Casual Country, October 2023

Dahlstedt Pottery

Living the Dream in Arkansas

Ozark Leaf Peeping

Celebration of Our Rural Ozark Life

Mountain View - Allison - Calico Rock - Fifty Six - Big Flat - Fox - Leslie ARKANSAS

Free October 2023

October 2023 Happenings

Book

Roscoe P. Coal Train’s 9th Annual Ice Cream Social Fundraiser Centennial Bank Park 11am-3pm

We have a new columnist/photographer that I’ve been hoping would come aboard. Judy Bishop,…watched her Facebook postings as she and her late husband traveled around the states, Canada & more…it always took me to a place far away…and kept me reading them every time she posted. And her photography was glorious. Welcome Judy and I’m so delighted you took me up on my invitation to contribute to Casual Country.

The cover is not what I had imagined, but when I got over to the Dahlstedt Studio Becki already had it arranged, she added my pumpkins & gourds & I couldn’t resisted going with it….so much spirit of the season! Love going with the flow….and I love all the color…many thanks Becki. We’ll do my boring cover another time.

Speaking of color….wait till you see the full page ad for the Arkansas Craft Guild….full, full, full of October Spirit!

Stringband Music & Arts Festival Ozark Folk Center Oct 13..6pm…Oct 14..noon & 7pm

I had the sweetest thing happen: Last Saturday night late I was on the phone with a friend for a long while before I entered Walmart. Things happen how they’re suppose to. We hung up, I went in and got what I needed and was headed out of the store when a man called my name in the parking lot. It was dark & I couldn’t make out who it was but as he approached I recognized him…We chatted for a few minutes, he wanted to know how business was…I clued him in that I’d gotten the weekly newsletter for Ivy Vacations posted on Wednesday, had a full house at the B&B and was finishing up the October issue of Casual Country. He then took something out of his pocket & handed to me…. a very generous contribution for the magazine. I asked him why…..he said, “Because I like what you’re doing with the magazine.” I want to tell you - that made my day and my week!!

Thank you so much Ron James….so much! If I hadn’t talked on the phone so long, none of that would have happened! (or at least not that night)

October Cheers, Joy

Email: casualcountrymagazine@gmail.com

Phone: 870-213-6135

P.O. Box 1777, Mountain View, AR 72560

The Corner People, Places and Things

Dahlstedt Pottery A Pottery Evolution of Love and Endless Creativity

by Marie & Bruce

Becki and David Dahlstedt were born to be artists - how lucky is that?

David grew up in Arkadelphia about 40 miles from Hot Springs. He attended Henderson College and in 1969 took a semester off and signed up for a welding class which he was excited about but fate had other plans. He was asked to leave the course because his hair was too long (oh, those were the days!) He decided to take a job at Dryden pottery. He was not particularly skilled and so was given the grunt tasks. Thanks to his coworkers he improved his pottery skills and began working on the wheel. He returned to Henderson and graduated before returning to Dryden pottery for 2 years, using his pottery skills to work on the wheel and speak to the tourists at the same time explaining what was happening. David’s boss at Dryden told him he was wasting his time at Dryden Pottery and found 2 jobs for him to interview with. One of which was the Ozark Folk Center. The potter there was approaching retirement and David became the full-time pottery demonstrator. He ran the pottery shop for 18 years and built the gas fired kiln that is still being used today by the current potters.

Becki grew up in Cape Girardeau and majored in art in college. There was no pottery department so she took drawing, design and painting classes. It was not until she was living and working in Berkeley CA that she began taking pottery classes at a community studio and entertained thoughts of becoming a potter. Her skills were rudimentary and did not sell well so she abandoned that idea! She continued her 9 to 5 job and began taking photographs. Then fate intervened and love brought Becki to St. Louis. She did not have access to a pottery studio, so she focused on her love of photography and began hand coloring photographs which she developed using the darkroom at a local community college. Through a chance meeting (fate again) at her sister’s wedding Becki met Tom Holland who was from her hometown and a pottery major (before becoming a world class glass bead artist married to Sage!). He convinced her to visit Mountain View, an art, craft and music MECCA! She hung out at the Ozark Folk Center and met potter David Dahlstedt. Long story short – she married the potter and the rest is history.

Think about this, 18 years at the Ozark Folk Center creating pottery every day (12 years for Becki). This allowed David and Becki the incubation time to become master potters. They developed a line of blue and white functional pottery which they sold locally and at crafts fairs and galleries in Memphis and Little Rock. Their customer base was loyal and their output was huge. David and Becki’s involvement in promoting crafts in Mountain View through the Arkansas Craft Guild and other craft organizations eventually led them to develop the Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour to showcase the great local artists and craft artisans.

For 23 years it has been a self-guided tour of local artists who wish to have visitors to their studios, see finished work, works in progress and make the artists available to customers who have an interest in their specific genre of art.

This year there were jewelers, potters, fine paintings, woodworking, glass bead works, furniture makers, etc. Nineteen studios were on the tour this year and I had a wonderful time visiting several of them.

In 1990 David and Becki began building a studio adjacent to their home with assistance from an Individual Artists’ Fellowship that David received from the Arkansas Arts Council. Since 1996 they have worked exclusively in their home studio.

All their pottery is fired after it is completely dry to a bisque temperature that leaves the pot still absorptive to the glazes which are applied before the final firing. David and Becki have lowered the temperature of their firing to create a mid-range stoneware, resulting in new glazes and lots of testing!

Becki and David gave me a Sunday afternoon tutorial about their work. David works on the wheel and does slab building, often combining the two. Becki now works mostly using slabs after years of working on the wheel. They have all manner of techniques that they have learned and developed to create custom pieces. Both are accomplished artists with seemingly endless innovation at their fingertips. David creates many large one-of-a-kind pieces painting designs with wax resist. He also turns bowls and chargers and other pieces with whimsical designs and carving.

Currently Becki is working on a sophisticated new line of rustic tableware that is just WOW. The pieces are monochrome with an unglazed edge. She has 2 glazes so far (a muted green and a varied blue) and is working on adding more complimentary colors. Accessory pieces with hand painted flowers or other images will be added to this line to complete a chic new look for setting a table. The shapes are not symmetrical, and they nest beautifully. We wish her much success with this new direction.

Becki applied a dogwood transfer to this little tray.

Becki has turned back to her painting roots adding images and color to her pots using a variety of techniques including silk screen printing with screens made from her original drawings and photographs which are printed using colored slip onto the clay surface. Many of her images are drawn and painted directly on the clay surface, or onto a piece of newsprint which is then transferred to the clay surface. These techniques prompt the use of clay slabs to build pots so that she has a flat surface to work on.

New dish with transfer & carved design. Satin matte glaze & terra sig edge.

Since leaving the Folk Center these two have gone on to really explore their craft in wonderful new directions. They make a great team, urging the other on to new forms and expressive pieces. They work very hard and are totally dedicated to their craft and have no thoughts of retirement. They feel they have so much more to explore.

Here’s a great Cole Slaw to mix up anytime in a Dahlstedt bowl and head off to meet friends at a picnic…… or just stay home with the family. I’ve served it for many years & everyone loves it… and it will look so scrumptious in that pottery bowl.

Pot

2 pkgs. cole slaw (the one with white & red cabbage & carrots)

5 green onions sliced (or chopped red onion)

1/2 cup dried cranberries (opt.)

1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans (opt.)

Dressing:

1 cup Mayonnaise (Vegan or Regular)

2 tablespoons vinegar (I use just plain white vinegar)

1/2 cup sugar

Intersections 5, 9 & 14

Mountain View, AR

(870) 269-4000 eat-in or take-out

Stir dressing ingredients together. Add slaw, onion and dried cranberries, tossing to coat. Cover and chill. If you are adding pecans, do so just before serving. I usually leave out the pecans and when it’s just me I even leave out the green onion and add a lot of cranberries!!

You can half this recipe very easy……

Happy Chowing….Joy

Luck Cole Slaw

More creations from the Dahlstedt Studio

Aaron Gschwandegger

Ozark Leaf Peeping

Maple trees are known for their spectacular color in the fall. However, there are many other beautiful trees to look at while leaf peeping in our area of the Ozark region. Here are some pictures from the area during fall that illustrate some of the magnificent color that can be seen.

Dogwood trees have a nice range of color as they change.

In this first picture on the left, the Dogwood’s full range can be seen. Notice the bright red berries still present. Soon enough they will be eaten by local birds.

The Robin loves to eat these berries and one is nicely camouflaged in the picture on the right where the leaves have almost fully turned red.

Given the right conditions, Oak trees are another stunning beauty. This white oak, on the right, is brilliant in reds and greens.

The image on the left shows how morning light through the leaves can create a magical effect from the right angle.

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.”

— Emily Brontë

Right…Next to the crisp autumn morning sky, the oak leaves wildly contrast.

Below a Sparrow is perched amongst these early changing oak leaves .

Below…An upward view of this hickory during mid day creates a glowing canopy.

Hickory trees provide a striking yellow for us in the fall.

Below the hickory leaves are spectacular while changing over from green to gold. Below bottom…Against the sky the hickory really stands out.

Sweet Gum trees are sometimes mistaken for Maple trees due to their similar leaf structure, and in my opinion, they are every bit as magnificent in the fall.

Early on they vary a lot in coloration and range from greens and yellows, to oranges and reds. Later in the fall, they are often times a brilliant red, as seen below.

Aaron is a member of the Arkansas Craft Guild and you’ll occasionally find him volunteering in the Gallery in Mountain View on weekends.

His photography takes many forms, including greeting card sets, wristlet bags, pillows, prints, miniature framed pictures, notecards, tapestries and more. The complimentary pillow backings are an art form as well. Aaron designs each geometric/abstract backing from the subject colors.

His company Fallen Pine Design can be found on Facebook or at www.fallenpine.com

The Sweet Gum below created a stunning reflection on this pond.

Aaron Gschwandegger is a photographer with a heartfelt eye for the wilds of the Ozarks.

Winged Elm trees are another golden beauty in the fall. The sun made a great early morning back light for this one’s leaves.

Sassafras also turn a beautiful range of colors.

The one below is in it’s early stages of color change.

Sometimes fall color is found on a tree, but isn’t actually the tree.

That is the case with this Virginia Creeper on the right. It can be found growing on trees in the area.

There are so many other colorful things to find out

Going out at different times of the day and looking at things, the lighting can change how many of the colors look. Also, don’t forget to look up! A new perspective can change everything.

Living the Dream in Arkansas

Born in Brooklyn, New York, and growing up with one brother in cities along the East Coast, Alisha Weiss always dreamed of having animals. From her earliest memories, she longed for horses, sheep, and dogs. “I irritated my parents with my constant begging until they finally got me a cat when I was seven,” she said. “I named it Purry

She did that well, and learned skills that would support her and her young family for years.

Not wanting to be known as a quitter, during this time she got her GED with “flying colors.” On her 17th birthday, Alisha “hopped a Greyhound” and went to Denver, Colorado. She found work in another automotive shop. She worked from seven until five, five days a week, and went to an automotive college for two years at night, from six until eleven.

By that time, Alisha’s parents were divorced and her mother had moved to Florida. When her mother learned that Alisha was expecting a child, she asked her to come stay for a while. Alisha’s mother was a teacher who spent her summers in Ireland. Alisha stayed in her house while she was gone and got a job in a transmission shop. She moved back to Denver when her baby daughter was four months old.

Alisha soon had a job with a Denver Ford dealership. Her second daughter was born in 2002. The three-girl family moved from place to place, but Alisha found work with Ford dealerships wherever she went…. Hackensack, New Jersey, New York, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Judy Bishop

Alisha and Nifty

She moved her family to the “Four Corners” area of Colorado and to Rock Springs, Wyoming. During this time, she began to rescue horses.

Alisha moved to Alaska, to Kenai and Wasilla, where she and her little girls lived for four years. During this time, she met her future husband, Russ Seither. She told him she could not be happy without animals around her. She had dogs and horses she had brought with her and intended to keep them and have more. Russ understood that, and they were married. Their son, August, was born at Wasilla, Alaska, in 2015.

Life Long Friends

When Alisha was living in Colorado in 2012, she had purchased a “skinny little reject” of a catahoula mix, for $20. She was the last of a litter of working cowdogs. Alisha named her “Jewel”, and she has lived up to her name. “She has been one of the best dogs I have ever had,” she said.

Jewel is a well-traveled dog. She has been in 17 Canadian provinces, 38 states, and has swum in the Atlantic, Pacific, the edge of the Arctic, the Gulf of Mexico, and four out of five Great Lakes.

Alisha with her longtime companions, Nifty the mare and cowdog Jewel.

“When I was pregnant with August, I decided to let Jewel have one litter of puppies,” Alisha said. “One of the pups was deaf, and I kept him. His name was Denny and he was a great, great dog. But he was a roamer, and one day he didn’t come home.”

This foal was born in a kill pen. Alisha rescued his mother and him, naming him Irion. Later, she rescued the mare's sister.

Alisha and Russ looked everywhere for him, and she still does. Jewel’s catahoula working mate now is a dog named Kodiak, born in Alaska. Like Denny, he is deaf. He is the favored one of Alisha’s five dogs. Most are rescues.

The Seither family moved to a farm northeast of the Salmon River, Idaho in the No Return Wilderness. Alisha chuckled, saying, “That was the Reject Ranch. We had goats, cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, dogs and cats. They were almost all rescues, even the skinny old cow who had gotten her head stuck in a sale barn door.”

Mountain View, Arkansas

A job offer for Russ brought the family to the Ozarks two years ago. They bought a 12 and a half acre farm northwest of Mountain View a little over two years ago. Since then they have built fences, horse stalls, a chicken house secure enough to keep out coyotes and skunks, goat shelters and pens. They have worked over the house they bought, which needed rewiring and replumbing and other work, most of which they have done themselves.

Maya and her foal May-b. Maya was rescued and Alisha didn’t know she was going to foal.

Before they moved here, Alisha had rescued over 200 horses from kill pens or other desperate situations. In the two years they have been here, she has rescued over one hundred more. Many are former Amish buggy or plow horses. A horse that Alisha rescues will be fed age-appropriately, will see a veterinarian whenever needed, will have a farrier work on its feet, and an equine dentist “float” its teeth.

While most of the horses go to other good homes after they are in better shape, Alisha has some of her own. One is a sassy mare named Nifty that she has had for about 12 years. Nifty and Jewel have been with Alisha for over a quarter of her life and have made many moves with her.

The Seithers use some of their animals for food. They have their own eggs and chickens, they usually have beef and goat in the freezer.

Alisha’s philosophy is that it is better to eat an animal that has had a decent life. “We owe that to them,” she said. “Any animal that I use for food will have had as good a life and as quick and humane a death as I

After

You can follow Alisha, her passion and her family on Facebook at:

Alisha’s Promise Equine Rescue

Alisha's son, August. and one of several baby goats born in mid September

White Crownbeard to Frost Flowers?

October is a good month to scout the locations of White Crownbeard along the road sides and open woodlands in order to observe a natural phenomenon which occurs during freezing temps - Frost Flowers!

Verbesina virginica aka Frostweed has been very abundant this year and should not be difficult to locate this singular flower stalk growing up to 7 feet and has 7 inch leaves. The white flower heads are about 1-1 ½ inches across and clustered at the end of a stem on branches. The blooming period is August and lasts to October.

Hairstreak Butterfly and Goldenrod Beetles

Many pollinators will visit this flower during late summer and early fall. Painted Ladies, Monarchs, Red banded Hairstreak, Spangled Fritillary butterflies as well as goldenrod beetles, various bees and wasps have been observed feeding on this flower.

Crownbeard can become somewhat invasive if not thoughtfully planted in a large natural setting, but the seedlings are easily pulled.

Monarch on Crownbeard

White Crownbeard

Frost Flowers!

Come the first day of freezing temperatures with the ground still moist will produce the most beautiful natural ice sculptures. Timing is essential for viewing as the temps need to stay at or below freezing and best to observe before too much sunlight shines on the formations.

As the temperature drops, the water in the plant’s stems begins to freeze, expands and forces slits where frozen water extrudes the ribbons of ice through the stem.

The water is continually being drawn up in the Crownbeard’s stem from the unfrozen ground taking on more interesting and unusual frozen shapes.

For newbies to the area you might think you are seeing bits of plastic along the road side after some cold temps when in fact the bits of white are the delicate frost flowers aka as rabbit ice.

Start scouting the area and when the freezing temps hit, get ready to wrap up and head outside in search of the fleeting frost flower!

Then have a pot of hot chocolate ready when you get home…

It is fun to cut back some Crownbeard to about 6 inches from the ground and leave some stalks alone to see many different formations of frost flowers.

Karen Avey

Casual Country Dreaming

Dream at your own pace and pursue dreams with vigor and courage! It often takes years to realize your brain is overflowing with purpose and dreams that have not been tapped. Why?

You are too busy working that 9-5 job and producing what you are told to produce. Your productivity is based on a scale that requires you to fit in a box.

When you find yourself outside that box, strange and wonderful things may happen.

You may find yourself in an environment where dreams come true. Yes, they come true!

Faith in community, self, and a strong work ethic combine to result in original ideas and positive outcomes. For example, if you dream of creating better living conditions for community members, first talk to community administrators, maybe the city council or county quorum court. Simply present a plan that piques interest and proposes cohesive strategies.

Realize in many cases, you may have to adapt to resources available. If resources are limited, think outside the box and contact outside resources. Many corporations are willing to donate funds for well documented community service dreams. We are both their customers and work force. They realize the value of community enrichment to their bottom lines.

Next speak out in the community and show some muscle in working toward that dream. Networking is a simple but effective tool. If you smile at community members, they will smile at you! In a rural Ozark life this is a given! People are friendly and willing to help out in many large and small ways. Volunteers embrace dreams, it is in their DNA, and they may work beside you for years with confidence and conviction. Never underestimate the value of friends, family, and community in projects that promote the general well-being of families and neighborhoods. Whether you have a small dream, a large dream, or simply want to embrace a positive point of view that may help to facilitate a dream, go for it!

Remember you may not lead in pursuit of a dream if you do not find time to work alongside others. If you have been an observer of folks who build “better mousetraps” or love the adventure of waking up every day excited about serving others, welcome to “casual country dreaming.” The Ozark rural life lends itself to dreamers. If your dreams are unrealized, visit us and tap your refresh symbol!

Karen Avey, Mountain View, Arkansas

The Mountain

View

Iris

Festival To Be Hosted May 3rd and 4th, 2024

The Mountain View Iris Festival, hosted the first Friday and Saturday in May, is the only iris festival in Arkansas. Nine years ago, volunteers planted hundreds of tall bearded irises to promote the cultivation and preservation of iris varieties. Today iris have been planted in the downtown historic district, neighborhoods, and city parks.

Immortality and Autumn Circus Reblooming September 2023

Volunteers will sell iris varieties on festival days as a fundraising opportunity and provide visitors with gardening information. The Mountain View Iris Festival is a non-profit 501c (3) in the State of Arkansas and donations are welcome to support beautification efforts. Visitors may tour the Stone County Courthouse grounds while at the festival or visit and see irises blooming from mid-April to mid-May. There is a six-week window of opportunity to photograph and research names and properties of each iris. Is the iris an early, mid, or late season bloomer? Is there a possibility the iris will rebloom in the fall? When is the best time to divide, transplant, or gift irises to friends or family?

Volunteers work year-round and clean up begins in mid-March with removal of debris and weed prevention.

Mountain View Iris Festival Garden Timeline:

• March – debris removal, weed prevention, apply fertilizer (10-10-10).

• April – irises begin bloom season, label any new varieties and watch for garden pests

• May and June – During bloom, dead-head spent blooms. Then cut bloom stalks as low as possible to ground level and continue to look for debris and weed prevention.

• July-August-September – Prepare for Spring Bloom - Divide and transplant existing rhizomes and plant new varieties. Pay attention to the properties of the irises for early, mid, and late season bloom when selecting new varieties. It is possible to have six weeks of bloom in the Ozark region and rebloom in the Fall. We stress that reblooming irises are dependent on care and weather conditions. We do not guarantee any iris to rebloom. Contact a local iris society for tips on growing in your agricultural zone.

• October – Apply fertilizer avoiding direct contact with the rhizomes (10-10-10). Continue to remove debris. The irises may be cut back to 6 inches. The garden may look neater and there is less foliage for pests to feed on. However, this is a personal preference and trimming the iris back will not deter from spring bloom. If the leaves are green and healthy, we do not cut the leaves. The irises will continue bloom in the Ozark hardiness zone.

• November-December – Irises are dormant now. You can cover the iris with straw or evergreen boughs, but be sure to remove promptly in the early spring. If you see mushy leaves around the rhizomes, remove as this provides cover for fungus and insects.

Please Note: The timeline is a guide for iris care in the Arkansas USDA Plant Zone Map. Please review iris gardening information for your locale at an American Iris Society Chapter or the American Iris Society www.irises.org. Another contact for iris information is Schreiner’s Iris Gardens www.schreinersgardens.com.

“The iris is a symbol of wisdom and intuition, a reminder to trust your instincts and follow your heart.”

This story occurred 41 years ago in a suburb of Chicago. It was a wild wet weekend in Chicago. Thinking about it after all these years it just makes me laugh.....I hope you enjoy this crazy story. Perhaps there is a movie script in here somewhere.

This tale occurred over a 5 day period in 1982 and is a broad overview of my wedding. Most folks in Mountain View do not realize that I was ever married. Let’s say I was: for about 5 minutes and that it was not something I was very good at.

I had been heading to old maidhood, feeling the pressure of my friends. Lee was reintroduced to me as a business contact and he actually was a year ahead of me at our high school.

After very briefly dating we decided to take a walk down the aisle. (WHAT WERE WE THINKING???)

My mother was ill at the time and unable to help me with all the girly things brides and their moms do. Also —she loathed Lee. My design partner and I planned and carried off the wedding and reception and it was a heck of a party.

Four bridesmaids, 4 groomsmen, tenting mothers backyard with additional covered tenting into the house at 3 doors for circulation. The house was a short block from the church so the game plan was to leave the cars there, have one or two folks shuttle folks who did not care to walk.

I made four white satin skirts for the bridesmaids with shocking pink satin sashes and purchased deep purple blouses. In addition I borrowed every pyrex baking dish and made 25 pans of Chicken Tetrazzini as the entree and caterers did the rest. Lots of liquor was purchased — the hot drink at that time was Lillet - an orange flavored aperitif. Local firemen were hired as bartenders. Things quickly started going off the rails. Lee’s SAAB was broken into 2 days before the wedding, losing his radio and all the groomsmen’s gifts. He borrowed my car, and I borrowed Moms beloved Cutlass.

Friday before the wedding, the doorbell at Flossies house is ringing continuously. First my sister and husband arrived from Little Rock. And surprise, their daughter with a 2 month old child who had not been invited decided to tag along. Next, my college roomie, Wendy and adorable Donnie Osmond lookalike husband from Westerville, Ohio. First thing Wendy tells me she meant to lose weight before the wedding and the skirt does not fit. No problem.....I’ll let it out after the Rehearsal Dinner. Another ring of the doorbell and it is Ann and Linda from Iowa City - they were traveling through on their way to New York and thought they would say hi...they have no knowledge of the nuptials. They are fun. We put them in the guest bedroom.

Florence is busy entertaining, I’m trying to find a baby sitter close by for the baby. Eventually found a gal about 5 blocks down who was a friend of a client. My niece informs us that she has no intention of leaving her baby with a woman she has never met and will be bringing the baby to the wedding. Her mother implores her not to cause a scene. My mother implores me not to cause a scene. I thought I handled it beautifully - called a cab. She and infant drove away and no one mentioned her again.

The rehearsal dinner was a rollicking time at a local eatery. There were probably 30 of us and Lee's parents graciously picked up the tab. When I was served there was a big old sheet metal screw in my entree. It must have fallen out of the vent over the stove. You can fill in the blank about the great laugh this got from everyone.

Wedding morning. 9 o’clock and I head to the beauty parlor. Moms neighbor, a rocking Brit, was a hair stylist and his gift to me was to “do” my hair. They would not be able to attend the ceremony. Jerry’s salon was in Skokie, a very Jewish area. There was an anteroom with lots of older Jewish men reading magazines and waiting on their wives. An adorable skinny black girl, probably 17, was circulating among the women getting permanents and dabbing their foreheads with kleenex where the product dribbled. Jerry passed the veil around and there was much oohing and aahing in Yiddish —-

DING DONG THE BELLS ARE GONNA CHIME ~ OR ~ LOVE AND MARRIAGE GO TOGETHER LIKE A STOLEN CUTLASS.

The hair? Jerry totally outdid himself. 100 bobby pins, 2 cans of hairspray, hair up in back with side finger curls —-- think Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke.

Back home the excitement and weather is brewing. The piano movers moved the baby grand out of the living room onto the dance floor under the tent. The gallons of liquor arrived. My drapery workroom staple gun in hand swathed the interior of the garage in white curtain lining so the caterers could serve. The wedding cake arrived and was simple and beautiful. The tables under the tent were skirted and simple purple denbrobium orchids and tea candles sat at the ready.

At 4 mom decided that the 3 crabapples in the back yard between the house and the tent needed twinkling Christmas lights. Jim, the Donnie Osmond look alike, offered to help me after he put out the joint he was smoking behind the tent. Mission accomplished. Lights from the attic up into the trees.

At 6 head to the church. While everyone was changing inside the first clap of thunder came — the skies opened up. For whatever reason, Mom was fluffing my dress and told me that it was too bad it was raining. Brides who get married when it is raining always get fat.....WHAT? Was it too late for therapy? Why had she said something so mean to me? Did she hate Lee that much? Did she hate me?

10 minutes later she is being escorted down the aisle by a groomsman. She is in the front pew with my sister and Josephine, our devoted cleaning lady.

15 minutes later, after her bombshell, I am being pushed at the aisle entryway to begin my march to end my spinster years. With quaking knees the wedding portion came off without a hitch. Photos, receiving line and what not.

Now back to the house - unfortunately it was pouring buckets. Many folks got chauffeured and then all the groomsmen ended up parking on the shoulder in front of moms house.

Party is revving up. Pianist playing, folks mingling, firemen pouring very stiff drinks.....

Moms friend Lea sat inside at the dining table along with Josephine because it was too cold for Lea to be outside.

My new mother-in-law had one of those great aperitifs, Lillet, maybe two. When someone accidentally hit the garage door button and the door started easing down bringing cascades of water, Lillian backed up to escape and fell into the wet shrubbery outside into the garage. She was so embarrassed. Someone put her in a guest bedroom where she was out for the count.

The music was great, the water was coming up and swirling around the piano legs but the dance floor was dry. Guests are mingling. Someone told the firemen to keep pouring.

Suddenly there is a big kaboom outside..... Someone driving down Wagner in the torrential rain rear ended the first groom's car (they were from Michigan). That car pancaked into the next, then the next, then the next, then the next. Six cars in total. The driver was unhurt but his car hydroplaned into the culvert across the street. This of course brought the Northfield Police. All the grooms were standing outside with Lee looking at their cars, giving statements. The caterers were in a twist because they felt they could not start serving.

Everything worked out after a lecture from the Police about notifying them if we were going to have another party. The band played on. Everyone danced with everyone. The cake was cut, the garter tossed.

The bridal bouquet was actually caught by a gal who did indeed get married next.

Two a.m. the last guests were leaving. Lea never came out to the tent. Mom came out for the obligatory dance with her new son in law.

Lee and I finally went off to The Northbrook Sheraton about 4 miles from the house. It is 3 in the morning. I’m removing the 100 bobby pins. Lee flushes the toilet and lets out a yelp....the toilet is overflowing. Someone had put a half gallon of ice cream in a trash bag in the tank of the toilet. Have you ever tried to get fresh towels from housekeeping at 3 in the morning??????

Sunday morning, Flossie, my sister and husband depart for Little Rock. We follow on another flight Monday evening. Yes, we were spending a family honeymoon.

Monday morning I discovered Florence's beloved Cutlass had been stolen from outside Lee's apartment. If you have never had a car stolen it is the oddest sensation in the world.

The honeymoon was not exactly romantic. We stayed in the master bedroom. My sister and her hubs had spent their entire married life on a double bed. Plus the bedroom was off the kitchen. Family was up early puttering around in the kitchen making coffee and opening drawers. I must say Lee was a very good sport about the entire thing even though he commented that he was wondering whether this was a “shivaree”

On the plane ride home we told Mom her car was stolen. She could not believe it. Once it sunk in she started to sob. Loudly. It was very uncomfortable. Passengers thought we were beating this little old lady.

About a month later the Chicago Police called. The car had been found and was in the auto impound. We goRow 4, slot 38.....No, that couldn't be her car. But it was. No hood. No doors. No seats. No tires. No dash. No trunk lid. What was left was frozen in the swimming pool of the trunk. Just before the wedding Mom took 6 pair of Ferragamo shoes and put them in the trunk because she was going to take them to Ben the Shoemaker to be refurbished. She was very particular about her feet and this brand, as expensive as it was, fit her perfectly. There they were....12 shoes frozen like a wooly mammoth in the Alps. Needless to say, Mom

My business partner and I had wonderful careers for 38 years in Interior Design