you that wakes up was never the same before and will never be the same again either.

-Originally published in Wishful Thinking and later in Beyond Words

Carolyn Arends is a fellow singer/songwriter and friend of mine…she and her family live in Canada, and I’m a big fan of her writing and thinking…here’s a post she shared called I Was An Ash Wednesday Rookie along with a prayer for Ukraine she had posted on her site:

Prayer for Ukraine

Sovereign Lord, you observe all those who dwell on earth. Have mercy we pray on those who now suffer the miseries of a war not of their own making. Have compassion on the wounded and dying; comfort the broken-hearted; confound the hatred and madness of those who make war; guide our rulers, bring war to an end, bring peace across the world.  Unite us all under the reign of your Son, the Prince of Peace, before whose judgement seat the rulers of the world will give account, and in whose name we pray. Amen.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel,
Sydney, February 24, 2022

Also, here’s a video of her wonderful song written during the pandemic, “After This:”

Lastly, I was invited to submit a piece for Delta Magazine this month…the piece is called “Seasons”…I hope you enjoy it….+peace+…Tricia

SEASONS 

Eccl. 3:1 (KJV) To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…

The first seasons I remember were as a kid growing up in a beautiful old pre-civil war home built in a clearing among ancient hardwoods. My mother was the editor of our small town newspaper, so my love affair with words and writing began early. She always said she had ink in her blood, and I suppose she passed some of that ink along to me.

I was 27 years old when I heard ‘the call’ in my heart to go try and see if I could ‘make it’ in music. This was before the advent of the digital age we know today, so to answer that call meant packing a U-Haul truck and driving 500 miles away from my hometown of Fayette, Mississippi (pop. 1600) into the mysterious, unknown world of the entertainment business in Nashville, Tennessee (closer to home than New York or Los Angeles). A one-bedroom second floor apartment (no elevator) for $235 a month was where I began my quest, having made the move with no steady employment and no personal or business connections…and remember, no cell phones or computers. It was a scary and exciting season, but it was also a great time to be in Music City. I was afforded amazing opportunities over the years to meet and work with both legends and wannabes, crafting songs with pen in hand, standing behind a microphone in a studio or on a stage, and traveling to places near and far with some of the most gifted musicians on the planet.

Eccl. 3:4 (KJV) A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…

A quarter century went by and, after Hurricane Katrina, I began to hear the call in my heart to come home to Mississippi. No big lightning bolt, but rather a slow revelatory ‘parting of the curtains’ over time which, with confirmation from trusted friends and counselors, was undeniable. The opportunity of this season was in the form of a new entertainment industry studies program at Delta State University into which I could sow all that I had gleaned from my time in Nashville. As I drove that U-Haul south down Highway 61 through those fertile flatlands, headed to my new position, I remember experiencing an immediate familiarity in the natural beauty of the land and sky along with what seemed to be an invitation coming from the sheer expansiveness of the Delta.

Eccl. 3:2b (KJV) A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted…

The Delta carries a constant reminder of the seasons in the Law of the Farm…the necessary process of planting, watering, fertilizing and cultivating in order to be able to produce a crop of any kind…no short cuts. After working the ‘field’ of the DMI for a season of 13 years, I went through a yearlong discernment process and came to see that, for me, another season was on the horizon, so I announced my retirement from Delta State, with plans to spend more time engaging in creative pursuits related to community building through music. And what better place to do that than right here in the Delta? The roots of music and community run deep in the dear hearts of the good people who live here and who took me in, and even in this age of uncertainty I find that one of my greatest sources of comfort continues to be found in the faithful and relentless repetition of the seasons.

And for all the seasons away from the beautiful Delta and my beloved Mississippi, given the circular nature of seasons, in many ways I feel like I was never even gone.

Eccl. 3:1 (KJV) To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…

Tricia Walker — singer/songwriter, Director Emerita, DMI Entertainment Industry Studies, Delta State University, Music Ambassador, Cleveland, MS.www.bigfrontporch.com

Posted on

All the trees in the fields will clap their hands…

11/24/21

Hello, friends…

It’s been a busy fall here on the Big Front Porch presenting local Deep Roots music shows, doing community and church work, and prepping home and hearth for the winter season ahead. I hope this post finds you well with your finest place settings ready at the table and delicious smells coming from your kitchen…and a strong WiFi connection in case some of your loved ones can’t actually BE at your table. 

I’ve been concerned that the ‘push’ for Christmas consumption seems to be so much earlier and more ‘in your face’ this year…feels like Thanksgiving is almost being overlooked altogether….anyone else? I hope this holiday of ‘gathering with grateful and thankful hearts’ is not diminished…

I was pondering this on a walk one afternoon, when I looked up and saw….the trees…(Isaiah 55:12)

I had such a good experience with my inaugural car camping trip back in the summer that I planned to block a few days off for another road trip to see some fall foliage over in Arkansas. But lo and behold, as the days passed, I could see that the trees on my own street and in our own little town were prettier than they had been in years, so I decided to stay put and enjoy what was right outside my own front door. The golds and reds of the crepe myrtles, ginkgos, sweet gums, oaks, and maples have been rich and deep this fall, along with the rust color of the Leland cypress trees which complimented the entire palette beautifully.

Staying put and observing the lessons of the natural world around me reminds me of one of the three primary monastic vows of the Benedictines…stability. Stability refers to the importance of community and commitment in life. When I came back to Mississippi in 2006, I believe it was a calling, and when I retired from Delta State in 2019, I believe I had a call to stay in this community….To  Be. Now. Here. And so here I am…

Part of my ‘staying put’ over the past decade has been to share whatever gifts I have been given in considering visions, sharing ideas, dreaming dreams, and then working towards the realization of those things. It has been my honor to serve on the board of the Cleveland Music Foundation, Inc., the governing body for GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi, since 2011 as a founding member.

My “sermon,” if you will, was and continues to be, “Music can bring us together and make us better,” and trying to insert that idea has been my primary contribution while serving on this board. Others who have way more ‘left brain’ that I, have done the ‘heavy lifting’ of procuring funds, making political connections, overseeing construction, and developing staff in order to make the museum the reality it is today. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of such a magnificent project.

 

Advent begins this Sunday…one of my favorite seasons, and the beginning of the new year for the Church. No argument from me that Easter is the great Alleluia! to the Gospel story, but to consider the Incarnation…that God would ever come to be with us at all…Emmanuel…wow. One of my Advent/Christmas/Epiphany readings will be For The Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio by W.H. Auden. I was not familiar with it until recently, but it is said to be perhaps one of his greatest works. I’m looking forward to some reading time spent with a well-written book and a cup of strong Community coffee.

+peace+ to you and those you love…I am thankful for each of you:)

 

Come, thou long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free,
From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.

 

Tricia

 

Posted on

Nothing Like Old Friends…

8/15/21

Nothing like old friends…

Earlier this summer, one of my closest friends sustained a severe ‘head injury’ and it was my fault. After finishing a local performance, I placed my old friend, a 1981 Guild D-45 cutaway, in her case, and thinking I had zipped the case shut, became distracted in conversation with a fan at the event. When I picked up the case to leave, my old friend came out of the case and did a complete face plant on the concrete floor. Horrified, I reached down to pick her up and when I did, I became nauseous at the sight of what would have been diagnosed, in a human patient, as a severe head trauma..the headstock was almost completely severed from the neck of the guitar. 

When I got home, I immediately phoned the only guitar repairman that has ever worked on this guitar (30+ years), Mr. Greg Krochman of Classic Ax, in Nashville, TN. I sent pictures of the injury and asked if he could treat the patient. He said, “Hard to tell…you’ll need to bring her to me.” So a quick road trip to Nashville a few days later took me to his new location (after he was nudged off Music Row in the name of ‘progress’…read that however you like), where I left my friend in the capable hands of this master craftsman and then made the drive back to the Delta. My ‘sub’ guitar through the next several weeks was the guitar I went to college with, a 1970 Fender Newport acoustic. It’s always been my favorite ‘writing’ guitar, and it served me well while I waited on the outcome of ‘surgery’ on the Guild. Did I mention that American Airlines broke the headstock on the Guild in almost exactly the same place 17 years ago (another story for another time…)? Not knowing what the total ‘medical bill’ would be for surgery and hospitalization, my sweet church family at St. Luke UMC, in an exceptional act of kindness and generosity, took up a collection towards the repair and recovery of my old friend.

I got the call from ‘Dr. Greg’ in mid-July so I hopped in the car to go pick up the ‘patient’ who was being discharged after a successful surgery. Not only had the surgery been successful, but with some additional PT (neck adjustment, new strings, new pins, etc.), my old friend played like she did when she was new 40 years ago. I was overjoyed to say the least:)

I have several of these old friends, and like their human counterparts, each is different and special in his/her own way…and each contributes to my life is ways for which I am eternally grateful. Since you’ve been kind enough to put up with this rambling medical analogy, let me introduce these friends to you.

1981 Guild D-45 cutaway

Nothing like old friends…

I recently returned from the annual ‘Summer Gathering’ with my sweet YaYas (lifelong friends) down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast..I’ve lost count of how many years we’ve gathered, but suffice it to say it’s been a LOT of years. I know this because the main topics of our conversations have shifted from the challenges of middle age and career adjustments to the joys of grandchildren and the comparison of medications and health conditions brought on by the inevitable aging process. So very grateful that all three of us could once again gather for a few days of doing nothing together except lounging in the pool, binge watching Manifest and feasting on home-cooked vegetables, summer peaches, and fish from the Gulf.

Nothing like old friends…take a moment to call/text/email/visit one of your old friends today…they are PRICELESS gifts.

+peace+

Tricia

Posted on

Random Acts of Kindness…

July 6, 2021

When I was a teenager, the Jesus Movement was in full swing, invigorating young believers like me. My chosen Bible translation at the time was the Living Bible, and my mama sewed a cool cover for my copy out of a pair of old blue jeans, complete with a pocket for assorted inspirational materials. I often refer to that sacred ‘conversational’ text still today. I began to soak up how the ancient stories sounded to my ear in a more ‘common tongue’ rather than the regal King James version. I have a distinct memory of being sixteen years old and coming across a partial verse spoken by Saint Peter in the tenth chapter of the Book of Acts, explaining to the Gentiles that “…Jesus went around doing good….”

Somewhere…somehow…that stuck.

At random times over the course of my life from age 16 until now, when that fragment of a verse surfaced (and it continues to surface) in my conscious mind, I would think, “Wouldn’t it be great to just go around and do good?”

Many years ago, I took a test to identify what my spiritual gifts were based on the list of gifts in the New Testament book to the Romans. The results pointed to two gifts in particular…teaching and encouragement. Is it any wonder then, in the Divine scheme of things, that over the course of all my years working in the music biz to developing the DMI entertainment industry program at Delta State to now being in ‘retirement’ and working on behalf of the community….that putting those two gifts into practice along the way offers me the best opportunity of standing in the ‘crosshairs of my giftings’ from time to time? How sweet it is…

To that end, I am humbled by a recent honor I received from the Cleveland Exchange Club when they selected me to receive the 2021 Golden Deeds Award, one of their highest honors, given in recognition of service and volunteerism in the community. Three of my friends were given the task of getting me to the luncheon, and they successfully pulled off the ruse by inviting me to the club’s monthly meeting to be the guest speaker about the Deep Roots music project…I had no clue what was coming. If you look at the names on the list of previous recipients you will see men and women who have been and continue to be foundational to the success of this wonderful Delta community that has embraced and supported me so generously over the last 15 years. I am truly grateful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Random acts of kindness…that’s something we can all do…helping a respected elder with some mobile technology, assisting a young pastor in serving communion, singing softly to a friend in her last days on this earth, feeding the neighborhood tom cat that hangs around the back door, sharing home grown tomatoes with a neighbor…sometimes seemingly insignificant things, but each of which resonates like ripples in a pond. Just like Scout explained in To Kill A Mockingbird…”neighbors bring flowers in sickness and food in death and little kindnesses in between”…..I believe this is how the kingdom of God comes to us.

And because baseball is often like life…congrats to the Mississippi State University Diamond Dawgs for bringing home the D1 NCAA National Baseball Championship! Whether you regularly side with MSU or another team in the Magnolia state, you gotta admit…it was so much fun feeling the growing momentum of the entire state behind this Bulldog team. Once again, here’s a tribute to the first Mississippi State scholarship baseball star, Boo Ferriss, who knew a thing or two about random acts of kindness…just ask the hundreds and hundreds of young men who played for him.

See you down the road…pax,

Tricia

Posted on

Another Trip Around The Sun…

(Originally written 3/17/21; meant to be posted that day…oops!)

Yesterday I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day and another ‘trip around the sun’ for me…plans for some time in quiet contemplation, but severe weather and a series of tornadoes in the area disrupted that idea a bit (although I did have some prayerful moments in my storm ‘closet’)…

I am blessed and so grateful for all the wonderful birthday wishes on social media, texts, emails, and in person gatherings…who could ask for more? Thank you ALL…

I am amazed, but not really surprised, that there are actually flowers in bloom and buds on the trees after that really DEEP freeze we went through a couple of weeks ago. How wonderful to be reminded of the promise of new life, even after the coldest and darkest of days. I’ve said before that’s one of the things I love most about being in the Delta…seeing the Gospel lessons manifested in the ‘seed’ and the ‘farm’ and all related agricultural activities…year after year after year…the faithfulness of God.

I hope you and all you love are safe and well and enjoying the beginning signs of spring as vaccines for the COVID virus continue to roll out to the public. I’m grateful that I’ve received both my doses…that in itself lifted my spirit and increased my hope that we are indeed seeing light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. I’m continuing to pray that the collective ‘we’ rises with courage and strength to meet the enormous challenge of vaccinations for all in the coming weeks and months.

Have you seen the Music From The Ground Up episodes yet? The episodes are looking GREAT! A new episode is released each Friday at 1 pm CST on the Deep Roots website and also on our YouTube channel. Please subscribe and hit that notification bell so you’ll be reminded when a new episode goes online! Yours truly was featured last Friday, and in case you missed it, here it is:)

If you’re in the Cleveland area, get ready to grab your folding chair, a friend, and a cool beverage as the Deep Roots: Live Downtown! outdoor music series begins on April 23 at 6 pm at the Delta Arts Alliance awning. Live music for eight Fridays in a row, featuring local artists on the Deep Roots roster. I hope you’ll support these efforts of Cleveland becoming a MUSIC CITY…plenty of room to safely spread out with friends and neighbors and enjoy our talented local musicians! Schedule of dates and artists will be announced soon and will be on our website events page HERE.

Another little bit of good news…and a reminder of how songs have a ‘life of their own’…my friend and co-writer, Karen Staley, shared with me that singer Kelly Clarkson performed our song, “Keep Walkin’ On,” on her TV show earlier this week…how fun is that? Faith Hill recorded this song over 20 years ago…hope it makes you dance around the kitchen!

https://youtu.be/b4MkmJc4_Wk

Until next time…wear your mask…wash your hands…get the vaccine…say your prayers…and be kind to one another…

+peace+

Tricia

Posted on

Grateful and thankful…

I’ve just returned from my second year of attending the annual conference for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHCPO) where I was again invited by my friend, Dr. John Mulder, to help lead a songwriting workshop for a group of hospice professionals. These angels of mercy willingly write deep thoughts about the sacred work that they do, share those thoughts with each other, and then entrust those thoughts to us to ‘knit them together’ into a cohesive song. It is such an honor and privilege to have a part in this kind of work because these folks are passionate about what they do. John and I huddled in a hotel room and came up with this year’s offering which is titled, “We All Know How This Ends.” We debuted the song for the group at a coffeehouse concert the following afternoon, and it was met with positive reviews, so it will become part of a larger recording project in early 2020 that will result in an album of songs of hope, healing, hospice care, and love. Worlds collided again in the connection with former hospice nurse and now bluegrass singer/songwriter, Ali Shumate, who writes for a publishing company in Nashville run by my songwriter buddy, Jerry Salley….you just never know how the dots will connect! Stay tuned….

In witnessing the care and passion that the hospice workers shared with us, I was reminded of how Jesus calls us to compassionately serve the poor and sick and marginalized in our communities, for that is where He is most often found…(there’s a song on my new Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter Eye CD called “Parable [Sheeps & Goats]” that I hope captures this idea). Recently, I have been listening to a podcast by theologian Richard Rohr which is based on his recent book, “The Universal Christ.” It’s called Another Name For Everything, and I haven’t made it through all the episodes, but one that particularly struck me talked about the idea that with all the vitriol, rancor, and chaos in our state/country/world right now, perhaps there is a ‘resetting’ going on…his thoughts explore the concept of ‘ordering-disordering-reordering,” and in looking at various ‘dark’ periods of the world’s history, it seems to me to make some sense. Without that possibility, then what could be the reason for this ‘shift?’ And right about now, it makes my brain hurt to think about that, so I’ll move on…would love to know your thoughts/comments on that…

But I am hopeful….and one of the things that encourages that hope in me is the upcoming season of Advent and Christmas, when once again, God brings to us the hope of the season…the ‘coming’ of Himself….the Incarnation…the Light…hard to fathom, but so beautiful to believe.

Our little community of Cleveland is about to ‘light up’ in a big way for another “50 Nights of Lights,” and I hope some of you will be able to take time and find your way to the Mississippi Delta to spend some time with the good folks here. There are SO many wonderful events going  on (scroll down on this link for a listing of events), but here’s one I’m really looking forward to – Have Yourself A Delta Little Christmas on Monday, December 2, at GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi. My friends, Buddy Greene and Jeff Taylor, will be the special guests on this holiday show featuring ‘homegrown’ talent…click HERE for all the info…don’t miss it!

And speaking of GRAMMY Museum Mississippi, the museum just opened a new exhibit called “Stronger Together: The Power of Women in Country Music.” For those of you who know my story, you know that I didn’t grow up listening to country music, but when I got to Nashville, I had a complete and thorough education in that wonderful genre because of all the opportunities I was afforded during my time there. When I would visit the Country Music Hall of Fame (and other music museums), my favorite exhibit would always be the display of lyrics of hit songs written in the hand of the songwriter. So let me try and express what an honor it is for me to have been asked to contribute two sets of my handwritten lyrics to this new exhibit….I chose “The Heart of Dixie” and “Looking In The Eyes Of Love”…But WAIT…there’s more….my lyrics are displayed as a pairing with the work of the incomparable songwriter, Cindy Walker, who wrote hits like “You Don’t Know Me,” “Dream Baby,” and “Blue Canadian Rockers.” Her acceptance speech at the 1997 Country Music Hall of Fame ceremony still brings me to tears…check it out….

Lots of things going on on the Big Front Porch, so I do hope you’ll sign up on my email list, if you haven’t already. I promise…NO SPAM…just a monthly gathering of news and some occasional blog posts.

Hope to see you on the porch soon…as Thanksgiving approaches, know that I am thankful for each of you….pax,

Tricia

Posted on

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

My, how the summer has flown! School is starting up in a few days, and the next thing you know, it’ll be Christmas!

Summers are made for spending time on a place like the Big Front Porch, and in addition to summer camps and a few select music gigs, that’s what I had planned to do this summer, but a little “bump in the road” popped up…seems a shady lookin’ spot on a routine mammogram turned out to be a nasty little tumor that needed to be addressed, so here at the end of summer I have now added (ta da!) breast cancer survivor to my resume`…God is GOOD.

Faith

I had the great blessing to be able to stay at Harrah’s Hope Lodge in Memphis during my treatment…a wonderful opportunity that no doubt that saved my low back, ‘cause as much as I love making that drive up and down highway 61 between Cleveland and Memphis, having to make it every day for a month would have done me in!

The experience of the past month seemed like a combination of moving into a freshmen dorm, going to summer camp, and retreating at a monastery. It was a reminder that folks all over are fighting tough battles everyday, but there is still a great measure of goodness and kindness in the world. Of the patients and caregivers I met during my stay, I will particularly remember Sameh from Egypt, who has been at the lodge for over 4 months with his wife while his only son, Karim, battles leukemia. Met several Delta folks, too, while I was there, and they all commented on my Fighting Okra shirt:) I also got some time in to brush up on my mandolin skills…

I was visited by Ya Yas, a contingent of the Delta 7, and old friends from Nashville…we all sat on the Big Front Porch (figuratively), shared some belly laughs, enjoyed the precious bonds of friendship, and seized the day.

As for timing, I suppose summer vacation was the best time to deal with this ‘bump in the road,’ but now it’s time to go full speed ahead. I have a new record (Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter Eye) that’s almost mixed and ready for release (more on that soon)!

I hope your summer vacation was filled with things that make you happy…family, friends, mountains, beaches, music, food, and joie de vivre. Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers…Come join me on the Porch sometime and share your summer stories…I’ve got some catching up to do! 

All shall be well….pax, Tricia