The Mint Patch Monologue

Contributions Dedicated to

Preserving the Timeless Writing

of Gladys Bagg Taber for

Future Generations

The Mint Patch Monologue is meant to welcome any reader to enter a quiet space, to celebrate life’s simple pleasures, and to find encouragement. Inspired by the late Gladys Bagg Taber (1899-1980) my writing is dedicated to preserving her legacy. She was the author of 59 books, including the Stillmeadow books, and columnist for Ladies’ Home Journal and Family Circle. Her warm and friendly spirit lives on in her every page, this blog is a bridge to that comfort, may we all still experience it. I choose to follow her lead in life- to regard community and neighborliness, to have an earnest relationship with the natural world, to remain full-hearted in the face of grief, to give any curious recipe the chance for success but the acceptance of defeat, and to sit under the stars at the end of a long summer day with a grateful sincerity.

  • Pinched about the Past

    Lately I’ve been nursing the sting of nostalgia. My mind wanders back to a classroom that doesn’t exist anymore, one with crayons and glue, shapes and colors. I wish to belly up against a glossy desk with curiosity for the day; to have no say in what I eat or where I go, to just be along for the ride. I want my imagination back, not the dreams of world peace but of dragons, ferries, caves. My ignorance bliss is forever gone as long as there are screens around. Going far away was easy because it was only to the end of the street, just out of view for a second. I miss the weightlessness of the past because in the present even the problems that aren’t mine still feel like mine. I wish to believe in everything again, how easy it was. The condition of being a grown up- that everything feels like waiting, but not for anything good. And because these are all acute injuries to the spirit, I’ve chosen to do nothing but embrace what is true about my life now. What you resist will always persist, and so I’m giving myself a dose of acceptance this week and raising a toast to time and change. It is a comfort to know that Gladys would have been so understanding, in Stillmeadow Calendar she writes… “One morning I go out to pick wild asters and suddenly it is September at Stillmeadow. I think it is the smell of the air, like the wild grapes and windfall apples. I know fall is here, although the world is still green with summer. …I feel an urgency to gather in all the loveliness of the past blazing days and star-cool nights and keep them forever.” If only I would have known about growing up then, I would have gathered up so much to bring along for the life ride. I know now there lives a moment in time that I kicked my green soccer ball into the invisible goal against the neighbor’s fence for the very last time.

    If you read my past posts you would know about the pencil season and my habit for picking up pencils around the school grounds on my walks. This is been a slow year, and I grew fearful that perhaps kids gave up pencils all together for digital scribbles. My walk on Thursday proved otherwise because not only did I find 3 pencils, but two of them were colored pencils -one orange and one purple. Secondary colors. It occurred to me that these little hints were there for me on purpose, to remind me that I am on the secondary season of my life. Where I had intended on making a left, seeing the pencils lead me to walking in the direction of a little neighborhood pond, and so I took heed to what the universe was telling me. As I walked and reflected on taking life a little too serious sometimes, I was reminded that in spite of how short our lives are, I still have so much ahead of me.

    Decades from now I may feel the same sting of nostalgia, but for my little house on Blackburn Avenue, taking walks around the middle school, making soups and spending time with my little angel poodle. Maybe to treat my current aches I will gather up some loveliness from these days to carry with me forever.

    Alongside of my toast to time and change, I also say cheers to the last calendar day of summer. It was 88 degrees here today, we had a very hot and bright weekend, perhaps one of the last hot weekends of the year.

    If you find your heart pierced with nostalgia I suggest you take yourself out for ice cream, it might be your last until the warm days return.

    Thank you for reading and as always, drop me a line because I DO LOVE to chat!

    justicesarah67@yahoo.com

  • Another Dinner Party

    Two more, actually. The heat of summer had me curious over artichokes and after just a bit of research I learned that they are pretty easy to prepare. A nice pot of boiling water salted, a juicy lemon, and a  homemade yogurt dipping sauce was all the work it took to serve them up (for myself) and enjoy them.  The extra lemon inspired a cold shrimp cocktail and the  meal was rounded off with some blue cheese stuffed olives. A white wine and peach spritzer paired nicely with the salty tangy spread, and of course a little decoration with  flowers is ALWAYS necessary. This dinner party was enjoyed on top of a half made bed, a perfect place for cool evening lounging after a day spent under the hot sun. The mood was topped off with a movie, “Stealing Beauty” staring a very young Liv Tyler who travels to Italy in search of truth and connection. I fell deep into girlhood on this evening. I wonder what dinner parties in Italy are like.

    The next day had me in a storybook mood, something whimsical, almost fairy tale. The evening lounge continued onto a blanketed patch of grass in the backyard, against the softness of the wildflowers. The blanket belonged to my Mamaw, there’s no way to date it but I know she was born in 1912 and lived up until 2004. Somewhere within those many years she acquired it and covered her lap as she sat in her knee high stockings.  I am so happy to own something that was hers. Any music fans out there might remember these lyrics by Steely Dan… “Well, you wouldn’t even know a diamond if you held it in your hand
    The things you think are precious I can’t understand”.     It is a good reminder to consider what we own and how UN-important our possessions have the potential of being. We can buy anything we want on credit or outright, but owning real treasure is special.  Comfort food saved me from making a big to-do for dinner, a perfect tuna melt didn’t hit the spot, it nestled itself down into it. The arugula got a well needed trim and brought balance to the plate. Percy enjoyed this dinner party, he was all the company I could ask for. We watched lightning bugs come out after dark and relaxed together with full bellies and even fuller hearts.

    Gladys speaks often of sitting up on summer nights with canine companions, she was a well-known breeder of champion cocker spaniels. I love the way she describes their velvet snouts and feather plume tails. As the summer season comes to an end so does the reach of the vines, everything is slowing down. The BER months are upon us now and all have their own themes. I think of them as a four part celebration towards the end of another fortunate year we have had on this beautiful planet. This series comes to us with temperatures in the 80s but will soon include days that slowly grow darker and colder as the months pass by. For now, I am eating buckets of cherry tomatoes and watching late sunsets. Until next time, thank you for reading and as always..

    Drop me a line, because I do love to chat!

    justicesarah67@yahoo.com