Small Town America Where Everybody Knows Your Name

I was born and raised WAY out in the country.  When we said that we were going "to town" we meant Yellville, AR.  It is the county seat and the largest "town" in the county.  It is where we went to school, after riding the bus for more than an hour each way.  It's a small town and just like any other small town everybody knows everybody, or is kin to half of them.

Growing up in such a small town everybody gripes about everybody knowing your business.  I imagine it's that way in every small town.  As a  kid I would tell myself that I couldn't wait to get away from that place.  I wanted to go where nobody knew me or my business.  That never happened.  Except for my college years I've lived in or near small towns.  Life is funny.  I'm now 56 and find myself living WAY out in the country once again.  The kids that live out here board the bus at 6:30 am to make it to school by eight.  Everybody here pretty much knows everybody or is kin to half of them.  Our nearest town is Gainesville, Missouri, the county seat and largest town in the county.  Now instead of going to school there, I teach there.  So it seems, I haven't changed my life a whole lot.  Is that fate or is it a decision that I've made? I don't know but it probably says a lot about my small town roots.

People in small towns do know a lot about everybody's business.  They know who lives where, where they work, go to church, shop, bank, and what kind of life they live.  We can get frustrated about it but it also has its merits.  Those same people know when you need their help, their friendship or support.  Over the years, regardless of which small town I lived in, I've seen pie and cake auctions, fish frys, and benefit tournaments of all kinds held to help someone in need.  I've seen neighbors and friends just show up to help a farmer get his hay in or take care of other chores because there was an illness or injury.  I've seen envelopes with money quietly slipped to someone in need.  This is what people in small towns do.  They look out for one another.  Yes they may know things you don't want them to know but it's good when they know things that they need to.

Today I went "down home" to Turkey Trot.  It's always the same and sometimes I will think about skipping it.  But I'm usually glad that I didn't.  So many times today as my sister, Judith, and I were walking around or sitting on the courthouse fence, countless people said to us "Well there's the Ott girls." or "How are the Ott girls doing?"  And they would ask "Where's your Mom?" or "Is your Mom doing OK?"  Because that's just what small town people do.

Kitchen Bouquet and Bacon Grease

I guess I never thought about how much  I post about eating and cooking on Facebook until one day a friend of mine said "You and your husband sure are country."  I guess I must have looked a little offended because she quickly added "The food you cook and eat - it's always country."  At first I was still a little offended but after I had to time to think about it I decided that it was my kitchen and I'd cook country if I wanted to.

We all come from different walks of life and although we change as our lives change I think most of us stay pretty close to our roots.  I grew up on a farm in a country home.  We made a big garden, picked berries, picked up walnuts and pecans, milked cows and churned our own butter.  Paula Deen would have been in Heaven at our house.  Everything was battered and fried or cooked down slow and seasoned with bacon grease or butter.  We lived with my Granny Ott until I was in the 7th grade and I loved coming home from school and smelling brown beans cooking on the stove and finding that she had made egg noodles.  I learned to cook those kinds of foods and never really saw a reason to change much.  Yes, I've added a few "new" foods and recipes as the years have gone by and I'm not scared to cook for people that I don't know - but my favorite is country food.

Last weekend I made pot roast with carrots and potatoes.  No I didn't add any red wine but I did make brown gravy with my trusty bottle of Kitchen Bouquet.  I don't steam and make sauces for squash and other vegetables - I usually flour them or coat them with cornmeal and fry them in bacon grease that I keep in Mason jars in my fridge.  I make cakes and pies from scratch.  When we get a sweet tooth I can usually go to the pantry and come up with the right ingredients to make a treat.

I'm not opposed to going out to dinner at a fine dining restaurant.  I occasionally like to pull out one of my little black dresses and have a nice dinner.  But that's the exception rather than the rule.  I enjoy going to more casual restaurants too but I just tend to mainly cook at home.  Partly because we live so far out in the country and partly because I enjoy cooking for JC and family.  It gives me a sense of satisfaction to see my husband and family enjoying a meal that I've cooked.

I may someday need to have heart bypass surgery to repair my clogged arteries from all that fried stuff but Granny lived to be in her 90s so I'm optimistic.  And to those who call me country, that's just fine.  Country  is what I am.

A Serendipitous Vacation

I love a serendipitous discovery! It’s so exciting to pick out an unfamiliar book that turns out to be such a good read that I can’t put it down. I just had a serendipitous experience while visiting Sioux Falls, South Dakota. JC and I went to visit his sister, LaVerna and her husband, Howard, who had recently relocated there. JC’s cousin, Mary and her husband, Bob had moved to Sioux Falls a few years ago and LaVerna and Howard visited them, fell in love with the area, and chose to move there as well.

I remember wondering why JC’s family members had chosen to move to Sioux Falls. We have traveled to Western South Dakota to see the Badlands, the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore so my image of Sioux Falls was biased. I had visions of a small, western town filled with trucks, farmers, and ranchers (not being critical here). I was so wrong. Sioux Falls is a mid-western town of 180,000. It is the largest town in South Dakota. Larger than the capital, Pierre, which they pronounce Pier not Pea Air, as I had mistakenly pronounced all my life when reciting the states and capitals.

But I digress – Sioux Falls is filled with fun things to see and do. First thing to see is Falls Park where the Big Sioux River cascades over red quartz (jasper). The park is gorgeous and the first night there I commented that I would imagine there are lots of senior pictures, engagement and wedding pictures were taken there. That thought was confirmed a couple of days later when we were there and saw a bride and groom taking their place in front of the falls for pictures. I’m “birdwaking” again, back to my story. There is a laser light show each night at 9:30 with narration that tells the history of Sioux Falls. I was so impressed looking around at all the families sitting on blankets or in lawn chairs watching the show. There were people just out walking the park and enjoying the nice weather. I learned later that Sioux Falls has around 20 parks. We drove by several and they were all well-kept, beautiful parks and there were always families and couples picnicking or walking. There is a park with an amphitheater where plays and music events are held.

There are pieces of sculpture all around the city. They are made my local artists and placed on big blocks of red quartz. Residents vote on the best sculpture and then the city buys them and places them in their permanent collection. Downtown Sioux Falls is bustling at night with people eating and drinking at outdoor cafes and bistros. The downtown area has been well maintained. There are no boarded up buildings or structures left to ruin. The flowers and grass are beautiful - I suppose because they don’t get fried by the hot sun. There are several museums to visit and several colleges in town. There was even an Andy Warhol exhibit going on at a pavilion. Every day there are activities. No one should be bored there.

There is a small lake, called Catfish Bay, where nightly water shows are performed and in the winter you can take advantage of Great Bear Snow Park to ski, snow board and tube. Winter doesn’t slow the people of Sioux Falls – they just transition from summer sports to winter sports. While visiting a motorcycle shop I asked why all the motorcycle helmets were on sale and the sales person told me that it was time to clear the shelves to put out the snow machine helmets. “Winter is just around the corner,” she said. We were also surprised to learn that you can drive four-wheelers on the roads along with the cars. And everywhere we went people would say “it sure is a scorcher out today.” (It was in the low 80s). Of course when it’s 30 below in the winter they are comfortable and I would be trying to get warm.

There are a couple of wineries in the area which surprised me. Living in Missouri I’m used to all the grape varieties and I hadn’t seen any vineyards. While grocery shopping at the local HyVee I checked out the South Dakota wine selection. The wines are made from elderberry, chokeberry, strawberries, rhubarb and pears. We attended a wine tasting at the Straw Bale winery and tasted the local wines. I guess my palette isn’t sophisticated enough to enjoy the non-grape varieties, but it was a fun experience.

Sioux Falls has lots of flea markets, antique stores and goodwill type stores. Some are neat and orderly and some are so full you can barely move. JC and I love to antique so we enjoyed digging for great finds. I found a piece of Metroiska (Russian nesting dolls), that I didn’t have in my collection and we also added a small wooden boat with oars and great detail to our collection of little canoes and boats. The good will stores turned up a brand new with tags Stearns life jacket and denim jacket for me. We didn’t have time to go to all the flea markets and I was in sensory overload by the end of our stay anyway.

Sioux Falls is about 50 miles from Mitchell, the home of the Corn Palace. This is a must see for anyone visiting the area. The Palace is changed each year and all the design is made completely of corn. It is amazing to think that all the beautiful pictures are corn cobs…and speaking of corn, we went to the Sioux Falls Farmers Market. It was filled with all kinds of produce, some things I had never seen before, baked goods, flowers, meats and even a coffee booth.

I could go on and on. ..but if you get the chance to visit Sioux Falls it would be worth your time. The winters are harsh and I don’t know that I would be able to live there but my hat is off to those who do. My image of the dusty little western town was shattered and replaced with a clean, culturally diverse, pride filled city. Just like that good book that I can’t put down, I’m not “through with” Sioux Falls. There is still so much left for me to see and experience, so for now I will just mark the page and come back when I have more time.

A Serendipitous Vacation

I love a serendipitous discovery! It’s so exciting to pick out an unfamiliar book that turns out to be such a good read that I can’t put it down. I just had a serendipitous experience while visiting Sioux Falls, South Dakota. JC and I went to visit his sister, LaVerna and her husband, Howard, who had recently relocated there. JC’s cousin, Mary and her husband, Bob had moved to Sioux Falls a few years ago and LaVerna and Howard visited them, fell in love with the area, and chose to move there as well.

I remember wondering why JC’s family members had chosen to move to Sioux Falls. We have traveled to Western South Dakota to see the Badlands, the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore so my image of Sioux Falls was biased. I had visions of a small, western town filled with trucks, farmers, and ranchers (not being critical here). I was so wrong. Sioux Falls is a mid-western town of 180,000. It is the largest town in South Dakota. Larger than the capital, Pierre, which they pronounce Pier not Pea Air, as I had mistakenly pronounced all my life when reciting the states and capitals.

But I digress – Sioux Falls is filled with fun things to see and do. First thing to see is Falls Park where the Big Sioux River cascades over red quartz (jasper). The park is gorgeous and the first night there I commented that I would imagine there are lots of senior pictures, engagement and wedding pictures were taken there. That thought was confirmed a couple of days later when we were there and saw a bride and groom taking their place in front of the falls for pictures. I’m “birdwaking” again, back to my story. There is a laser light show each night at 9:30 with narration that tells the history of Sioux Falls. I was so impressed looking around at all the families sitting on blankets or in lawn chairs watching the show. There were people just out walking the park and enjoying the nice weather. I learned later that Sioux Falls has around 20 parks. We drove by several and they were all well-kept, beautiful parks and there were always families and couples picnicking or walking. There is a park with an amphitheater where plays and music events are held.

There are pieces of sculpture all around the city. They are made my local artists and placed on big blocks of red quartz. Residents vote on the best sculpture and then the city buys them and places them in their permanent collection. Downtown Sioux Falls is bustling at night with people eating and drinking at outdoor cafes and bistros. The downtown area has been well maintained. There are no boarded up buildings or structures left to ruin. The flowers and grass are beautiful - I suppose because they don’t get fried by the hot sun. There are several museums to visit and several colleges in town. There was even an Andy Warhol exhibit going on at a pavilion. Every day there are activities. No one should be bored there.

There is a small lake, called Catfish Bay, where nightly water shows are performed and in the winter you can take advantage of Great Bear Snow Park to ski, snow board and tube. Winter doesn’t slow the people of Sioux Falls – they just transition from summer sports to winter sports. While visiting a motorcycle shop I asked why all the motorcycle helmets were on sale and the sales person told me that it was time to clear the shelves to put out the snow machine helmets. “Winter is just around the corner,” she said. We were also surprised to learn that you can drive four-wheelers on the roads along with the cars. And everywhere we went people would say “it sure is a scorcher out today.” (It was in the low 80s). Of course when it’s 30 below in the winter they are comfortable and I would be trying to get warm.

There are a couple of wineries in the area which surprised me. Living in Missouri I’m used to all the grape varieties and I hadn’t seen any vineyards. While grocery shopping at the local HyVee I checked out the local wine selection. The wines are made from elderberry, chokeberry, strawberries, rhubarb and pears. We attended a wine tasting at the Straw Bale winery and tasted the local wines. I guess my palette isn’t sophisticated enough to enjoy the non-grape varieties, but it was a fun experience.

Sioux Falls has lots of flea markets, antique stores and goodwill type stores. Some of neat and orderly and some are so full you can barely move. JC and I love to antique so we enjoyed digging for great finds. I found a piece of Metroiska (Russian nesting dolls), that I didn’t have in my collection and we also added a small wooden boat with oars and great detail to our collection of little canoes and boats. The good will stores turned up a brand new with tags Stearns life jacket and denim jacket for me. We didn’t have time to go to all the flea markets and I was in sensory overload by the end of our stay anyway.

Sioux Falls is about 50 miles from Mitchell, the home of the Corn Palace. This is a must see for anyone visiting the area. The Palace is changed each year and all the design is made completely of corn. It is amazing to think that all the beautiful pictures are corn cobs…and speaking of corn. We went to the Sioux Falls Farmers Market. It was filled with all kinds of produce, some things I had never seen before, baked goods, flowers, meats and even a coffee booth.

I could go on and on. ..but if you get the chance to visit Sioux Falls it would be worth your time. The winters are harsh and I don’t know that I would be able to live there but my hat is off to those who do. My image of the dusty little western town was shattered and replaced with a clean, culturally diverse, pride filled city. Just like that good book that I can’t put down, I’m not “through with” Sioux Falls. There is still so much left for me to see and experience, so far now I will just mark the page and come back when I have more time.

The Yearly Vacation

It's that time again - the yearly vacation. Time to pack, plan the route, service the car..... We never sleep well the night before we leave so we usually get up in the wee morning hours and take off on another big adventure.

This year we're headed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We've been to western South Dakota to Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands (in the days before GPS and we got lost) but we've never been to eastern South Dakota. JC's sister, LaVerna and husband Howard, recently relocated there so I figured we should go check out this area.

This was my year to pick where we vacation. This is the situation; I love the cold climates and JC loves the hot, sunny areas. To make things fair we alternate years. Last year we went to Amelia Island, Florida. The Gulf Oil spill had messed up his favorite Alabama beach so we headed to the Atlantic side of Florida. JC, the beach bum, was in heaven while I however was not. I like the beach but I don't like the sand that accumulates in everything, carting the big beach umbrella (with UV protection), the chairs, towels, cooler, etc. to the beach, watching for jelly fish and SHARKS! But, I can't complain - it was his year to pick.

Our first real vacation was to Wyoming to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. It was the first week of June and when we got there it had snowed heavily, some places got 3 feet. JC shivered and shook and was miserable for much of that trip. He loved the gorgeous scenery and the wildlife, but not the cold temps. But that trip was nothing compared to the summer we went to Alaska. This was a self guided tour that took us to the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean then back down to Denali. It sleeted and snowed (in mid July) while we were at the Arctic and a cold rain fell for much of the trip to Denali and Anchorage. Then another summer I dragged him to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where the temps dropped to the 40s and we had to buy sweatshirts and the mosquitoes had just hatched out so we had to buy insect repellent. There was a big fireplace in the lodge and JC huddled next to the fire while I happily checked out the scenery and took pictures.

So here we are again heading north but luckily for JC the heat wave has hit South Dakota so I doubt we will be buying sweatshirts. The thrill of the pre-Sturgis rally and has him all excited and he hasn't complained much about trip.

Next year I'm sure we will be headed south - I've already seen him on the internet checking out beach cottages on Dauphin Island. He is visualizing long, sunny days and I can feel the sand in the sheets already.

W.W.R.C.D.?

What would Rachel Carson Do? I can’t say for sure but I think she would speak out on this matter.

One July 27, 2011 the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission voted to shut down injection wells in the areas of Arkansas that are prone to earthquakes. After reading the announcement I did the “happy dance” in my living room. I had been anxiously awaiting the ruling and hoped it would go this way. Why do I care? I don’t live in Faulkner, White or Cleburne county. I don’t even live in Arkansas. I care because I’m a native Arkansan and love my home state. I care because I am concerned about the environment and what gas drilling is doing to Arkansas.

To understand all this you need to know about the Fayetteville Shale. It’s a layer of shale that holds natural gas deposits, not flowing reservoirs, but drops of gas locked in this fine grained shale. The Fayetteville Shale is a strip that stretches from near Fort Smith to around Little Rock. It is ranges from 50 to 550 feet in thickness is found anywhere from 1500 feet to 6500 feet deep. It formed during the Mississippian age as dead plants and animals became compacted. It has long been known about the gas deposits but there wasn’t a practical way to extract the gas. It wasn’t until the development of hydraulic fracturing that the removal of the shale gas deposits became feasible. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as hydrofracking or fracking, is performed by drilling a well vertically first then a horizontal well is drilled into the lower portion of the shale. Then, high pressure fracking liquids are injected to fracture the shale and extract the gas. Fracking chemicals are also used in the drilling process to reduce friction. There are over 500 chemicals in fracking fluids and by the passage of the 2005 Bush/Cheney Energy Bill (Halliburton Loophole) of the Safe Drinking Water Act, these chemicals didn’t have to be released to the public. Recently that law was modified and all but 62 chemicals must be release to the public. These 62 are considered trade secrets. That sends a big red flag up for me. We’re not making a secret recipe food here.

There are 10 gallons of waste water produced for each gallon of gas produced. A single frack can use between 1 and 8 million gallons of water and a well can be fracked up to 18 times. Not all this waste water comes back up. Around 20 percent of the chemical laden fracking water stays in the ground. The remaining water is put into storage ponds that are “supposed” to be lined to prevent leakage into the ground water. A second well, called an injection well, is drilled down below the area where the source of drinking water is located and above the fracking area. This waste water is pressure injected back into the ground for disposal. These injection wells are believed to have been the cause of the recent earthquakes in and around Faulkner County.

But earthquakes, serious as they are, are not the only issue at hand here. The fracking fluids are “allegedly” contaminating drinking water wells, creeks, and other bodies of water. Residents have reported water that is discolored (I’ve seen it), and has a foul smell. There are creeks in the Booneville, AR area that have visible petroleum residues and reddish substances in them. Tar looking water flows from some of the drinking wells in that part of the state. Other than water contamination and scarring of the land, is air quality. While waiting to inject waste water the water is placed in holding ponds and tanks and left to evaporate, releasing the chemicals into the air. A buildup of ozone is the result. Yes, we need the ozone layer, but we don’t need ozone in the Troposphere. It causes and exacerbates respiratory problems. We now have ozone alerts occasionally in central Arkansas.

I could go on and on but I think you get the idea. While I’m happy about the ruling, there are still problems. With this ruling the waste water will be trucked to other parts of the state that are not earthquake prone or to other states. While we may be moving it from one “backyard”, it will be going to someone else’s. Then there is the wear and tear on our roads as the trucks move millions of gallons of water to the new disposal sites.

What’s the solution? I don’t know. Like everyone else, I live a lifestyle that is made possible by the use of petroleum products. If we could find a way to extract the gas deposits (we could drill for the next 60 years before all the Fayetteville Shale deposits are exhausted) and not contaminate, it would be wonderful. Also, in the defense of the gas wells – is that their income is supposed to keep Arkansas recession proof. As of a few weeks ago (I haven’t checked lately), Arkansas was 6^th in the nation for the amount of surplus funds.

I hope an answer comes in the near future. I’m just one person who never intended to become an environmental activist. I will never be a Rachel Carson. I think that if I do nothing else, I can increase awareness of this issue. Look around you. Do you enjoy your clean air, good water and beautiful landscape? If you do, do your part to make sure it stays that way. If you get a chance, drive through a drilling area and look around. What you see will shock you and make you feel violated. Look at the creeks in central Arkansas and then imagine them as Crooked Creek, Mill Creek, Water Creek, Clabber Creek or Blue John. Not a good image. Think about all the times that you went to play in the creek in the hot summer or went to get crawdads or minnows to go fishing. Think how, we as kids, lay down on our bellies and drank out of the creek, never worrying about anything more than a cow upstream.

I've never wanted to be a trouble maker, whistle blower, or even do anything to call attention to myself - but the gas drilling in Arkansas has made me change how I look at life. I hope you will take the time to increase your awareness of what is going on here.

Conversations With Lily

I just spent the last five days in McKinney, Texas visiting with my daughter, Misty's, family. Drew is 12 and still had school, Lily is 5, and Reid is 3. Lily is just beginning to ask a lot of questions and she and I spent a lot of time together, even sharing her bedroom, so she had the opportunity to ask me a lot of "stuff."
First question was "Nana, where is Papa?"
Nana: "He had to work and couldn't come."
Lily: "Oh. That makes me sad. Let's call him." So we did. Next Lily moved on to a lot more questions.
Lily: "Nana. Do flies have Mommies?"
Nana: "Yes Lily they do."
Lily: "Which ones are the Mommies?"
Nana: "I don't know Lily. They all look alike to me."
Lily: "How do the baby flies know which ones are their Mommies?"
Nana: "They just do Lily." (cop out answer)
Lily: "Do those birds have babies?"
Nana: "I imagine they do."
Lily: "Where do their babies live?"
Nana: "In a nest up in a tree?"
Lily: "Why can't I see them?"
Nana" "Because the Mommy bird hides her nest so nothing gets the baby birds."
Lily: "If they want to hide why do they go chirp chirp tweet tweet?" (hmm good question)
I avoided that last question but Lily moved on.
Lily: "How many legs do spiders have?"
Nana: "Eight." (I'm feeling confident now)
Lily: "Nana, how does Hello Kitty eat her apples if she doesn't have a mouth?"
Nana: "Lily, Hello Kitty is just pretend so we will just pretend she eats her apples."
Lily: "Oh OK."
Lily's list of questions went on and on and I tried to answer her 5 yearold's questions as best I could. I know that some day Lily may not ask me childlike questions any more. It will make me sad when she grows up so I cherish the time I spent with her this past week.