Charmed - March 2015

CHARMED

March 2015 DoSouthMagazine.com

CONTENTS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Catherine Frederick MANAGING EDITOR Marla Cantrell CONTRIBUTING WRITERS / PHOTOGRAPHERS Lauren Allen Marla Cantrell Marcus Coker Catherine Frederick Lee Anne Henry Tonya McCoy Jennifer Ombres Anita Paddock Jessica Sowards Stoney Stamper Graphic Design Artifex 323 PROOFREADER Charity Chambers

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PUBLISHER Read Chair Publishing, LLC

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INSIDE

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ONE TOUGH BURD Wayne Burd, at ninety-eight, has been a hunter since the age of six, and survived not one, but two, plane crashes.

And he doesn't plan to slow down anytime soon.

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CLEAN, LIGHT, WHITE

32

HIP TO BE SQUARE

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Here's a nail-biter. Is it okay to paint your cabinets?

Designer Lee Anne Henry answers that question and gives you great tips to transform your kitchen.

Want an easy gardening plan, no matter how much space you have? We have everything you need to grow fresh food for your family this summer, one square foot at a time.

ADVERTISING INFORMATION Catherine Frederick 479.782.1500 Catherine@DoSouthMagazine.com Kate Edson 479.242.8222 Kate@DoSouthMagazine.com EDITORIAL INFORMATION Marla Cantrell 479.831.9116 Marla@DoSouthMagazine.com Š2015 Read Chair Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. The opinions contained in Do South are exclusively those of the writers and do not represent those of Read Chair Publishing, LLC. as a whole or its affiliates. Any correspondence to Do South or Read Chair Publishing, LLC., including photography becomes the property of Read Chair Publishing, LLC. Do South reserves the right to edit content and images.

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letter from Catherine

W

ho doesn't love March?

05

call a once-in-a-lifetime experience – and I'd have to agree!

We can finally see the

end of winter, the jonquils

Closer to home, writer Marcus Coker took a walk in the tree-

start popping up everywhere,

tops, and he's sharing his story about one of his best days ever

and people go wild filling out

experiencing the wonders of Arkansas.

their March Madness brackets. To be honest, though, I

With the weather starting to warm up, it's time to plan your

did hate to see February end

garden. We have everything you need to know to start yours,

because when it did so did my

right in your own back yard. Do you love furry four-legged

son's basketball season.

friends as much as we do? Let us show you how you and your family can help the animals of the Sebastian County Humane

My dad came in from Little

Society and have a fun filled day together!

Rock to watch his grandson's last game, and our youngest

We're also taking you inside a tiny eatery, only 750 square feet,

daughter was sitting right beside him. (Our oldest is away at col-

to meet the owners, and find out why they ventured into the

lege.) There we were in the stands on a Tuesday night, cheering

restaurant business at a time when their future was more than

like crazy, this family of ours. It helped that my son's team won,

a little uncertain. Writer Jessica Sowards opens up about her

but it really wouldn't have mattered. Just being there together,

battle with perfectionism, what happened when she couldn't

all of us focused on the game, was enough to celebrate.

make it work, and how God picked up the broken pieces of her life. It's a story that spoke to me and touched my heart.

With all of this coming to an end, I need a little March Madness to fill the void. All winter, Tuesday nights have been game

We have a yummy recipe your family will love that's a bit spicy

nights. My husband and I rush home from work, grab the kids,

and very filling, a Mocha Mint cocktail you're going to want to

and we head out to the game - together. I know enough to

make for St. Patrick's Day, and a laugh-filled tale from Stoney

appreciate this particular time in our family, and to realize it's

Stamper about a tiny little bird, an unseasonably warm day in

fleeting. I may take way too many pictures, and save way too

January and the battle that unfolded when the sparrow flew

many mementoes, but I know someday I'll need them to look

inside his kitchen window.

back on, and I'll cherish each and every one.

I'm going to get back to my own family now. We have a basketI'm sure you feel the same way about your family. You have

ball court in the backyard and I'm feeling a game coming on. You

nights that seem magical, and most of those happen right here

never know, I may actually win a game one of these days!

at home. But sometimes those incredible memories happen far,

~Catherine

far away. That's what happened to one Fort Smith couple. They recently returned from a trip to Shanghai, an adventure they

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06 poetry

The Duel LINES Jennifer Ombres

The wind kicks up dust and the chimes tinkle.

A dog barks, slitting the silent afternoon.

Cedric splits a peach stone with his teeth, swallows the bitter almond to keep it close.

He disappears in the tall grass ready to meet the storm.

A gaucho hat dances along the crest.

Across the path from the house to the barn, a dead snake lies deflated like rubber peeled from a tire.

I have lived here too long.

I toss a handful of seeds near the split in a crude fence.

The old mare, Rose, drinks dark water from a barrel.

Her tail bristles.

She lifts her hind hoof, thrusting the crescent moon to the earth.

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calendar

DO SOUTH MARCH 2015 SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

SATURDAY

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 Architecture Tour, Crystal Bridges Museum, 4 PM, Bentonville. crystalbridges.org

(2nd-15th) Garvan Gardens Daffodil Days, Hot Springs. garvangardens.org

The latest in spring beauty and fashion, page 59.

Garden planning?

Read Hip to be Square, page 32.

Shake things up with our Honey-Lime Chipotle Chicken Fajita Bowls, page 46.

Grape Escapes, Fort Smith. bost.org

Subiaco Academy Spring Carnival, 4 PM, Subiaco. subi.org

08 09 10 11 12 13 14 Daylight Saving Time begins.

Need a laugh? Read Stoney Stamper's Bird's Eye View, page 42.

(10nd-15th) Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Walton Arts Center, Fayetteville. waltonartscenter.org

Ryan Adams is killing it with his album, Ashes & Fire, page 16.

(12th-14th) Mountain View Bluegrass Festival, Mountain View.

A thriller ten years in the making, page 17.

River Valley Endurance Run, 9 AM, Fort Smith. eventbrite.com

mountainview-bluegrass.com

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Author Palmer Chinchen, 1st Presbyterian, 4 PM, Fort Smith.

1pres.org

Zoo Tunes weeklong camp starts today, Tulsa Zoo. tulsazoo.org

St. Patrick's Day

Local jewelers, John and Kathy Mays, describe their trip of a lifetime, page 26.

Get to know Dr. Rosilee Walker Russell, page 10.

(20th-23rd) AR River Valley Lawn and Garden Show, Fort Smith.

Laser Shot, Janet Huckabee Nature Center, 3 PM, Fort Smith.

fslawngardenshow.com

rivervalleynaturecenter.com

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 On the fence about painting your cabinets?

Read Clean, Light, White, page 18.

Cocktail time! Make our Mocha Mint dream drink, page 49.

A local couple is living out their dream in just 750 square feet, page 36.

Spend some time in the treetops. Read Zipping Through the Ozarks, page 50.

What's the secret to a long and happy life? Read One Tough Burd, page 12.

(27th-29th) Elvis Festival, Branson. bransonelvisfestival.com

29 30 31 Comedian Jeanne Robertson, 4 PM Walton Arts Center, Fayetteville. waltonartscenter.org

Jessica Sowards shares the secrets of her dirty life, page 22.

Don't miss our April issue of Do South, out tomorrow.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

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• Family names starting with "Mac" or "O'", mean respectively "son of" and "grandson of" in Gaelic.

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• Hollywood actors of Irish descent include George Clooney, Mel Gibson, Alec Baldwin, Bill Murray, Heather Graham, Ben Affleck.

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2nd Annual Edamame Festival, 9 AM - 4 PM, Mulberry. cityofmulberry.org

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UPCLOSE&PERSONAL

Dr. Rosilee Walker Russell Founder/Executive Director, UAFS Academy of the Arts 479.788.7546 | uafs.edu

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UPCLOSE&PERSONAL

About Dr. Rosilee Walker Russell The UAFS Academy of the Arts is a preparatory division of arts activities for students from preschool through high school in the areas of music, theatre, dance, and art. Classes and activities meet after school, in the evenings, and on the weekends.

What do you miss about being a kid? I miss playing outside and the freedom being a child brings. There seems to be less time constraints when you're a kid, and I loved that.

What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done? I used to have a dirt bike when I was a kid, and I loved popping wheelies and doing jumps on it. When I was three years old, I jumped into our neighborhood ditch for a swim and about gave my parents a heart attack!

If you had a year off, what would you want to do? I'd record a piano CD.

We began in the fall of 2006 with seventy students

What do you think about every day? Staying in God's will for that particular day, and doing my best to serve and encourage others.

and now serve over 800 students each semester. The

What was your first job? In high school I worked one summer at an Orange Julius.

purpose of the Academy is to provide exceptional artistic training to students of all ages, levels, and

When was the last time someone surprised you? My wonderful husband, Phillip, is always surprising me with lovely gifts and great chocolate!

to be successful young people and adults. Students

What makes you nostalgic? My parents were older when they had me, and are no longer living. Many people in Fort Smith knew my mother, the late Clois Walker. I was very close to both my mother and dad and miss them terribly. My mother even prayed for me to play the piano before I was born and my dad always wanted a little girl.

from many area school districts participate in

What was the first car you owned? A brand new 1980 Chevy Camaro Z-28.

socio-economic backgrounds. Our hope is to build life skills within each student that will equip them

our programs and we have an outstanding professional faculty to work with the students.

Words to Live By: I believe that it is important

If you had to pick one place in Fort Smith to show a tourist, where would it be? UAFS. Favorite food from your childhood? Spaghetti-O's.

What's something people would be surprised to learn about you? Most people don't really know that I was a total athlete. I played basketball, tennis, ran track, played softball, and participated in swimming. I was ranked third in high school singles tennis in the state of Montana, which is where I grew up, and made the sevenmember tennis team at Baylor University.

Where was your last road trip? Atlanta.

to serve others and respect

Favorite song from your teen years? I liked a lot of England Dan and John Ford Coley music.

others for their unique abilities.

What's the last movie you saw? We just watched Runaway Train.

Life is about people!

Three things you want to accomplish before you retire? I hope to have the opportunity to lead several more Bible studies, record a CD of sacred music, and I hope to have the opportunity to continue to build a fine arts program and make a major difference in the arts for children, young people, and college students.

If calories didn't count, what would be in your most decadent meal? Chinese food followed by a fabulous chocolate dessert!

2 things Rosilee can't live without:

What's the best part of your job? Watching young people develop and connect with others — I see them develop life skills that give them confidence and will take them through life. I love meeting all of them and getting to know them as well.

Where's your favorite spot in Arkansas? Belle Point in downtown Fort Smith. It's where Phillip proposed to me!

What's the best thing about spring in Arkansas? The beautiful azaleas.

What's the most sentimental thing you own? My mother's jewelry and my dad's hats.

Chocolate

My Bible

What's been your biggest accomplishment? Completing my Doctorate in Piano was a milestone. Also, the opportunity to create an arts program for young people has been tremendously rewarding.

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people

ONE TOUGH

Burd words Tonya McCoy images courtesy Steven Hunter

A

coyote moved in a swift slump across a field and into the crosshairs of Wayne Elmo Burd's Winchester 70

rifle. Wayne's gray eyes followed the intruder who passed close to his son's horses in the pasture behind his house in Lavaca, Arkansas. He aimed from his spot on his front porch and it only took one shot to lower the creature to the frozen ground.

For any hunter it would be quite a feat, but even more so for Wayne, who recently

Wayne Burd

turned ninety-eight.

DS OO SU OTUHTM HA MG AA GZ AIZNIE NE DO

people

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He talks about the coyote, and about the rest of his life, with amazing detail. "You won't believe this. I shot my first dove when I was six years old. I've hunted ever since," he laughs, and then holds up his 100-year-old Iver Johnson 410 shotgun that he used the day the coyote showed up.

"I had an old uncle who hunted, and he took me with him. Doves were lighting (landing to get a drink) on a pond bank. One lit, and he cocked the old shotgun and said, 'Get him, Buzz,' and I got him."

He hit the dove on the first shot and has been a marksman ever since. In the 1950s, Wayne won clay target championships in Oklahoma, and was ranked eighth overall in the nation by the Amateur Trapshooting Association.

Wayne then set his sights on bigger targets. The massive head of a mounted elk towers over his living room. The beast was 486 pounds when he shot it in 1950 in Colorado. His son still has the horns of a 684 pound moose Wayne shot in Wyoming in 1954. He read in a magazine later that the biggest moose shot in Wyoming that year was less than an inch wider than his.

His travels took him from deer hunting in Arizona, to antelope hunting in Wyoming, to pheasant hunting in South Dakota. He was still pheasant hunting at the age of ninetyfive. But the one thing Wayne's wife, ninety-seven-year-old Dorothy Bell Burd won't let him do anymore, is shoot coyotes from airplanes.

Wayne's friend Joe owned the airport in Okmulgee, Oklahoma and Wayne would load up his rifle and Joe would prep his two-seat Piper Cub plane. Ranchers paid Wayne to thin out bands of coyotes. He'd lean his rifle out the window to shoot, and if he ran out of ammo for that, he'd use his pistol. Wayne had a couple of close calls, including two crashes. After the second crash, emergency crews had to cut Joe's son, David, out of the airplane and he almost lost his leg.

"David didn't know who he was for a day or two, but I didn't get a scratch out of it," explains Wayne. "I quit hunting coyotes, because my wife had a hissy fit. She said, 'You can't do that! I'm not going to have them come in here and tell me to come pick up your pieces.'"

So no more aerial hunts, but Wayne still loves to shoot and recently was recognized by the National Rifle Association. He received the award for the oldest living member at NRA conventions when he was ninety-five and ninety-six. He joined the NRA in 1938.

After his award in 2013, Wayne got a surprise. "I was sitting in front of the TV, looking at a book, and I happened to look up and realized, well heck, that's me. There I was walking across the stage with Wayne Lapierre, who is the CEO of the NRA. I didn't catch what they said; I didn't have my hearing aids in. Anyway, I looked and they ran that thing till my face filled the whole screen up." He says, smiling wide.

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I was sitting in front of the TV, looking at a book, and I happened to look up and realized, well heck, that's me.

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people

Wayne has albums filled with photos of hunting and fishing with

Wayne married Dorothy during a trip to Las Vegas in March of 1941,

family and friends. But he also remembers more somber times.

months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. A few years later, a draft

Wayne was twelve years old, living in his hometown of Okmulgee,

letter arrived for Wayne. He prepared to move his wife and two-year-

when the stock market crashed in 1929, crippling the economy

old son back to Okmulgee while he was away in the military. He quit

and bringing on the Great Depression.

his job, and sold his belongings, including most of his guns.

Wayne's parents ran what he calls a little hamburger joint. "When

When Wayne arrived at the California draft office, a lady informed

it really got rough, we had a lot of people come in and say, 'Hey,

him that they'd sent a second letter to let him know it had been

can I mop the floor to get something to eat?'... They never turned

decided that he wasn't going because he was twenty-six and had a

anybody away that came in there hungry."

family. Unfortunately Wayne hadn't got that second letter. With no job, Wayne worried about what he'd do next. He went to Union Oil

When Wayne graduated high school jobs were scarce, so he

to see if he could get another service station manager position; there

moved to California. It was tough finding work but he finally

were none available. Instead, they gave him a job driving a gaso-

found a steady job at a Currie's

line truck. After the war Wayne

Ice Cream Store as a cone roller.

moved back to Okmulgee.

He'd bake the cones right in the store and the sweet smell would

After a few temporary jobs, he

bring in customers.

started working in construction, but things changed when one

"There were four waffle irons set

day the office manager became

in a row, and you rolled a cone

ill. "The boss said, 'Boy, how

around a little piece of aluminum

are we gonna get those people

cylinder cone shape, jerked it out

paid?' He was stomping the

and rolled another one. Anyway,

floor and chewing a big cigar.

it was quite a trick to get good at

I said, 'Well, you want me to

it, but I got good at it after a little

go pay 'em?' He said, 'Can you

while because the pay was based

make a payroll?' I said, 'Yeah,

on how many cones you rolled."

made one for two years paying Wayne and Dorothy Burd

Before long he was appointed

ice cream girls in California.'"A few weeks later a truck driver

manager over two stores. However he didn't make much money,

quit and Wayne filled in, using his experience from Union Oil.

so when he was offered a job at a Union Oil Service Station, he took it. "Pumping gasoline, I made more than managing two ice

As the years passed Wayne became office manager for different con-

cream stores. Oh yeah, I got up to $125 dollars a month... Any-

struction jobs and his work was so revered that after he'd retired,

way, I worked there for about a year and found myself a Union Oil

people were still calling him with job offers at age seventy-two.

Service Station manager. " Now, over twenty-five years later, he lives with Dorothy in Lavaca That's when his future wife Dorothy caught his eye. "She went to

and everyone calls Wayne "Papa Burd." He walks around with a

work at the restaurant right across from the service station. I never

cane he's supposed to use but doesn't. He has four grandchildren

did like to drink coffee, but I discovered her over there. She was

and eight great-grandchildren. He's seen almost a century of life.

working till ten thirty at night and I was working till twelve, and I

He has hunting stories, work stories, and even a beautiful love

found out I needed a cup of coffee in the evening.

story. Ask him the secret to a long happy life and he and his wife will laugh together, as if it's an inside joke, and then he'll say,

"She'd stand there and look across at the service station and send people

"Beans and cornbread," as if it makes all the sense in the world.

with coffee cups over and I'd stand there and look across to the restaurant."

And to the two of them, it certainly does.

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entertainment diy

Ashes & Fire Ryan Adams

review Marla Cantrell

Ryan Adams has broken hearts, had his

black cherry blossom perfume, the sail

heart broken, and made a career writing

boats they all sailed by, and the river she

songs that capitalize on both sides

cried" he sings. "Her eyes were indigo

of that coin. He's best known for his

and the cats were all calico ... and a river

alternative country music, but he's also

she cried."

made a name playing rock and heavy metal. His voice, on his more mellow

"I Love You But I Don't Know What to

songs, is reminiscent of Neil Young.

Say" is a beautiful, melancholy number.

His writing, prolific. In one interview

Adams' voice trembles, the chords play

he talked about his dedication, how he

out, the lyrics resonate. There's a bit of a

walked around with a guitar slung over

1970s feel to many of these songs.

his shoulder, loose-leaf binder in his hands. He said he wrote songs the way other people journal.

"Lucky Now," "Do I Wait," and "Rocks," all have roots in an earlier era. That they play well now is part of Adams' genius. His

This practice helped him through his greatest struggles,

voice, his writing, his compositions, all these things make this

including a serious illness (Ménière's disease, which attacks the

album feel like a classic.

inner ear and affects hearing and balance) that threatened to take him out of the music business altogether, and the death

It doesn't hurt that Norah Jones shows up on "Chains of Love,"

of his girlfriend, Carrie Hamilton, comedian Carol Burnett's

and Adams' wife, actress Mandy Moore, makes an appearance,

daughter, who died from cancer in 2002. In the months after,

singing harmony. It's likely that this was one of Moore's last

as he was grieving, Adams wrote one of his best albums, Love

forays into Adams' music, since she reportedly filed for divorce

is Hell, released in 2004.

in January, after six years of marriage. (They tied the knot in Savannah, Georgia, on March 9, 2009.)

But it's this acoustic-based, folksy album, Ashes & Fire, that highlights the best of this performer. It's a warm album,

If forty-year-old Adams is still carrying around loose leaf binders,

compelling, the kind of music you turn to when you feel

if he still slings a guitar over his shoulder — just in case — it's

nostalgic, or when you need to unwind.

possible there will be a new wave of songs coming from this latest heartbreak. The North Carolina native seems to have an

This collection starts with "Dirty Rain," a song that showcases

unending well of stories to tell, in a way that only he can tell

keyboardist

them. And that's incredibly good news for us.

Benmont

Tench

from

Tom

Petty

&

the

Heartbreakers. It's so full of emotion, so perfect for Adams, it's hard to imagine how the album could get any better.

It does get better, though. The next song, the title track, is a

DO SOUTH RATING: 9 OUT OF 10

backwoods number that Adams owns. "Her skin smelled like

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

entertainment diy

The Home Place

By Carrie La Seur William Morrow Publishing Co. 289 pages $26 review Anita Paddock

The Home Place opens on a bitterly cold

for her dead sister becomes evident. We see

January night in Billings, Montana. There's

the way she deals with her family: her brother

a party at a house on the wrong side of the

Pete, a recovering alcoholic who owns a

tracks, and in that house is eleven-year-

coffee shop; her grandmother who moved

old Brittany, who's supposed to be asleep

to town but still owns the home place that's

under a pile of visitors' coats that have

falling into disrepair; and her motherless

collected on the bed. But she is not asleep,

niece. Little by little, her heart is revealed, and

and she watches as her mother, Vicky

she becomes a likable heroine.

Terrebonne, stumbles away from the party and into the freezing night. She calls out

In time, she learns of even more trouble in

to her mother, but in the howling wind

her family. Coal companies want the mineral

her voice disappears. The next morning,

rights to the home place, and Alma has to

Vicky's body is found on a deserted street

deal with an unscrupulous landman and a

three blocks away. To the police, it looks

meth dealer who moved into the deserted

like an accident. They attribute her death

house on the homestead.

to the cold night, her heavy drinking, the likelihood that she passed out and died

Her high school boyfriend, Chance, enters

of exposure. But could they be wrong?

the picture, and their passion for each other

Could it be murder?

is rekindled. The two parted ways when Alma abruptly left Chance to attend college

So begins the quest of how she died. Her older sister, Alma, an

on a scholarship to Bryn Mawr.

attorney in Seattle, is called home to make funeral plans and to see to Brittany. The only Terrebonne to leave home in seven

The Home Place is filled with secrets, some revealed and others kept till the

generations, Alma has no intention of staying more than a week,

very end. You'll stay up late into the night trying to unravel the mystery of

but her relatives, and the sheer beauty of the land, cause her to stay

who killed Vicky Terrebonne and why.

and find out the real cause of her sister's death.

This is La Seur's debut novel, and it's been getting a great deal of Alma is the main character, and we follow the story through her

praise. She spent a decade writing it, making sure it was exactly

eyes. She's the stereotypical over-achieving lawyer who's trying to

right. The payoff is a novel that shows us what home means, how

make partner at a big corporate law firm. There is not much, at least

the people we call family shape us, and how we are defined by the

in the beginning, to like about her. As the story unfolds, her love

places we come from.

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home

CLEAN, LIGHT, WHITE words and images Lee Anne Henry, Whiteline Designs

BEFORE Let me say this — I want to inspire you to consider painting your stained kitchen cabinets.

You've heard how those stained kitchen cabinets would never go out of style. They remain the cornerstone of classic design. Okay, that's true, but the fact is that white (or off-white) painted cabinets are also a solidly classic design. This means painting your cabinets is not a short-lived whimsical design trend.

At Whiteline Designs, our design firm, our philosophy is to establish a neutral backbone and introduce personalized elements to add color.

Rather than having a red kitchen, for example, the walls can be neutral and the bold color can take the form of artwork hanging on the wall.

We advise people who are building new homes as well as those who are remodeling on a budget. To both clients, we give the same message. It's this: consider painting your cabinets white. There are many different shades of white, so I'm not necessarily saying bright white is the way to go for you.

And if you've had problems selecting that perfect color — I'll go ahead and share mine. It's Sherwin Williams "Eider White" (SW-7014). Again, this is not the brightest white, but it's also free of unwanted pink or lime green hues.

Let's also talk about cost. The good news is that painting your cabinets white is actually an amazing transformation that costs very little money compared to a full remodeling job.

For that reason, my advice translates well to you courageous weekend adventurers or those who have opted out of a new kitchen or bathroom because new cabinets are simply too expensive.

What can a coat of paint accomplish? The proof is in the photos you see here. The before photos show a very classic and beautiful kitchen. To me, the kitchen felt too heavy, dark, and cluttered.

You'll notice there was nothing wrong with the original cabinets, yet for $2,100 they DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

MOODBOARD

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A F T E R

were updated and transformed, with the help of a professional painter. Experienced DIYers, with enough research and instruction, could tackle the painting on their own.

As you can see, we kept several key elements, including the beautifully stained pantry door. A small change in hardware, as well as replacing the tired pendant lights over the island, gave these homeowners a completely different kitchen. Adding inexpensive mirrors to the cabinet doors revealed a kitchen that feels much larger and lighter.

As an interior designer, I celebrate a home that is designed with intention. I prefer a clutter-free and modern kitchen. Painting your kitchen cabinets could turn out to be that perfect visual, emotional and cleansing event for you and your home in 2015 at an affordable price.

Fresh, clean and light. Ahhhh. Change can be a beautiful thing.

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

Lee Anne Henry, owner of Whiteline Designs in Fayetteville, Arkansas, expresses her love of art through interior design. She looks forward to getting to know her clients and creating a sense of calm in their personal spaces.

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Little Bit in LOVE with…

TAKE IT ON THE ROAD! Wisteria Antique Roadshow™ Collection by Dale Tiffany, Inc. Crossroads Antique Mall 3325 South 74th, Suite A, Fort Smith/facebook

BRACE FOR SPRING! Cuff, bangle and stacked bracelets.

Sunshine Gift Shop at Mercy 7301 Rogers Avenue, Fort Smith/facebook

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Farmers Coop 15 locations - River Valley, Northwest Arkansas, Oklahoma farmercoop.com

PICK SIX, FIND YOUR FAVORITE! Mix and match craft beer sampler – your choice.

Sodie's Wine and Spirits 5401 Phoenix Avenue, Fort Smith/sodiesliquor.com

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As the warmer weather arrives, we're shopping more, and finding a trove of great products.

March right on into these local businesses and tell them Do South sent you!

MAKE A STATEMENT! Karma purse, coffee mug, decorative tray Jennifer's Gift Shop at Sparks Health System 1001 Towson Avenue, Fort Smith/facebook GOOD FOR YOU, GOOD FOR YOUR PUP! Two Moms In the Raw granola. Lifefactory glass water bottle.

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Olde Fashioned Foods 123 North 18th Street 8434 Phoenix Avenue, Suite E/facebook

TIME TO BLOOM! 2 new items: Confetti Garden and Supertunia Black Cherry Parks Brothers Greenhouses 6733 Parks Road, Van Buren/facebook HERE'S TO SPRINGTIME! Crown Royal Regal Apple Whiskey & Original Ryan's Irish Style Cream Liqueur In Good Spirits/12100 Highway 71 South, Fort Smith/facebook

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people

A DIRTY Life words and images Jessica Sowards

ONCE UPON A TIME, MY LIFE LOOKED VERY NEAT. I HAD IT together as a mom, was a housewife to a traveling husband, went to church on Sunday and Bible group on Wednesday.

I made lots of crafts and posted photos of them online. My kitchen was full of organic food. I made fruit roll-ups and cheese crackers from scratch so my two sons would never have to eat a snack from a box. I started a book club. It was orderly. Impressive. Clean.

But it was a lie. I spent years on the brink of a breakdown.

Anxiety was like a cloak, depression was my constant companion. I lived in despair.

I constantly told my husband he was failing. I sang words in church that never broke the surface of my heart. At night I would scream at my three-year-old to go to sleep. He would lie down crying with organic, from-scratch snacks in his belly and I would sit in the hallway outside his door, hating myself for the person I really was.

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

people

When my broken marriage became a very public divorce, I ran a

Sure, I've scolded my boys (and husband) more than a few times

thousand miles a minute from my role as a good girl. It came as quite

to check their shoes at the door. Even still, after the next rain, I will

a shock to those who knew me. "I thought you were so happy,"

undoubtedly find a trail of footprints to the bathroom and back

they said. And words failed me. I couldn't describe the struggle

outside again. Will I remind them about muddy shoes in the house?

driving me to turn it all upside down. I was doing everything in my

Probably. Will I tell them to stop playing in the rain? Never. There is

power to pursue happiness, constantly smoothing the surface on a

always balance, and I never want to spare memories to avoid messes.

good looking life, while the innermost part of me was a hot mess, void of joy. Even the joy I found in my children was so often stifled

Literal dirt aside, I've also learned just how nasty life can be.

by guilt. I felt like I was suffocating, face down in mud.

Several weeks ago, we arrived home one evening after a few quick It was then, when my life was exposed and the tangled mess of my

errands to find that our newly adopted German Shepherd had dug

truth came out, that the most beautiful thing happened. Grace.

under the fence to the chicken yard. We pulled in the driveway mid-massacre. Jeremiah, who had spent several months building

I stepped onto the road to recovery. No, not from drugs or

the fence, the coop, and raising birds from chicks, flew from the

alcohol or anything you would think when you hear "recovery."

van before it had even stopped rolling. The boys, all of them in the

I stepped onto the path of a recovering good girl. I began to

back of the van, started to cry as they realized what was happening.

learn a way of life that embraces the imperfect and leans heavily on God's perfect grace.

It's the kind of crushing story every homesteader has to tell. Thirtytwo birds were killed in less than an hour. After the feathers

Remarriage has been good to me. In Jeremiah, I found someone as

settled and the bodies were cleared from the yard, we went to

deeply damaged as myself. We were honest with each other, set

bed at nine o'clock and barely spoke. I prayed all night, begging

realistic expectations and promised to love God and consider Him

God that Jeremiah wouldn't give up, that he'd have the heart to

in how we loved each other.

rebuild even after such a setback.

Building a family from the broken pieces of past attempts is never

The next morning, as he came back inside from checking on our

tidy. The more time that passes though, the more love grows

battered and shaken survivors in the coop, he leaned against the

and peace prevails. This month we will welcome our third child

doorway to the kitchen and said, "This is a lesson that will make

together, bringing our total count of kids to six. His daughter, my

me better in ministry, marriage and fatherhood. When God gives

two older sons, and the three sons we have from our marriage.

you a flock to take care of, you can't be careless. Because sinners act like sinners and dogs act like dogs. I hadn't taught him any

Five boys and a visiting girl on a little farm in rural Arkansas. I

better and I gave him the chance. A lot of damage can happen in

don't need to say another word to impress upon you how literally

a short while of carelessness."

filthy our life is sometimes. The pile of Muck速 boots in the garage, the muddy coveralls that somehow always find themselves thrown

It was ugly, but I felt so proud of him in that moment. For even

across a basket of clean laundry, and the poop. My goodness,

though he was greatly disappointed, he stood there in the hall,

there is so much poop.

feathers stuck to his boots, and wiped the mud off of a bright, shining lesson.

I think of the way I used to judge the job I was doing as a woman by how behind I was on the laundry or by how elaborately themed

Opening our eyes to the fact that life's gems usually present

the boys' birthday parties were. Now, through a group effort and a

themselves covered in hard work and imperfection has changed

lower standard, we keep a house I'd be happy to show a stranger

us for the better. When you stop looking for the neatest avenue

on a five minute notice. However, I certainly don't find an ounce of

to happiness and start hacking your way through the most

my identity in the pile of clothes in my laundry room or the smudges

worthwhile path, it is infinitely rewarding. The best things in our

on the mirror or the fact that birthday parties, now that there are so

life are those which are the most unusual, dinged up things that

many to do every year, have evolved into more down-home affairs.

don't have a great explanation.

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people

For example, my ex-husband and his wife are now some of our

I lose my patience with my kids and husband sometimes, but

closest friends. How? God. It's the only possible way it can be

instead of being quick to berate myself, I apologize to them.

explained. We do life together, raise kids together, go to church

Genuinely. So they have learned that I'm just a person. They give

together, have family dinners and lean into each other in times

me grace and put their faith in Jesus instead of me. I wouldn't

of need. When people ask us how we're able to be friends when

have it any other way.

there was so much baggage, I just remind them, God doesn't need a blank canvas to make a beautiful thing. In fact, I'm

My ineptitudes were always there. Embracing them has only made

learning that He rather likes carving something lovely out of our

me better. My weaknesses are where God shines most brightly.

messes. All we have to do is let Him.

My flaws are the best tools I have to reach people. Why would I ever want to trade those in for some false image of control?

...God doesn't need a blank canvas to make a beautiful thing. In fact, I'm learning that He

I lead a raw and real life. I live it openly, unapologetically.

Because mine may be a very dirty life, but it's the most beautiful mess I've ever known.

rather likes carving something lovely out of Jessica Sowards blogs at TheHodgepodgeDarling.blogspot.com

our messes. All we have to do is let Him.

I'm not the woman I was once, back when I had it together. I run late, miss play group, lose my keys weekly, and buy convenience foods for the snack box. The idea of a book club is laughable. But I read my Bible every day. I talk to God and I don't cry at night. I no longer have a problem saying, "I'm not good at that," or, "I messed up."

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people

Swept Away by

The flight from Dallas to Shanghai took nearly sixteen hours. They could feel the excitement as they neared their destination. Both love

SHANGHAI

to travel, and the chance to see this international city thrilled them.

A driver awaited them when they got through customs. He took them to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which overlooked another

words Marla Cantrell images courtesy John Mays Jewelers

waterway, the Huangpu River. They opened the draperies, and all around them were skyscrapers that lit up at night, turning the city

Shanghai, the home of 24 million people, is the biggest city by

into a spectacular light show.

population in the world. It sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River, in the middle of the Chinese coast. To the east is the East China

"The biggest shock was the buildings. They're just immense. The

Sea, and ships sail in and out every day. When visitors arrive, they

magnitude of the city and the graciousness of the people, those

often comment on the tall buildings, the waterways, the bustle of

were both nice surprises." John said. "One night, we went out

this global financial Mecca.

on a boat to look at the buildings all lit up. One was covered in lavender lights. It was magnificent."

John and Kathy Mays marveled at all of this, when they arrived the week of Thanksgiving in 2014. As owners of John Mays

"We had the most memorable food," Kathy added. "We ate

Jewelers in Fort Smith, Arkansas, they'd been invited to travel

sea cucumber (a marine animal that's a delicacy in China)." She

the 7,600 miles to help represent the Hearts on Fire diamond

continued, "It certainly was different. We were invited to one

brand as it opened its first store in the Mainland China. They'd

lunch where there was a turntable in the middle of the table.

gotten the invitation only three weeks before, scrambled to get

There was so much food that I thought that was our main course.

their visas approved by the Chinese consulate, since getting

Well, it was just the appetizer. There were twelve courses."

into a communist country includes a good bit of scrutiny, and then rushed to pack.

"We went to the center of the city, to the area called Bund," John said. (The Bund sits north of the old, walled city of Shanghai, and was

"We were so honored to be asked," John said. "There are around 500

initially a British settlement.) "We wanted to see what life was like for

Hearts on Fire dealers, and we've been with them since 1999. Only five

people who lived there. We felt very safe there. We saw the Shanghai

stores were offered the chance to go. There was one from Las Vegas,

Grand Theatre. We took a picture in front of the Starbucks. There was

one from Canada, one from California, and one from Singapore."

even a fifty-foot Christmas tree there from Tiffany's."

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people

"We didn't buy a lot; we bought our two sons something. But

dancers, shimmering jewelry, all enhanced by the grandeur of

one day I was in a shop and I bought a Christmas decoration I

the building. "It was a little overwhelming, to tell you the truth,"

knew I'd use every year. While we were there I spotted two old-

John said. "There we were doing something few people would

world Chinese figurines, but they were only for decoration and

ever get to do."

not for sale. I told the shopkeeper it was a shame because I just loved them, and she said, 'For you, madam, I will give them to

"It was the trip of a lifetime," Kathy added. "That night in

you.' We found the people to be so giving."

particular was really something. You think of Chinese people as being small. Some of the models wearing the jewelry were young

On Thanksgiving, as all their friends and family back home

women who were six feet tall. It took some doing to go, and to

celebrated, John and Kathy attended the launch of the first Hearts

leave the store the week of Thanksgiving - but we didn't hesitate."

on Fire store in Shanghai. There to help with the festivities was model and fashion icon Olivia Palermo.

"I started in the jewelry business in October, 1969," John said.

"And getting to do something like this because of it is just beyond

As wonderful as it was, nothing could compare with their night

comprehension. To become a personal representative for Hearts

at the China Art Museum. There, the Chinese jewelry company,

on Fire in Asia, in a city of 24 million, it's just something you don't

Chow Tai Fook, was celebrating its eighty-fifth anniversary. It was

even dream of. We'll never forget that trip."

as well orchestrated as a red-carpet event. "There were about a hundred steps to get to the building. It looked like a scene from the

When they boarded the plane to come home, their thoughts

movie, Rocky, John said. "The news media was there, professional

turned back to Fort Smith — population 87,650 — the place

photographers; I'd never seen anything like it."

they love. The holiday season was well underway, and they'd be busy at their store as soon as they returned. They couldn't

Security was tight, and John had been given a specially designed

wait to talk to their family and friends, to tell them about their

gold lapel pin with a carnelian stone that he wore to identify he and

big adventure, how they were swept away by the beauty of

Kathy as invited guests. Inside the 1.8 million square foot building

Shanghai. They kept a few mementoes, like the invitation to

were display cases with stunning pieces all around, including one

the party at the China Art Museum, and look at them often.

by Hearts on Fire, which had been crafted just for the celebration.

There are dozens of photos on their phones, and they find themselves pulling them up, time after time. They capture

As the celebration progressed, models appeared, wearing

such a brief and glorious time, a once-in-a-lifetime experience

the jewelry. It was an opulent event, with traditional Chinese

never to be forgotten.

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

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DIY

END OF THE

words and image Catherine Frederick Inspired by Pinterest

WHAT YOU'LL NEED Mini terra cotta pot Black acrylic paint Sponge brush Mod Podge® Gold glitter Shamrock sticker or cut out Rolo® candies to fill

PAINT the pot with black paint. When dry, APPLY a thin layer of Mod Podge® around the top rim. SPRINKLE with glitter. ATTACH the sticker outline/cut out of the shamrock to the front of the pot.

APPLY light coat of Mod Podge® over the shamrock area. SPRINKLE with glitter and slowly peel off sticker outline/cutout.

When dry, FILL pot with Rolo® candies!

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

28 30

home gardening

words Catherine Frederick

Spring will soon arive and Jack Frost will make his quick exit, so it's

A couple of winters ago, I read a book called, Square Foot Garden-

the time to plan your garden. Some of you may be interested in

ing A New Way to Garden in Less Space with Less Work. I shelved

a better way to garden while others of you stare at that space of

it for a while; it was a gardening book after all and I had not

grass in the backyard and wonder where the heck to start. Many

even begun to contemplate my spring garden. But several weeks

will tell you it's all about the soil — and I agree. If you grow your

passed and I got the itch to pick it up. I couldn't put it down.

soil, your soil can grow anything, but first you need a plan.

You see, even with all my hard work, my previous gardens had In the past, the only plan I had was to till up some dirt, make a long

ended in a sea of weeds, pests, and very few vegetables. Now I

trench, dump in a bunch of seeds, then water and wait for the inevitable

was reading a book illustrating how I could grow a neat, attrac-

cluster of greenery to pop up. Then, of course, I'd spend hours thinning

tive, weedless garden by planting in a uniform fashion in raised

the plants out, destroying several of them in the process. Square foot

beds. And I could produce a rich harvest with less work. Rich har-

gardening (SFG) swooped in just in time to save the day, and my garden.

vest, less work? Count me in. I became a SFG fanatic.

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

RAISED BEDS

gardening

Raised beds are an excellent way to contain your garden and eliminate weeds! Construct one using untreated lumber, or purchase a raised bed system from your local Farmers Coop, or lawn and garden center.

Map out your garden area and place several layers of newspaper over the ground (this eliminates weeds and is biodegradable). Construct the raised bed, then fill the area with soil.

What's so great about square foot gardening, you say? For me,

about starting smart. You simply decide how much space you

square foot gardening removes the guess work and takes gar-

have to allot, how many people you want your garden to feed,

dening back to the basics. It's not just another planting meth-

and what type of vegetables you're going to plant. One of the

od, it's a different mindset on how to garden. No more digging

best tips I've ever been given about gardening is this: grow only

trenches and dumping in seeds. Anything can be grown in a SFG

what you know you and your family love to eat (say, tomatoes),

and it's adaptable: large garden spaces or containers on apart-

then add one new plant to try this year (like eggplant).

ment balconies, feeding one person or feeding the masses. If you have twelve inches of space, it can work for you.

As the name implies, SFG is about planting in squares, not rows.

Each square is twelve inches by twelve inches, an area of one

SFG starts with a master plan. The bonus is that the plan is very

square foot. Each square contains a different vegetable or herb.

visual with no room for error. It's not about starting small, it's

The exact number of plants grown in each square depends on the type of vegetable and how much room the vegetable needs. Think that's too much guess work? Think again! SFG details how many of each type of plants a twelve inch square can accommodate. It really is as simple as building or buying a raised bed system, adding soil, dividing up the area in twelve inch squares, looking up how many of each plant can fit into each one, and planting.

Take my garden, for example. I don't have a ton of room. It's eight foot wide by three foot deep, a total of twenty-four square feet. I've planted carrots (sixteen/sq.ft.), tomatoes (one/sq.ft.), peppers (one/sq.ft.), garlic (nine/sq.ft.), radishes (sixteen/sq. ft.), onions (sixteen/sq.ft.), lettuce (four/sq.ft.) and cucumbers (one/sq.ft.). In just twenty-four square feet, I have the following plants: forty-eight carrots, four tomatoes, eight peppers, nine garlic, thirty-two radishes, thirty-two onions, eight lettuces, and two cucumbers! Several of those squares can be succession planted (replanting a new crop as soon as the original is harvested) and inter-planted (planting two crops simultaneously in the same area), allowing for a larger, continual harvest.

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gardening

Once you lay out your garden on paper (see, I told you — it's vi-

with organic seeds/plants. You can find a full selection of organic

sual) it's time to prep your soil. Do a quick soil test. Grab a clump

seeds, and bags of organic soil mixtures and additives at your

of soil and squeeze it in your hands. Sandy soil feels gritty, silty

local Farmers Coop. (I like Burpee Signature, USDA 100% Certi-

soil like wet powder and clay soil is sticky. Depending on your soil

fied Organic. They're around twenty-five cents more per package

condition, you may need to add compost, mulch, peat moss, or

than commercial seed.)

vermiculite — all of which breakdown and feed your soil. My favorite garden soil comes premixed from my local Farmers Coop.

While it may take a bit more research and planning on the front end, the additional cost is minimal and you'll be repaid time and

And for goodness sakes, stay off of the soil! Walking on the soil

again when you harvest the delicious, chemical-free vegetables

packs it down, destroying the air pockets roots need to grow.

you aren't afraid to feed to your family, right off the vine.

When laying out your SFG, give yourself just enough room between each twelve inch square to weed (if not using the raised bed method) and harvest without stepping on the growing soil.

Now it's time to decide whether you're going to plant organically or commercially. Don't be intimidated by an organic garden! The difference between organic and conventional gardening is simply

Find out more about Square Foot Gardening at squarefootgardening.org, or in the latest book by Bartholomew, All New Square Foot Gardening.

the decision to use natural fertilizers and compost in conjunction

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

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people

Daily Life at Daily Bread words Marla Cantrell images Marla Cantrell and Jessica Wooden

2013 was a stressful year for Michael and Jamie Moore.

Michael, who worked for an oil and gas company, had been laid

nity to dream. If they were careful and thoughtful they could end

off after almost a decade on the job. For years, he'd been on the

ties, the reality of that missing paycheck loomed large. They had

road, away from his home in Van Buren, Arkansas, for days at a

no backup; they'd been living off Michael's salary so that Jamie

time. He didn't like the travel, and his wife liked it even less. Her

could stay home with their young children.

up in a better place. While it was thrilling to consider the possibili-

dream was to have a business with Michael, to spend days and nights with the man she'd married.

Not long after, while driving around town, they passed by a small building that sits near the railroad tracks on a street that is a

After the initial shock wore off, the two sat down at their kitchen

thoroughfare for travelers heading to and from the interstate.

table. They talked, throwing out ideas about what to do next.

They drove by again. The building had housed a drive-through

They prayed together. What they came to understand was that

coffee shop, and then a drive-through egg roll restaurant. Nei-

while losing Michael's income was scary, it was also an opportu-

ther business had survived.

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

people

Michael and Jamie couldn't quit thinking about the tiny structure,

window where gravel covers the surrounding space. "They were

which was only 750 square feet. Neither had a background in

standing in our parking lot and cars were lined up on the street.

the restaurant business. The only food experience they'd had was

I thought, How are we going to serve all these people? We just

starting a food pantry at a church they'd previously attended. Still,

took it one customer at a time and we made it through. By the end

they called the owner of the building, looked around, and then

of the day we could barely stand."

Michael said, "Let's just do it."

Business kept growing. SchoolteachWhat they loved were the bistros

ers became some of their best cus-

where they'd often gone for lunch,

tomers, calling in orders for as many

places with soups and sandwiches and

as ten of their co-workers. Regulars

bright, fresh salads. They thought Van

often ate both breakfast and lunch

Buren could use a place like that, and

from Daily Bread. Everything was go-

they felt the location was perfect. The

ing well until last winter, when the

Crawford County Courthouse is just a

snow came and ice fell over and over,

stone's throw away, and the workers

stalling the entire town. "I think it

there could be great customers. The

hit us harder because we are a drive-

police and sheriff's department, the

through. You couldn't come inside

Van Buren City offices, the corporate

and get out of the cold," Jamie said.

offices for USA Truck, and dozens of small businesses are also nearby.

When spring arrived, they celebrated, watching the flood of customers

The name, Daily Bread, came to Jamie

return. Again, traffic bottlenecked in

in a dream. She got up the next morning, talked to Michael, and

front of their shop. Michael, who's the primary cook, was grate-

even showed him the logo she envisioned, sheaves of wheat tied

ful they'd made it through that first hard time. He'd been get-

together with a bow. With the name in place they began gearing up

ting up at three every morning, working until six at night. He'd

for their opening. In October, 2013, they were ready to go. It was

put everything he had into Daily Bread, even using his mother's

a scary day — they didn't know if ten people would show up, or a

potato soup recipe as one of the mainstays on the menu. "It

hundred. They'd taken the rent money for the house they were liv-

sells out almost every day," he said, smiling wide. He then listed

ing in and used it as a deposit on the building. "We didn't have any

other bestsellers: the turkey and Swiss, the grilled chicken, the

other income coming in," Jamie said. "All we had was sheer work

Reuben, and the cucumber salad with sweet Vidalia dressing.

and a whole lot of faith."

At breakfast, the bacon, egg and cheese croissants are popular, as well as the turnovers — the raspberry is particularly good.

In November, 2013, when they'd been at it for just over a month, they caused a traffic jam in this town of 23,000. "I looked out and

But it's not just the food that draws people in. Jamie believes their

people had just parked all over here," Jamie said, pointing out the

success has just as much to do with their faith. They prayed fiercely

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people

Because they have a heart to help the hungry, they have even bigger plans. One day they'd like to have a place where they could operate Daily Bread as a restaurant and as a place where those in need could get a free meal. They've read about other restaurants that do that, and they don't see why it can't be done in Van Buren.

They also want to grow more of their own food — right now they do what they can by growing herbs, tomatoes and potatoes at their home and buying from farmer's markets. It is a big plan for a couple spending their days in 750 square feet, often with one of their two employees.

One of their co-workers, Annie, was listening as the two described their vision for Daily Bread. She waited until both Michael and Jamie were busy helping customers, and then she said, "This is such a great place to work. They're such nice people. I love being here, being part of this."

Annie smiled as she returned to her post. A red truck stopped at the window. The driver was picking up a breakfast croissant. Michael handed over the order, leaned past Annie, and said, "We appreciate you, man," and the driver smiled so wide he brightened every corner of the tiny building.

Jamie and Michael Moore

about what to do when Michael lost his job, and this was the answer they got. To give back, they've done a few creative things, like "Name Your Own Price" day. "One of the things we wanted to do was to give people the opportunity to eat for free, if they needed that," Michael said. "It shocked everybody. They'd say, 'How much does that cost?' We learned we could be a blessing that way. We had a few who ate for free, and we had a few that paid more than what the actual cost was, because I think they liked the idea of what we were doing. And that blessed us because we realized we lived in a community where people want to be a blessing just as much as we do."

Jamie was busy, wrapping up several peanut butter cookies, getting ready for the lunch crowd. She was humming while she worked, and Michael touched her arm as he passed her. The two seemed in sync, working easily together, happy to spend so much time together. It wasn't so long ago when a day like this seemed impossible to imagine, when Michael was on the road.

They wouldn't go back if they could because when night falls they'll be at home with their family, hearing their kids' stories, making plans for the next day and the next, dreaming big dreams about the future they're building together.

Jamie chimed in. "We also did a live radio remote with Spirit 106.3 called 'Pay it Forward.' We had so much fun. Spirit 106.3 paid for our first customer's meal and then the customers just kept it going,

479.471.1982

paying for the person behind them, if they wanted to. There was a

513 South 4th Street

customer who came through who'd been eating ramen noodles for

Van Buren, Arkansas

a week and said what a help it was to have that meal paid for. That

Monday - Friday, 5 AM - 6 PM

really touched my heart. Our pastor came by and left a twenty dollar

Saturday, 8 AM - 2 PM

bill. It was a joy to see the goodness in people."

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

38

pets

March Right In, Adopt a Best Friend.

Adopt your furry soulmate.

AHIMSA's mission is to place needy animals in responsible homes, provide humane education, and encourage spaying and neutering because there are not enough homes.

M

M

F

Fletcher

M

Sullivan

F

Bess

Beau

F

Jasmine

Emmie Lou

AhimsaRescueFoundation.org Images Tessa Freeman Ahimsa Rescue Foundation, Muldrow, OK ahimsarescuefoundation.org | savingpaws@aol.com

Ahimsa Rescue Foundation is an all-volunteer team, founded in 2004, specializing in the rescue and placement of abused, unwanted and abandoned companion animals from eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. All pets are spayed or neutered, micro-chipped and vet-checked before being adopted to carefully screened homes.

Ahimsa's mission is to place needy animals in responsible homes, provide humane education, and encourage spaying and neutering because not enough homes are available. Contact: Savingpaws@aol.com

Each month, Do South donates this page to local and regional non-profit animal shelters. If you work with a shelter and would like to reserve this space, please email editors@dosouthmagazine.com.

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

community

Miles for Mutts words Marla Cantrell

If you have a big family, you get a price break. Families can register for $50, while individual signups are $25. The first 350 pre-registered participants will get a Miles for Mutts T-shirt, and there will be awards given in seven age divisions, from thirteen and younger to sixteen and older.

The money raised will be used to help the animals at the Humane Society, something that is near and dear to Bekah Trotter's heart. As the assistant director of the Humane Society, she works daily to find homes for the animals that end up there. It's a big job, especially since the Humane Society is the largest shelter in Arkansas. On any given day, there will be 300 to 400 animals housed there. Last year, they found homes for 1,000 pets, and returned 700 lost pets to their owners.

"We are an open admission shelter which means that we don't turn an animal away, no matter it's condition or temperament," Bekah says.

"All of the proceeds of this event will go towards helping us continue our mission: a loving home for every pet."

To do that, the shelter needs help from the community. The upcoming Miles for Mutts is a great way for you to get involved, find out more about the great needs of these pets in search of a forever home, and have a fun and active Saturday with your family and friends.

Bekah encourages you to check out their website. If you're in the market for a pet, think of them first. You could find your new

Many of you have probably wondered how you can help the Se-

best friend, one that will be grateful every day for your love and

bastian County Humane Society in Fort Smith. You see pictures

companionship. If you want to give, you can donate online, find

of the adoptable pets, often in the pages of Do South Magazine,

out more about volunteering, and see their wish list of items that

and your heart goes out to them. You know you can't adopt

would help them help these sweet animals.

them all, but you do want to help.

April 11 is just around the corner. Sign up for Miles for Mutts today!

There are many ways to do that. You can volunteer, donate food, or drop off items such as chew toys, cleaning products, towels and cat litter.

Another way to help is to participate in their fundraising events.

By doing this, you can show your support and introduce your

Miles for Mutts - April 11, 8 AM

kids to the joy we get from giving back. The next event is the

Riverfront Amphitheatre,

Miles for Mutts 5K run/walk on Saturday, April 11. It's being

downtown Fort Smith

held at Riverfront Amphitheatre in downtown Fort Smith, Arkan-

479.783.4395

sas, beginning at eight in the morning, with check-in starting at six. If that's too early for you and your kiddos, head to Sweetbay

sebastiancountyhumanesociety.org

by Creekmore Park on Friday, April 10, anytime between ten in

Entry Fee: $25.00/Individual

the morning and six at night. You can sign up then and show up

$50.00/Family

ready to run the next morning.

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people people

Bird's Eye View words Stoney Stamper

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

people IT WAS AN UNSEASONABLY BEAUTIFUL DAY IN JANUARY IN

Sounds great, doesn't it? Well that's how I thought it would go.

east Texas, and after having been cooped up and bundled up

Alas, sometimes things don't go quite as planned.

for the last couple of wintery months, my family was excited to see the first spring-like weather of 2015. My wife April was

First, all of the sheets were in the bathroom cabinet. That's

all aflutter around the house, pulling back the curtains, opening

where the bird was. I needed to be able to walk in the room

windows and letting the fresh air inside. It felt amazing and you

prepared, lock, stock and barrel. April had been doing laundry,

could feel the happiness in the air as our daughters ran around

and having just learned of our situation, said, "Hey, there's a

and played in the yard, their laughter filling the air.

yellow sheet in the laundry room." So she got it and brought it back to me. Yes, it was a yellow sheet. A yellow fitted sheet.

There is a window above the kitchen sink that slides open from

As we all know, fitted sheets have the capability of ruining your

the side, and it doesn't have a screen. There is a planter box

day. They aren't user friendly. They're impossible to fold, some-

hanging on the outside that April keeps filled with flowers when

times even impossible to get put on your bed correctly. So, I

the weather turns warm for good. It's also a popular landing spot

just assumed it would be troublesome while performing the act

for birds. But the happy sounds of the kids playing were just too

of bird wrangling, as well. The sheet didn't hang right. I was

wonderful to pass up. So even though the occasional bird flut-

holding it up to my side, much like a champion matador ap-

tered by the window, we didn't dare close it.

proaching his fighting bull from across the pen. I inched closer and closer to the shower, yet I still hadn't seen the bird. Just the

I decided it might be a good time to do some writing, so I sat

occasional chirp let me know I was on the right track. As I came

down with my laptop and began using this blessed day as an

alongside the shower, my fine-feathered friend made his first

inspiration for some much needed prose and poetry. After a few

appearance in our little game of cat and mouse. With the pierc-

minutes, our fourteen-year-old daughter Abby came in the house

ing screech that sounded like a red tail hawk, he flew around

to get something to drink. She sat down at the dining room

the corner of the tub at what must've been considered Mach

table to relax for a few minutes, and suddenly she screamed,

3. I don't know, I'm kind of winging it there. Could've been a

"A BIRD!" I looked up at her, not fully understanding what she

Mach 2, I guess. I don't know Machs very well, but it was going

meant. With a confused "Huh?" from me, she screamed again,

really freaking fast. And he dive-bombed my head.

"A bird is in our house! It just flew into you and mom's bedroom!" I jumped up from my chair and ran to my bedroom door.

Abby and I both tried to sneak a peek through the door to see if we could spy our feathered intruder. After thoroughly looking

...Just the occasional chirp let

around the room from the doorway, I gently stepped inside. I

me know I was on the right track.

tiptoed around, as Abby stood close behind me, nudging me forward. "Stop pushing me!" I whispered to her. By the way we

As I came alongside the shower,

were acting, you'd think that we were in pursuit of an extremely

my fine-feathered friend made

dangerous beast of an animal.

his first appearance in our little game of cat and mouse.

After finding nothing in the bedroom, I started for the door of our master bathroom. I peeked my head inside, but still I could not see him. But then I heard it. A small chirp. Just a tiny little noise from over near the shower. I couldn't see it, but I knew he was in there. I began to formulate a plan. How could I catch him?

What happened next comes in small, short memories. I am not

First and foremost, I had to keep him in the bathroom, so I closed

certain if I actually suffered a head injury giving me amnesia or

the door. Then I decided that if I could use a bedsheet as a net, I

if I just sort of blacked out. But here is what I have figured out

could sneak in the bathroom, easily throw the sheet over it, then

after some reflection and putting the pieces together from the

wrap the sheet gently around it and carry it outside.

scene in the bathroom. First, the dive-bomb. Then, a very unmanly scream and slap at the bird, which barely made contact.

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people

This slap did, however, upset the bird very much, and he decided

easily be broken with my spazzy and crazy movements while try-

to show me just how much he didn't appreciate it. He then

ing to catch this monster. But this had to be done. I dropped the

shifted into supersonic gear and began angrily circling me, as

sheet over all of the items on the counter, along with the bird,

fast as he could go, while simultaneously attacking my head.

but SOMEHOW he got out, and somehow I jerked the hairspray

He pecked my hat, and I swatted him away, but at the same

and candle and vase onto the bathroom floor. Oh, and then he

time, swatted off my hat. This is the first time I really got a

was flying around the room again, desperately looking for a

glimpse of this flying mammoth. Judging by his massive wing-

way out. I was beginning to get desperate myself, so I grabbed

span, I am not even sure how he got through the window.

my hat and tried to grab him with it when he came by, but

He came back for more, and there was now nothing protect-

with no luck. Finally, after what must've been three excruciat-

ing my poor hairless noggin. Again, he found my weakness

ing hours (ok maybe it was ten minutes) in the torture cham-

and was capitalizing on it. His ferocious pterodactyl-like claws

ber with this vicious animal, he attempted one last flyby, and I

made contact with the softness of my scalp, and he was like a

made contact with my cap that I was using like a bat. The bird

lion that has tasted blood. More kamikaze-style flying by the

finally went down. He wasn't hurt, and he immediately tried

insane bird, and I had yet to have even gotten close to catch-

to get back up before I dropped the sheet over him. BOOM.

ing the thing. As a matter of fact, I dropped my sheet about

I had dominated the biggest, meanest, most fierce bird that

halfway through that last attack. The bird landed above the

east Texas had ever seen. With only my bare hands, and a fit-

shower, so I stood still for a moment and caught my breath. I

ted bed sheet. Eat your heart out, Bear Grylls.

was sweating like John Goodman in a corduroy suit.

As I carried the sheet-wrapped bird to the backyard, the girls With my sheet raised, I headed towards the shower again. This

gathered around to see this wild animal I had conquered. I laid

time, he waited. I got closer, and closer, and then he dive-

the sheet down and began to unfold it. As soon as I pulled the

bombed my head again, only this time he made solid contact

sheet from the top of what surely must have been a massive

with my ear, and I screamed like Daniel Stern in Home Alone

condor-like bird that I had captured, we all stared down at only

when that kid put a tarantula on Daniel's face. My fear was high.

a small, brown sparrow. The tiny bird then hopped up, shook off

On a scale of 1-10, I'd give it a strong 11. It ranked up there with

his feathers and then flew away. We stood there staring, and

the time my dad found Skoal in my sock drawer when I was

then my ten-year-old daughter Emma said, "Was that the right

thirteen. The bird zoomed past me again, then hit the mirror,

bird? THAT little ol' bird made you all sweaty like that?"

速

and fell down on the counter. I grabbed my sheet and went in for the kill. But the bird was too fast, and once again, he was

Shut your yapper, kid. It looked a whole lot bigger in the house.

breaking sound speed records all up in my bathroom.

I eased up to the counter and he landed behind several cans of April's hair spray, a candle, and a vase, all these things that could

Stoney Stamper

is the author of the popular parenting blog, The Daddy Diaries. He and his wife April have three daughters: Abby, Emma and Gracee. Originally from northeast Oklahoma, the Stampers now live in Tyler, Texas. For your daily dose of The Daddy Diaries, visit Stoney on Facebook or on his website, thedaddydiaries.net.

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taste

O l e !

Ole!

! e Ol

Ole!

le!

! e l O

! e l O

! e Ol O Ole!

Ole!

Honey-Lime Chipotle Chicken Fajita Bowls words and images Lauren Allen recipe adapted from Carlsbad Cravings

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

taste

! Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole!

O l e !

O ! le! le!

Ole! Ole! O

Ole!

45

These Honey-Lime Chipotle Chicken Fajita Bowls are pretty simple and extremely delicious! They top my list of favorite dinner recipes – yes, they are THAT good. Don't be put off by the seemingly long list of ingredients because many of them are spices. Throw together the marinade in the morning and leave the chicken and vegetables marinating (separately) in the fridge all day. When it's time for dinner, simply make the rice and cook the chicken and veggies. The liquid smoke is my favorite ingredient in this dish.

If you're not familiar with this product, it's in a small bottle near the BBQ sauces at your local grocery store, and it adds the tastiest smoky flavor!

INGREDIENTS: Chicken Marinade 2-3 chicken breasts

2 Tablespoons lime juice 1 Tablespoon honey

Olé!

1 ½ teaspoon olive oil

1 ½ teaspoon white vinegar 1 ½ teaspoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon liquid smoke 1 teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon ground cumin ½ teaspoon paprika

Olé!

¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional) 1 teaspoon garlic powder ½ teaspoon salt Dash of pepper

Ziplock® bags - large

Fajita Vegetables Reserved marinade

2 heaping Tablespoons honey ½ red onion, roughly chopped

1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped

1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped

¾ cup corn (fresh, canned or frozen-thawed)

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taste

Cilantro Lime Rice and Black Beans

Chipotle Lime Sour Crema

2 Tablespoons olive oil

¾ cup sour cream

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of sauce from a can of chipotle chiles in adobo

½ cup red onion, chopped

1 ½ Tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon ground cumin

sauce, or more, to taste

1½ cups long grained white rice

Salt, to taste

3 cups chicken broth

cup cilantro, finely chopped

1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 heaping cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, for topping

Dash of salt and pepper ½ cup cilantro, chopped

2 Tablespoons lime juice

METHOD: If using thick chicken breasts, pound thin with meat mallet or rolling pin, or slice horizontally to "torte" them in half.

Place chicken in a large Ziplock bag. Mix marinade ingre®

dients together. Pour HALF of the marinade mixture into the

Ziplock bag with the chicken. Add chopped vegetables to a ®

separate Ziplock® bag. To the remaining marinade, whisk in cup honey and pour marinade into the bag with the veg-

etables. Refrigerate vegetables and chicken for 4-8 hours.

discard marinade and add chicken to skillet. Cook for 2-3 minutes on one side, or until nicely browned. Turn chicken

over, cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook until chicken is cooked through (about 5 more minutes, depending on thickness). Remove to a cutting board and allow to rest 3-5 minutes before slicing.

Fajita Vegetables While chicken is resting, add 1 Tablespoon olive oil to the

Cilantro Lime Black Bean Rice When ready to cook, heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil in a large

saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, saute for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and cumin, stir for 30 more

seconds. Add rice, saute for a few minutes to toast it a bit.

Stir in the black beans, chicken broth, and salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook

for 18-20 minutes or until rice is cooked. Remove from heat.

Stir in lime juice and cilantro.

same skillet over medium heat. Pour fajita vegetables into a colander to drain the marinade. Add vegetables to the hot skillet and saute, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes,

until warmed through. I like them to still have a little crunch.

Assembly In bowls, layer rice, cheese, vegetables, and chicken. Top with Chipotle Lime Crema. Enjoy!

Chipotle Lime Crema While rice is cooking, prepare Chipotle Lime Crema by mix-

ing together the sour cream, lime juice, adobo sauce, and salt.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Chicken Heat 2 Tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium high

heat. Once skillet is hot, remove chicken from Ziplock® bag,

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

Lauren Allen is the creator of TastesBetterFromScratch.com, an exciting and beautiful food blog dedicated to sharing her love of cooking and creating new recipes.

Lauren truly believes that everything tastes better from scratch!

taste

Mocha Mint INGREDIENTS > 1 oz. Crème de Menthe > 1 oz. Crème de Cacao > 1 oz. Kahlúa® coffee liqueur > 1 oz. cream or milk (your preference) > Dove® chocolate mint candy

METHOD Add ice to shaker. Place all ingredients except chocolate candy into shaker. Shake well. Strain into martini glass. Garnish with chocolate mint candy.

Please drink responsibly. Never drink and drive.

Image Catherine Frederick

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48

travel

zipping

through the ozarks

LOCOROPES words Marcus Coker images courtesy Locoropes, taken by Michelle Edmonds

I felt like Tarzan. In training. I wasn't swinging from the treetops just yet, but I was standing in them. I had a bird's eye view of the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas, and it was breathtaking. For a moment, I felt myself relax and I thought I heard God speak. Time didn't exist. I was one with creation. I was free.

As the wind picked up, I looked down forty-five feet and reconsidered my newfound freedom. Time may not exist, I thought, but gravity does. Tarzan was crazy. It was then that my legs began to shake. I told them to stop. They didn't listen.

Just one hour before, I was standing in the Locoropes parking lot. I knew any activity that began with a legal waiver of liability had to be exciting. As I completed the paperwork, I noticed a gray-haired woman who had just finished the high-altitude ropes course that lay before me. She appeared to be alive and happy, which seemed promising.

I couldn't wait to get started climbing trees, but safety comes first at Locoropes. I was tossed a harness to attach to my waist and legs. I stepped into the nylon belt, pulling the straps to make the fit tighter. One of the Loco Crew pulled the straps even more, and I gasped. Apparently, snug equals secure. The device gripped my waist and thighs and bunched my jeans in places you don't want your jeans to bunch. Things that keep us safe, I thought, are often functional but rarely flattering.

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

travel

I shrugged my shoulders and followed a family of seven to orientation. Our instructor was outfitted with a bandana, a walkie-talkie, and multiple carabiners, spring-loaded metal rings used for fastening ropes together when climbing. He had a ponytail and facial hair, and I imagined he ate a lot of granola. Standing in the middle of the forest, he looked like he knew what he was doing. He told us we would each be equipped with a personal protection system that would always be attached to something steadfast. He walked us through a miniature ropes course, which stood only a few feet off the ground. It allowed us to become familiar with the safety equipment and the course procedures. I was the last to finish, and as my feet returned to the earth, I was sold. I knew the

While I was busy getting my legs twisted amongst the ropes and

afternoon would pass too quickly. I was so eager

wires, several other adventurers were shimmying across cables and

for the real thing, that I later forgot his advice:

leaping off tree-supported platforms. All the course elements are

"Don't look down, look forward."

tree-to-tree, a feature that sets Locoropes apart from many other challenge courses, which often use telephone poles. Locoropes

The adventure that lay before me was a mid-

offers three treetop courses, totaling thirty-two different elements.

air obstacle course, built dozens of feet off the

Each course increases in difficulty, and all end with a zip line — a

ground. My challenge was to move from tree to

thrilling way to use a pulley, a cable, and the power of gravity to

tree via tight ropes, cargo nets, and suspended

return back to ground level.

logs, among other things. Still the last in line, and I could barely wait my turn. I wasn't the only excited

Farther away, several other adventurers were at the climbing tower,

one. The first of our group to start scampering

a rock wall with several difficulty levels. From the top of the tower,

through the trees was a four-year-old boy. That's

which could also be reached by stairs, a young girl was celebrating

right, I said a four-year-old was dancing amongst

her birthday as she shot 320 feet across the forest, suspended from

the branches — like one of Peter Pan's Lost Boys.

the Flying Pig Zip Line, a motorized pulley and cable system. A balding

It was his third time to complete the course. As I

man stood ready to experience the Hot Shot Free Fall, which is one

watched him move quickly and confidently, I knew

step off a forty foot platform and four seconds of gravity before

I had to keep up.

reconnecting with the earth. Don't worry, his landing was soft, thanks to a cable that slowed down his rate of dissension.

Heck, I thought, the oldest to complete one of the Locoropes courses was a seventy-nine-year-old

The courses, from "mildly cautious to seriously adventurous," are

man. I was not about to be outdone.

set up in the lush hilltops of Mountain View, and bring in visitors hoping to spend a day with nature, and expand their horizons.

For the most part, I wasn't outdone, unless, of

The season runs from March 1 through November 30, and is open

course, you count Andrew, who was in line behind

every day but Easter and Thanksgiving. All ages show up, and

me, and took my place as last in line. He joined

groups, like sports teams or academic clubs, often travel here

our group late, never seemed off balance, and

together. While it's certainly an adrenaline-charged day of fun, it's

sometimes didn't even use his hands. Granted, he

also a way for organizations to learn skills like team building and

was the owner's son, but by comparison, I felt like a

leadership.

grizzly bear trying to play ping pong.

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travel

As you begin to get the hang of what you're doing, your

Driving home, I considered the amount of time I spent in front of

confidence begins to grow, and that happens whether you're

my computer, on my cell phone, how little time I spent outside

naturally athletic or someone who sees Locoropes as a big

with the people I care about. I made a note to change all that. I

challenge. One of the best stories of the day was about a

realized how much I'd learned in just one exhilarating day. And

woman who was brought to the course by her son, who had

there was something inherently satisfying about feeling my legs

a season pass and wanted to share all this fun with her. She

shake beneath me — and continuing to move forward anyway.

made it to the part called The Runaway, which is also known as

Despite the involuntary quivering of my legs, I felt like Tarzan.

the Tarzan Swing, and she just didn't have the nerve to go any

In a safety harness.

farther. A few days later she came back and made it all the way through, thrilled that she had decided to take a second chance.

While being up so high can seem startling, each climber wears a double-lock security system, which means you're unable to unhook from one safety cable until you attach to another. And

WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE

YOU GO LOCO!

if you do need to come down for any reason, the staff is there

COST

to help you.

Tower Adventure (No reservations needed) (Flying Pig Zip Line, Hot Shot Free Fall, or Planks Peak Climbing Wall) Cost for Adults and Kids $ 7.50 - tax included

Treetop Adventure (Reservation encouraged) End of the Line: Loco Lines 1,2,3 Under 18 $40 / Adults $50 Short Line: Loco Rope 1 $15 Jump the Line: Loco Line 2 or 3 $20 Tower Power Pack

Buy 4 Tower Adventures, Receive 2 Free

TRAVEL

Four hours, one way, from Fort Smith 1025A Park Ave, Mountain View, Arkansas 72560

HOURS

10am - 5pm, 7 days a week, March 1st - November 30th (closed only on Easter and Thanksgiving)

REQUIREMENTS Closed-toe shoes

minimum age / height: 43" for Treetop Adventures. There is no minimum age to participate. Children may trek the Treetop Adventure Loco Lines unaccompanied and be supervised from the ground, provided they are at least 12 years old and 58" tall. minimum weight: 30 pounds for Tower Adventures maximum weight: 290 pounds for Treetop Adventure and 250 pounds for Tower Adventures For more information, visit LocoRopes.com or call 870-269-6566

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southern lit

Up on

Piney Mountain fiction Marla Cantrell

A

Allie Walker pushed aside two trashcans that held chicken feed,

brooding and invincible. The gash where the pickup had hit it was

scooted past the riding lawn mower and grabbed her ex-husband's

white and deep. There were fake flowers where the trunk met the

handsaw. The shed was dark, even when the sun was out,

ground, and baseballs, and notes written on poster board with

surrounded as it was by oaks and pines.

glitter paint. Life is but a dream, one message read, and Allie felt her stomach clench."Stupid," Allie said. "Life is anything but a dream."

She'd always loved the way a saw sounded when you bent it and

She stepped from the car, grabbed the saw and a long length of

then let it loose, that twang it made, like music, like Patsy Cline, all

rope, and walked to the tree.

sorrowful and strong at the same time.

Today was her birthday. She was thirty-seven. Middle age was so Inside her house were two dozen people, filing past the deviled

close she could feel it. Her shoulder ached in winter and her right

eggs right about now, sipping wine and whiskey sours and talking

knee popped when she climbed stairs. Today, though, she felt equal

about knows what. She hated every one of them, including Deacon

to the magnolia, and she hoisted herself up on the lowest limb. The

Luther Tomm, who'd been drinking nervously while he pontificated,

saw hung from the rope that she'd looped through the opening in

so his rambling sounded like an infomercial for Jesus.

the handle, and the thing now swung across her back.

Allie put the saw in the back of her Ford Escape. Her son, Joey,

Allie climbed slowly, watching her feet. It wouldn't do to slip. The

called the SUV the Allie-mobile, ever since she'd decorated it with

sky rumbled and a flash of lightning fell across the eastern sky, too

decals she'd made herself. She'd brought home vinyl scraps — her

far away to matter. She stood as upright as she could in the big

boss called it "negative space," the pieces that were torn away to

tree, bracing her back against an "L" where a thick branch grew

reveal letters and pictures — from her job at Jinx Sign Shop. After

straight out, slid down to a sitting position, and grabbed the saw.

six years of work, there was hardly a space on the old car that didn't

When she was twelve, she'd climbed the pecan tree in the city park,

have an alien or a headless horseman or an angel with flames where

hid in its branches, and eavesdropped on the people who wandered

its wings should have been.

by. That's when she learned her math teacher was in love with a woman who was not his wife. He had said, "I cannot bear the

The road leading to the town square was quiet. It was that murky

complexity of my feelings." She wanted to hate him for it, but she

time of day, and clouds were tumbling in. Trash skittered across the

couldn't. From then on he seemed like a fraction that didn't have a

street. An ad for the new pizza place flew across her windshield and

common denominator, like a problem you couldn't work out on the

Allie hit the brakes. She looked at her hands. She was gripping the

biggest chalkboard in the world.

steering wheel so hard her knuckles stuck out.

Allie surveyed the old magnolia. She began sawing just past the The magnolia, planted on the day in 1896 when the town was

place where she sat, the scrape of metal on wood the only sound

formed, stood at the center of the square like a villain, dark and

she wanted to hear.

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southern lit

When the limb finally fell, she leaned back, letting the tree

Talbott shook his head. He pulled on his gray rain slicker and

support her. The fallen part of branch hit the ground with a

grabbed the lowest limb."I'm coming up," he said. A bolt of

thump, bounced once, lay still. She let out a sigh, looked around.

lightning hit the lightning rod atop the courthouse just across the

It was getting dark, although it was barely five o'clock on this

way. Thunder roared and the earth shook and Talbott let out a

spring day. Her arm was hurting. She liked the feel of it, the burn

string of cuss words that sounded just about right to Allie.

that ran from shoulder to wrist. The rain started then, big drops that went splat, the sound loud as knocks at a door you couldn't

The deputy was younger than Allie by two years, and handsome

open. The lightning that had been a mile away only minutes

in a way that made you turn your head when you tried to look

before moved closer. Had it not been for the cover of leaves, she

at him straight on. Now, his face was shadowed by his hat and

would have been soaked, but so far she was only damp.

the gloaming of the late afternoon. Today, nobody was beautiful.

When he reached a foothold just below Allie, he said, "I believe

She held the saw straight out, pushing it through the waxy green

you're committing a crime of some kind."

leaves. What she wanted at that moment was for the lightning to find her. She could imagine it, the electricity striking the metal,

"What if I am?" Allie asked. "Are you going to arrest me?"

running through her hand, ripping into her heart. If a spark from the saw started a fire, all the better. It could light up this tree,

Talbott blew out his breath, reached in his shirt pocket, pulled

and the tree would flash orange and red and burn to the ground.

out a cigarette. He sat down, straddling one of the middle tree

She said aloud, "I should have brought gasoline."

branches, and flicked his lighter. He took a long draw. Smoke seemed to stay in a cloud in front of his face. "I don't believe I

If your spirit stays where you draw your last breath, then she

am," he said, finally.

should be able to feel Joey here. But she did not feel him, just as she did not feel him in his bedroom, where his jeans still lay

Rain pelted Allie, thunder roared farther away this time, and she

crumbled on the rug, and his anthropology book lay open, face

suddenly felt as heavy as an ox.

down, on his oak desk.

"Helluva view when the sun's out," Talbott said, craning his neck There was speculation, of course, that he'd been drinking when

to see Allie. "I used to climb this tree all the time. I used to hide

his truck hit the tree. He'd been going sixty in a place where

from my daddy up here. He was bad to drink, did you know that?"

thirty could get you a ticket. He had not been drinking — she had seen the toxicology report. What she feared most was that

"The whole town knew that," Allie said.

he'd done it intentionally. That kind of desperation ran through Allie's family, had taken her own father when he was younger

"Hard to live with a daddy like that."

than she is now. But Joey was more like his dad: easy going, fearless. His junior college baseball team, the Maysville Tigers,

Allie let go of the handsaw and let it hang limp from its rope. She

had just won the state championship, a slow pitch game, and

made a motion like a noose at her neck and craned her head to

he'd been coming home: excited, happy, careless.

one side. "My daddy did himself in. I don't know why."

No, he did not kill himself.

"Enough trouble in this world to fill the Grand Canyon," Talbott said, and those words, the Grand Canyon, caused Allie's heart to

Down below where the rain hit everything, Talbott Benson, the

jump. She'd taken Joey there when he was seven. He'd stood on

only deputy in town, shined his flashlight and called out. "Allie

the overlook and spread his arms out and said, "This is bigger than

Walker, is that you up there? Your car's right here. I know it's

God's cereal bowl!"

you." He paused, rubbed his neck. "You'll catch your death," he said, and then stopped abruptly at the word 'death.' He shined

When he was eight, he came in from feeding his Quarter Horse. He

his flashlight on the ground where the newly cut limb lay, "What

took Allie by the hand and led her outside. Queenie stood beneath

the hell do you think you're doing?"

the morning sun, which was shining so bright the horse seemed to DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

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54

southern lit

almost disappear into it. Joey said, "Queenie sure is pretty at night,

"Don't touch the stuff," Talbott said. "My daddy and all."

but this morning light is too much. This morning light defeats her."

They drove then, out past the city limits, on the back roads they Allie had taken to writing down Joey's words. She had a gallon jar

both knew so well.

on her dresser, hundreds of slips of paper with his observations, his sweet, sweet words that seemed like something a prophet might say.

"You may be crazy right now, Allie," Talbott said. "That's understandable." Allie took another sip of whiskey and considered this.

She had cried so much in the last three days, trying to do it now was like having the dry heaves. Her face ached, her nose felt like it did

"I may be crazy from now on," she said, and then she grew quiet. The

when she plunged into the city pool and drew in a wave of chlorine.

road bumped beneath them — it was a patchwork of potholes and crumbling asphalt. After a while, she said, "Tell me about the last time

"I can't stand this world," she said.

you were happy. I need to hear a story that has happy people in it."

"I don't blame you," Talbott said, "nobody blames you," and then

Talbott rubbed his leg, he grabbed a paper towel from the roll and

he dropped his cigarette and reached up and touched Allie's ankle.

wiped the back of his neck. "I got this cabin up on Piney Mountain.

Allie closed her eyes. "Let's get down from here," Talbott said.

Not very big, half a century old. The walls are cedar inside and out, the floors are black oak. I go there on my days off. There's this deer

He made it to the ground first, and he held his arms up in case she

that's taken to me, a doe. She'll eat out of my hand. Last week I went

fell. She swung down easily, slipped on the wet grass, and lay there,

for a walk up the ridge and the yarrow is starting to bloom and the

the rain hitting her hard. Talbott scrambled to get her up, took her

black-eyed-susans. Well, this doe comes with me, like a dog would,

by the hand, finally, and led her to the police car just as a new wave

and she keeps nudging me from behind, and when I sat down on this

of lightning hit. He jumped, but she didn't. There was a thermos in

big mossy rock, she keeps rubbing her head against my shirt. And I

the front passenger seat, and she wrapped her hands around it for its

thought, I haven't seen a lot of evidence of God in my life, but maybe

warmth. He turned on the motor, cranked up the heat. The scanner

this is enough. This ridge, this doe, the sky blue as a lady's dress."

and radio, he turned off. Wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"The doe could die," Allie said. She looked out the window. "Come "Take me somewhere," Allie said, "away from this," and she

hunting season."

pointed at the tree.

"I haven't worked that part out yet."

"Don't you think you ought to go home?"

"My family has a history of doing themselves in. Not just my daddy.

"I don't ever want to go home."

My aunt Ida. A cousin in California."

At the Quickie Pik, Talbott went in and picked up a roll of paper

"And my daddy drank, but I do not."

towels so Allie could dry off, a bag of pretzels, a bottle of whiskey.

Allie's hair was almost dry now. It fell past her shoulders, straight, brown, shiny. Her jeans were just barely damp, but her socks had

"Take a sip," he said, when he got back in the car.

gotten wet and she'd taken them off. "It's my birthday," she said.

Allie uncapped the bottle, drank, shivered.

"Thirty-seven, but today I feel a hundred."

"I could get fired for this," he said, and pointed at Allie, at the

"Thirty-five in April," Talbott said.

bottle, at the turned off equipment.

"Joey won't ever be thirty-five," Allie said, and then coughed, and "You want a drink?"

then took another sip of whiskey.

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55

"I'm more than sorry," Talbott said. "Wish there was

Allie took another drink just as the road turned to gravel, and

something I could do."

another when the gravel turned to mud. When they got to the cabin, Talbott came to her side of the car and opened the door.

"Nothing anybody can do."

He took her hiking boots and put them on her feet. The rain was steady but the storm had passed. When she tried to stand, she

"I got a friend, an old guy I met on a fishing trip to Canada, who's from

couldn't do it, so he lifted her easily and carried her across the

the Dakota tribe. He believes the spirit world is only three feet above

porch and into the cedar cabin.

us, and that's where the dead go, and they become our guardian angels. They have a ritual that lasts for four days, making sure the spirit

She hadn't been lifted up since she was a kid, back before her father

is settled in good and proper. Everybody feels better when it's over."

died. She used to pretend she'd fallen asleep on long car rides, just to feel his strong hands lifting her from the backseat, just to feel safe in

"What do you think?"

his big arms.

"I think that sometimes horrible things happen to the best people

The thought of it made her stubborn tears start, and Talbott stroked

on earth. I don't know why. I don't know how we're supposed to

her hair while she cried. He set her down on the couch and made hot

get through it, but I do know we have to help the ones left behind.

tea. The rain was serious now, and the wind howled.

We can't leave a crazy woman up in a tree, for example."

She slept, eventually, and when she woke Talbott was still there, out The whiskey had settled Allie down. She lay her head back against

cold in the old recliner that listed to one side.

the seat and listened to the windshield wipers whoosh. She hadn't slept a wink in three days. "I wouldn't mind Joey being three feet

Allie went out on the porch. The rain had stopped, and the air

above me. You were below me in that devil tree and I could hear

was cold and pure. She found a tree stump Talbott used as a side

every word you said."

table, cleared away the ashtray and stood atop it. Allie held her hand straight up; she knew she was at least three feet taller that

"Joey was a good kid, always polite. I saw him in the halls at the

way, and imagined Joey in the mist of morning, in a place where

middle school when I was their reserve officer. Saw him help a kid

everything made sense and nobody died. As long as she stood like

who'd dropped his books. He was one of those bused-in kids from

that, she felt a warm hand wrapped around hers. The feeling might

down by the river."

have been grief, she understood that. But it might have come from the clarity grief brings.

"It hurts to hear his name. It hurts not to hear his name. I'll have to move. I can't face that tree every day."

As soon as the thought materialized, Talbott's doe showed up, buff-colored and glorious. She climbed the steps to stand beside Allie. Talbott rose from his

"I've been told you can't make big decisions for at least a year after

chair as this was happening. Allie was not on the couch. He checked his gun;

something like this happens," Talbott said.

it was still in its holster, and he said aloud, "Thank God." When he bounded onto the porch, he saw Allie standing still, her hand raised, her hair tangled.

"I may decide not to get up tomorrow."

The doe did not even turn to greet him, just stood transfixed, watching. Allie stood like that for longer than seemed humanly possible, in the soft light of

Talbott ignored the meaning of that sentence. "Stay in bed as long as

morning, and Talbott bore witness to it all, though he would never speak of

you want," he said. "Get some rest. When you wake up, do it slow.

it again, not to anyone in this broken old world but Allie.

Make sure you eat something every day. Soup is good. Hot tea is good."

When he turned the squad car around, Allie protested. "Don't take

Marla was awarded the Arkansas Arts Council 2014

me home," she said, and so he veered off the highway, cut across

Individual Fellowship for her work in short fiction, an honor

the valley, and started up the slick mountain road.

given to Arkansas artists who are recognized for their artistic abilities.

DOSOUTHMAGAZINE

56

Meet Kate!

I'm so happy to introduce you to Kate Edson, the newest member of the Do South team. We've grown by leaps and bounds in the past year but I felt there was still a piece missing from the puzzle. When I was introduced to Kate, I was thrilled, and knew instantly, she was that missing piece. Kate grew up here, has deep ties to our community, and she is a stellar marketing professional. If you have questions about advertising, I encourage you to give Kate a call. She can develop an effective and creative marketing plan, based on your business goals and your budget. She can be reached at 479.242.8222.

Welcome Kate, we're lucky to have you with us! ~ Catherine

Hello Fort Smith! This is Kate. I'm thrilled to be the newest member of the Do South team. I will be in advertising sales, as well as assisting in all aspects of the magazine's publication. I have always had a love of reading, and when I came across Do South I was impressed by the quality of the stories and the content of the magazine.

I grew up in Fort Smith, and after attending the University of Colorado, came back to Northwest Arkansas to work for Walmart, then moved to Atlanta for ten years and was involved in Business Development and Sales in the medical field. After a job transfer to Los Angeles a little over a year ago, I knew I was ready to come back to the place I've always considered home.

I love Fort Smith and the people here. I have family and friends in town and the surrounding areas, and am so happy to be in closer proximity to them after such a long time away. I can't wait to get more involved in the community through the magazine.

I look forward to meeting all of you!

Sincerely, Kate Edson 479.242.8222

Welcome to our

Beauty & Fashion Guide!

We've partnered with the finest local businesses to help you put your best self forward. Keep up to date on what's new when it comes to beauty, fashion, skincare, makeup, surgical procedures, and more. Commit to supporting local businesses and discover more than you ever imagined!

Drop us a line and recommend YOUR favorite shop or beauty professional, and tell me why. We love learning about great local places and meeting new people! You never know when your recommendation may end up in the pages of Do South Magazine!

—COMING NEXT MONTH—

ALL ABOUT KIDS

This guide is for anyone who has a kid or knows a kid! Do South is bringing you the best of the best. Discover local physicians, boutiques, dentists, restaurants, sports programs, counselors, party places, educators, preschools, gymnastic programs, summer programs, tutors, entertainment, dermatologists, dance instructors, photographers, personalized gifts, and much more.

April May All About Kids Summer Fun Want your business to appear in one of our upcoming guides? Find out about our great rates and digital extras. Give us a call. We'd love to send you our 2015 Guide Calendar! See you in April!

Catherine Kate

Owner/Editor-in-Chief • 479.782.1500 • catherine@dosouthmagazine.com

Business Development • 479.242.8222 • kate@dosouthmagazine.com P.S. Check out our Wedding Guide from February, available online at DoSouthMagazine.com/Guide.

Do South's guide to

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