Blur of Holidays Now Passed

So much time has passed since my last post; I'm not quite sure where to begin. I guess it would make sense to start around Thanksgiving and our trip home to Mississippi. Jason and I seem to be growing more proficient at cramming a ton of events into one visit home. We went to Estill to see Robin and Shearer, ate Thanksgiving day lunch at Nanny and Pappy's, Thanksgiving dinner down at Dockery. We visited at Maw's the day after Thanksgiving and took several walks. Jason went hunting many times. Whew! Looking back, it seems like one intense whirlwind from the beginning of November to now, the end of January! And there doesn't seem to be any letting up. Since there is no way for me to do full postings on each topic and get myself caught up in this new year, I am going to post just a few of the best pictures from several of the things we did.

A trip to Estill, Mississippi, and a walk to explore the Indian mounds on family land. 

 

 My daddy and his cherished friend, Mr. Meme.

  

Jason's grandfather, Pappy, carving the Thanksgiving Turkey.

  

After Thanksgiving lunch on the porch.

  

My cousin Kaela standing next to Frank Michael's car before Thanksgiving dinner at Dockery.

  

Narcissus from a walk at Dockery.

  

Robin's roses growing at Highbank.

Huh and I at her brother Allen's wedding reception.

 

Everyone pitches in to load wood, including little Kaleigh and Karson, at my grandparents' in Leakesville, Mississippi.

  

Jason and my daddy after a successful hunt at Fighting Bayou Hunting Club just days before Christmas.

  

My mama playing her brand new Christmas present from my dad.

  

Mary Grace in her dog suit from Santa on Christmas morning.

  

Regina drinking coffee and waiting for fried oysters on Christmas morning.

Jason and his grandmother on Christmas morning.

  

Ebelskivers, Lane Baxter style!

  

Lane and I in the "little mountain town" (Mountain View, Arkansas) on our trip to Jason's grandparent's cabin.

  

One last picture just before heading home.

More Persimmons, please!

Last Saturday, Jason and I drove all the way to Tomball, TX to pick Asian Fuyu persimmons from Matt Family Orchard. Fall is the season in which they ripen, and I have been looking forward to our trip for weeks! My dear friend Sarah Kindelan Crawford (pictured below) first introduced me to persimmon pickin' several years ago at an orchard near Starkville, MS.

That experience revived in me a love for Asian persimmons which had begun when I was very small. My neighbor, Big Keith, would give us a couple huge persimmons every fall, and I remember them being so delicious. We had persimmon trees all throughout our woods at home, but they were tiny, bite-sized, and often bitter with a large seed in the center. If you have ever bitten into one of those tiny persimmons before they are ripe, it is quite possibly one of the worst tastes you may ever experience. That is because of the high level of tannin in the fruit...sort of like a very, very green banana. It makes your mouth physically shrink up, and you may never be tempted to try another persimmon again. Fuyus on the other hand, are large and sweet, and you can either eat them just like a crisp apple right off the tree, or can wait patiently until they are extremely ripe. Though it's hard to wait, I like them best when they are mooshy and sweet!

Matt Family Orchard has several thousand trees which are apparently about 16 years old, though they are cut back to make it easier for picking. Most of the trees were loaded down with fruit just like this one.

 

We had some competition with the wasps and caterpillars.

Besides Asian persimmons Matt Family Orchard has blackberries, figs, jujube (Asian dates), Asian pears, pumpkins and citrus. I'm already looking forward to going back next year for fruit and a picnic!

Almost a week later, I still have persimmons for days, though I've been eating a ton! Today I made persimmon ice cream by adapting a recipe for pumpkin pie. Sadly, Jason doesn't really like persimmons, so I guess I'll have to eat all of it by myself....darn.

Ah, Mississippi

Sometimes it takes seeing a particular person or certain places again to realize just how deeply you have been missing them all along. That's exactly how I felt coming back to Mississippi and seeing so many dear friends and family. Jason and I drove back for the Mississippi State vs. Florida football game. Because all the harvesting is over, he got to take a few days off. Trying to fit in as many visits as possible, we stayed at a different house almost every night for about a week. Our first stop was in Brandon to see Jason's mom, sister, and grandmother. We drove all evening, arriving around 2 a.m., and got right into bed. The next day, we visited, did some shopping (I had my first Anthropologie store experience!!!!), and ate at P.F. Chang's for dinner. Don't ask me how I came away with so few pictures of actual people (and none of the Anthropologie store). It was almost as if I didn't remember to take pictures until right before we left. To make up for this though, I have resolved to take a ridiculous amount of pictures next time we're home.

After leaving Linda's house, we first visited Johnny Boy in the hospital, and then sort of backtracked to see our dear friends, Jeremy and Mary Hunter Sharp in Vicksburg. They have recently bought their first house and both started new jobs, Mary Hunter as a fifth-grade teacher, and Jeremy as an engineer working for the Corps of Engineers. It was really exciting to see the progress they have made on their house so far! This is their living room. Jeremy actually made the new mantle; doesn't it look great?

Friday morning, we packed up and drove back to Jackson to stay with our other set of dear friends, Bo and Lane Baxter.We are always so excited to see them, and I think I may have screamed when Lane came out the front door of their house! Soon after we got there, a man came to install new carpet in their bedroom, so we went to lunch at Primos and got dessert a one of Lane's new favorite places, Berry Berry Frozen Yogurt. That night we cooked dinner together and went to a concert in one of their friend's front yard in Belhaven. The music was performed by a husband and wife duo, Drew and Ellie Holcomb, who are part of the band, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. We had a great time!

 

The next morning, Jason was nudging me out of bed around 5:30 a.m! The plan was to leave by 7:00 a.m., apparently so we could be the first ones to the tailgate in Starkville. And we were. Here's a picture of what everything looked like when we first got there. Do you see anyone? I didn't think so.

See, there wasn't even anyone there yet to take our picture. I do have to admit though, it was a gorgeous day, and I'm glad we got there early to enjoy it! We saw so many people that we love, and I really did have the best day!

 

 

The day after the game, the drive to the Delta was one of the most beautiful I have ever experienced. The weather was lovely, and the familiarity of that stretch of road, comforting. Our first stop: Nanny and Pappy's house for a huge lunch of roast, rice, fried okra, corn on the cob, fresh salad, homemade pickles, rolls, and beans! After finishing the Packers vs. Steelers game, we drove over to Dwayne and Regina's.

While Mary Grace and I were playing outside, I couldn't help but take a picture of what I believe to be one of the most compelling aspects of the Mississippi Delta, its utter flatness and great expanse of sky. We spent that night at my parents' house, waking very early the next morning for Jason and my dad to go dove hunting and my mom and I to take a long walk.

It doesn't seem to matter how many times we get to go home; when it's time to leave, I always wish we had longer. I can never seem to get enough.

Leaving Mississippi I get an unsettling feeling in my stomach, and this is not simply because it is my home. I think it lies in the act of driving over the Mississippi River. There is a moment where you haven't quite left yet, you have time to think about it. It is not instantaneous like other state lines where one moment you are are there, the very next, in another state; if there weren't a sign, you might never know you had crossed a boundary. But as we pass over the river, I am consciously aware that we are leaving, and not until that moment does it feels like our trip back to Texas has fully begun.  

A Short but Sweet Visit

Brace yourselves! I haven't updated in a while, so this could be a little overwhelming. The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind! It seems lately that time has been passing in either one extreme or another. Several weeks will go by slowly with little excitement, and then a whole month full of activity flies by. 

Two weeks ago, my dear friend, Jessica Lovelady stopped by for a visit on her way to Austin, Texas....yes, I'm just now posting about it. She accepted a new job offer, and before her training started, she decided to go for a long road trip to see some friends. I'm so glad she chose to come stay with us!

Before she arrived, I started thinking it would be nice to have some flowers to welcome her. Our apartment complex has beautiful landscaping, so I simply went outside and "borrowed."

Although it was a very short visit, we packed a lot in. Monday night, we ate dinner at Japaneiros, one of mine and Jason's favorite restaurants which combines Japanese sushi and Latin cuisine. Tuesday, while Jason was at work, we went to the First Colony Mall area and did some shopping. Actually, Lovelady did all the shopping...I mostly just watched and helped pick out what she should buy. Here are some pictures from my new favorite store, Bare Escentuals. I had never been into one of their stores before and was overwhelmed with excitement by the little jars of colorful powder all over the place. Aren't the colors gorgeous?

After taking about 100 pictures of just the jars (I'm only posting a couple, because that could get boring), I did manage to remember to get a few of Lovelady. Sadly, I think these are the only pictures I have of her from her visit, and I don't know how I let her get away without taking some of us together. Well I guess that just gives me one more excuse to go visit her in Lafayette!