Author Topic: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings  (Read 2530125 times)

Offline Shakesthecoffecan

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Re: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings
« Reply #950 on: July 14, 2007, 01:30:53 pm »
I have had a visited by the serendipity fairy.

My partner has been reading this book from the library lately, "Pressing On" The Roni Stoneman Story as told to Ellen Wright (University of Illinois Press).
Stoneman may not be immediatly recognizible to most people, but if you ever saw the syndicated TV show Hee Haw she was the gap toothed woman living with her husband in a shack and she was always ironing and nagging him about something. I had always described her as the ugliest one on the show, but that turned out to be makeup. She is actually a very elegant looking woman, but still as authentic as they come.

Her story, simple and direct, was taken straight from interviews and chronical she life in a travelling musical family. Pure oral narative. Her family is from the Galax, Virginia area, but she has lived all over, in desperate situations, husbands who beat her, friends who were not friends at all. She had one hard row to hoe after another. The title is a take off on that never ending ironing, both in that skit which is her greatest claim to fame and in her life, smoothing out the wrinkles. When my partner left for a trip to Wisconsin this weekend I told him I would take the book back for him and check it out myself and read it.

So with a weekend to myself, I asked about and found a friend from work, her sister and kids, and the Australian couple who are the parents of the groom from last weekend, were all going to descend on Floyd Friday night for the Jamboree (www.floydcountrystore.com). I had not been there since the store was enlarged to accomodate more so I eagerly planned on joining them. I stopped in Elamsville at the Sage's invitation of Walmart hamburger and garden grown potatos and ended up taking her gardener, James, with me up there.

James was itching to be anywhere by Elamsville. He does not drive and being dependant on Carol for his transportation and has a bad case of cabin fever. He has recently been attempting a move to Roanoke where he would certainly have a better time of it, and detailed to me the two guys he met thru the MCC church who were supposed to help him find an apartment, but insted got him caught up in their personal drama. I finally had to tell him I had had enough personal drama myself this week and I was unwilling to listen to anymore. His tangential mind went on then to a number of other things and at one point mentioned his taking violin lessons as a child and that his 4th grade music teacher had been married to Buck Owens breifly.

"The woman with the blue fiddle who married him for 3 days?!"

"Yeah that's her! Janet Griph (?sp.) "

The crowd was pouring out into the street when we got there at 7, two or three other band were set up outside, both sides of the street.We found my friends and acquaintences and squeezed our way into the "new and improved" store. Standing room only, as usual. While James held back I twisted my way to the front with the ladies to the new laminate hardwood dance floor. Fans were trained on the floor, which was a blessing. They were all there, the regulars: Jerrold, the human question mark, Wendell, the only black man in Floyd, Turkeyhat Man, Glynnis, who always wears hotpants and who I met once at the Grand Ole Opry, and yes this would be a good night, Over-all boy was there.

Let me explain about overall boy. He is perhaps 32, about 6'2", perfect features, built like a brick shit house, always smiling, laid back, always wearing overalls and tap shoes and man can he dance. Friendly too. Of all the grain fed, farm use men in Floyd County, he is it. To be on the same dance floor with him is to have reason to grin all next week.

Having danced thru four songs, me and my new endorphins needed to go outside and get some air. I went out the front door looking for James when this middle aged blond woman comes up and starts rubbing my belly and hollers to her friends "Eat at Joe's!" and we all laugh and I add "and Tom's and Dick's" and she says:

"Awww, thank you for being a good sport, you are so good looking!" and she extends her hand and says "I'm Roni Stoneman."

I looked at her with widening eyes and the face in front of me matched perfectly with the cover of her book. "Lord God You Are! I'm reading your book!" I all but hollered.

Roni Stoneman went on to thank me and tell me all about he family. Most of her children it seems work for Nissan and she told me I looked like Tim White, an regional music promoter which I took as a compliment and then told me how I needed to get a hold of the Atkins Diet to get that gut off of me before it was too late (I thought had it not been for this gut I would never have met you!) I ended up buying a copy of her book which she autographed for me, but she declined my invitation to dance. I thanked her for telling her story. She is 69 years old now but does not look a day over 55. She was in her eliment, a minor clelbrity among friends, amonsgt people who hold her in high regard, who show her love.

I still wonder sometimes at my serendipideous good fortune. How things make themself know to me just before I see them. I am in that space right now, betwixt what I know and what I try to believe. Come again sprit of serendipity, I always love your visits.

Last night I dreamed I was back in high school again, but this time I was a teacher, not the student.

"It was only you in my life, and it will always be only you, Jack, I swear."

Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings
« Reply #951 on: July 14, 2007, 01:57:17 pm »
Jesus H., Tru, I feel so effin' lucky to read this.  Besides the miracles described, I love the "Walmart hamburgers and homegrown potatoes" and I also love that you instantly knew that your "gut" was a key part of the miracle.  Thank you, Serendipity Fairy, for visiting Truman.  :-*

Offline ifyoucantfixit

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Re: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings
« Reply #952 on: July 14, 2007, 02:17:41 pm »





           You are such a blessing to have here Truman.  You are a source of never ending enjoyment.  That was precious, and good to know that others
see your worth instantly as well.



     Beautiful mind

Offline Shakesthecoffecan

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Re: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings
« Reply #953 on: July 17, 2007, 02:53:41 pm »
It is Tuesday before my departure for Alberta on Saturday. And it is official: I felt my first twinge of anxiety this morning. All this stuff I have to get done before leaving and on top of that more stuff popping up, like it always does when I try to go out of town.

I will pack every night this week. I have the books together, and tonight I will pick my clothes. By Thursday I will make an actual list, bt Friday afternoon I will be furiously hunting for it.
"It was only you in my life, and it will always be only you, Jack, I swear."

Offline Shasta542

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Re: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings
« Reply #954 on: July 17, 2007, 03:02:32 pm »
It is Tuesday before my departure for Alberta on Saturday. And it is official: I felt my first twinge of anxiety this morning. All this stuff I have to get done before leaving and on top of that more stuff popping up, like it always does when I try to go out of town.

I will pack every night this week. I have the books together, and tonight I will pick my clothes. By Thursday I will make an actual list, bt Friday afternoon I will be furiously hunting for it.

 :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

When ya get there----Have fun!!!  ;D
"Gettin' tired of your dumbass missin'!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Offline Shakesthecoffecan

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Re: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings
« Reply #955 on: July 17, 2007, 03:05:45 pm »
I will, anyone wanting a post card from Alberta, just PM me with their address.
"It was only you in my life, and it will always be only you, Jack, I swear."

Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings
« Reply #956 on: July 17, 2007, 03:26:17 pm »
Tru, your serendipity fairy visited me.  This happened the day I read about your experience with Ronnie Stoneman, but have been forgetting to tell you:

I was walking through the local variety store, and I was thinking about your story.  Just as I was getting to the part where she suggested the Atkins diet to you, it suddenly occurred to me to wonder if she knew your last name, and if that's why she said that.  And then I turned a corner, and there was a display of all these Atkins bars.  "That's a weird coincidence," I thought, and turned another corner, to come upon a display of videos for sale.  The only one I saw on the shelf, instantly, was "Serendipity."

"Whoa, I hear you, Serendipity Fairy,"  I said (almost) out loud.

Offline Shakesthecoffecan

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Re: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings
« Reply #957 on: July 17, 2007, 11:05:14 pm »
I think it is a good thing the seredipity fairy would be visiting us at this particular time. I think it means to travel with us to Alberta, Hummmmmm.......
"It was only you in my life, and it will always be only you, Jack, I swear."

Offline Shakesthecoffecan

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Re: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings
« Reply #958 on: July 17, 2007, 11:17:25 pm »
You ever wonder what Jack was doing out on that back road when his tire went flat?

They had called for rain every afternoon this week and I wondered why in the Hell didn;t I mow the yard last weekend. The call came from the office a key I had been waiting on was ready so I would head in and get iti so I could show this house. The new agent, she had called me. She has a Pippy Longstocking of a daughter who today coated her feet with some thing to make cracked heals peal.

She asked me if I could stop at Bojangles and get her a biscuit and I said sure. Then I rememoried they didn;t take debit cards so I had to run by the ATM, I cut into the parking lot, too quick, I hit the curb, hard my tire busted.

I got out the $20 Sears and Roebuck air pump which pointed out the busted place to me, n the rain. So I got the trunk open, full of shit, I got the spare out, the jack, but I am missing......, of all things. The tire iron.

Maybe the seredipity fairy made off with it, I dunno.

I knew the tellers and one of them handed he her keys and said she thought she had one, she did, laying right next to a box of romance novels.  I  carried the impliment to my jacked up car and groaned them lug nuts off. Here was this thing I had known all my life as a tool, and now it was a weapon.

I am driving very carefully now on the little baby tire. I'll go to the used tire place tomorrow and get a replacement. It will cost between $10 & $15. The guy who runs the place will give me back a dollar from my cash and tell me to buy myself a biscuit.
"It was only you in my life, and it will always be only you, Jack, I swear."

Offline ifyoucantfixit

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Re: Shakesthegrounds Rumblings
« Reply #959 on: July 18, 2007, 02:50:46 am »




       This must be the serendipity fairys day to,make you know to keep careful track of your tires.  Today we went to get our tires rotated, and the front end of the car aligned.  The tire store we went to couldnt get us in.  But reported we needed two new tires, and an alignment for the car.  We went to another one of the same chain.  They said we didnt need the alignment but we needed  all new tires.  Dang.. well that was a perfect start to our week.  I am choosing to think, it is the fairys way of telling us we might have had big tire problems on the way to california.  So now we can drive there with no worries about the car and tires...
        At least we didn't have to use a tire iron.  Oh by the way, I forgot to mention, they broke the center cap on one of our hubcaps...
         Gosh it seems to me that prices are getting higher, and reliable work is getting harder to come by/  But its all good, they didnt charge us for the   alignment which we didnt need.  doh



     Beautiful mind