Happy New Year from Porchscene!

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Deborah Fagan Carpenter

“It’s never too late to become who you want to be. I hope you live a life that you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over.

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

Art: Deborah Fagan Carpenter

Share
Posted in Southernisms | Tagged | 3 Comments

A Southernism, Monday, December 18, 2023

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Deborah Fagan Carpenter

“Christmas in the South means a creamy bowl of rum and bourbon-based eggnog and a rich array of cakes and candies: coconut cake, white fruitcake, bourbon ball candies, and sugary divinity candies topped with pecans.”

—Eugene Walter,

writing in “American Cooking, Southern Style”

 

 

 

 

Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter

Share
Posted in Southernisms | Tagged , | 2 Comments

This Week’s Southernism, Monday, October 9, 2023

Posted on October 9, 2023 by Deborah Fagan Carpenter

 

“The dream which built America was the dream of a land where every man could believe what he wanted to believe and advocate what he wanted to advocate, and still be safe from the anger of those who disagreed.”

Southern writer, William Bradford Huie,

from a speech by the character Peter Garth Lafavor in Mud on the Stars.

Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter

Share
Posted in Southernisms | Tagged | Comments Off on This Week’s Southernism, Monday, October 9, 2023

This Week’s Southernism, Monday, September 11, 2023

Posted on September 11, 2023 by Deborah Fagan Carpenter

“Louisiana in September was like an obscene phone call from nature. The air—moist, sultry, secretive, and far from fresh – felt as if it were being exhaled into one’s face. Sometimes it even sounded like heavy breathing.”

 

—Tom Robbins

Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter

Share
Posted in Southernisms | Tagged , | 1 Comment

This Week’s Southernism, Monday, August 21, 2023

Posted on August 21, 2023 by Deborah Fagan Carpenter

“Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon and after their three o’clock naps. And by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer.”

—Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter

Share
Posted in Southernisms | Tagged , | 1 Comment

This Week’s Southernism, Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Posted on August 8, 2023 by Deborah Fagan Carpenter

“The month of August had turned into a griddle where the days just lay there and sizzled.”

—Sue Monk Kidd,

The Secret Life of Bees

 

 

Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter

Share
Posted in Southernisms | Tagged , | Comments Off on This Week’s Southernism, Tuesday, August 8, 2023

This Week’s Southernism, Monday, July 17, 2023

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Deborah Fagan Carpenter

“I have only to break into the tightness of a strawberry, and I see summer—its dust and lowering skies.”

— Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter

Share
Posted in Southernisms | Tagged , | Comments Off on This Week’s Southernism, Monday, July 17, 2023

This Week’s Southernism, Monday, July 10, 2023

Posted on July 10, 2023 by Deborah Fagan Carpenter

“I do not want to live
in a world without butterflies.
Without the intricate eyes and velvety wings,
graceful splashes of color dancing on the breeze.
Airy, delicate keepers of hope.
Metamorphic symbols of change, growth, maturation.

… I do not want this world
without the butterflies.
I could not bear the wailing
of flowers

—from ‘A World Without Butterflies’ (a poem)”—

Christina M. Ward

 

“Let the Sunshine In,” Deborah Fagan Carpenter

Share
Posted in Southernisms | Tagged , | 2 Comments

This Week’s Southernism, Monday, May 22, 2023

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Deborah Fagan Carpenter

“It’s a shame that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day is work. He can’t eat for eight hours; he can’t drink for eight hours; he can’t make love for eight hours. The only thing a man can do for eight hours is work.”

—William Faulkner 

Photo of William Faulkner’s Rowan Oak: Deborah Fagan Carpenter

Share
Posted in Southernisms | Tagged | Comments Off on This Week’s Southernism, Monday, May 22, 2023

This Week’s Southernism, Monday, May 15, 2023

Posted on May 15, 2023 by Deborah Fagan Carpenter

“I hadn’t been out to the hives before, so to start off she gave me a lesson in what she called ‘bee yard etiquette’. She reminded me that the world was really one bee yard, and the same rules work fine in both places. Don’t be afraid, as no life-loving bee wants to sting you. Still, don’t be an idiot; wear long sleeves and pants. Don’t swat. Don’t even think about swatting. If you feel angry, whistle. Anger agitates while whistling melts a bee’s temper. Act like you know what you’re doing, even if you don’t. Above all, send the bees love. Every little thing wants to be loved.”

 

—Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter

Share
Posted in Southernisms | Tagged , | Comments Off on This Week’s Southernism, Monday, May 15, 2023