I'm a liberal pagan living in West, Texas. Yes. That West, Texas.

Friday, February 03, 2006

MY YANKEE CARE PACKAGE

Shady Lane, my yankee girlfriend from Austin, Texas, sent me a care package today. I call them care packages as it is from some one who cares. I have known her since I moved to Austin back in 1976. We all lived on the Steiner Ranch (who ran the rodeo's for a lot of the state fairs back then) and got drunk and partied together. Don't know how we became friends as we had nary a thing in common(except we were both widows) as she was single with no kids and a yankee with an attitude. I had 3 kids and was a Texan with an attitude. Once her mother had come down from Pramus, New Jersey to visit and some how thought I would be a good influence on her and asked me to keep an eye on her. I laughingly told Lane about it a few nights later and she looked at me and said"better watch out when you're keeping an eye out on me..you might not like what you see".....I knew right then I was going to like her...In spite of the distances ( moved to Calif several times and moved back and finally ended up in West)we have remained friends.. I cherish her friendship and mainly cause she will call me on my bullshit fast.....if i say something out of line, stupid, or just 'out there'..she won't do that...uh huh..really, no kidding..shit with me...She will jump right in with "what? are you nuts."...when I mentioned a while back thinking about getting another dog...everyone else went oh....hmmmm...ok...Lane emailed me back with "jackie, you ignorant slut"....and we are always sending silly stuff back and forth to each other....I had mentioned that I couldn't find any Chili powder that was pure Chili...they all had cumino and oregano in them...and didn't want oregano in my chili...so today she sent me a bottle of McCormick's ancho chili pepper..a new book called Clea's Moon by Edward Wright, a niffy blank card with two cowgirls riding away on pinto's..and are tree-free cards..They are made from Kenaf, a fibrous plant that grows 15 feet in 5 months, uses no harmful chemicals in processing and is fully recycleable.It is grown here in North America..bringing income to farmers and preserving our forests...The back of the envelope has three cowgirls leaning on a fence..pretty damn neat..She also inclosed $20.(remember this is the girlfriend that is 1 1/2 years younger than me and goes to African drum dance classes twice a week)her nick name in class is sugarmama...
she included a note:I figured if I was going to send ups I might as well send a couple of thingies.
Besides the book, inside is a blank card. I bought a tin of these from Donna who used to work at the Capitol Saddlery(owned by Buck Steiner of the ranch) and now owns the Leading Rein a dressauge and western horsey store. Anyway I think they are really neat and special and instead of writing you one I'll send a blank and you can enjoy it and enjoy sending it along to someone on your snail mail list.
and some free money I found hanging around. My Art of Happiness book (Dali Lama) says that practicing random acts of kindness could bring peace to the world. I thought I'd start with you. What's better than found money.
Someone on one of my cooking forums suggested buying red chili's dried or buy them and dry them and crush them yourself. There's a restaurant in Oak Hill that makes Ancho Honey Duck and it's to die for...Love...sugar momma.....
What I think I will do is send the card and the envelope in another envelope to a friend and they can see it..enjoy it and pass it along to someone else...and they can do the same..Lets see how far we can send the cowgirls....(Im keeping the $20)...ha..
This little snail mail package reminds me of one of the greatest gifts the Goddess has given me...friends and friendship....and you are all included....tanks...jac

8 comments:

Lauren said...

It's so great to have old friends like that. Shady sounds like a great one. . . Anyone who'll call you out on a BS line has my respect. . . LOL!!!

HUGGSS!!

Cassandra said...

Love friends like that! When my best friend calls, I'll answer the phone, "what's up ho?" Or if I call her, she'll answer with something equally appropriate, like "about fucking time you called bitch."
Those care packages are nice... Seems I remember one from someone in West, TX that had some friendship bracelets (see my nieces this weekend, must remember to take them), a Kenseth car and "Starz behind Barz" Playing cards. It sure was a nice care package.
And thank the Goddess you got something for real chili powder!! (and the cash is nice too)

Nit Wit said...

It must be nice to be able to stay in touch with old friends like that. When I joined the Air Force I started to lose the few friends that I had.
With everyone moving all over the world every few years it was hard to track down anyone who you lost touch with.

Then again people may have just gotten sick of me. :)

JDaaris said...

I think there's nothing better than a treasured friend, the older the friendship, the better. I'm hoping to make a new friend this year, a close friend, am remain optimistic. I don't make friends easily, have hurt by friends a lot in the last couple of years. Great to read such a positive post.

Astronaut said...

Great to have such friends, never really experienced such a friend, nothing like a best friend really, i treat everyone equally so no friend is put above the other.

Lisa said...

what a great friend. you're lucky to have each other.

Unknown said...

Old friends can never be replaced. You are fortunate to have such a good one. Enjoy.

Beansidhe said...

My best mate lives in NZ now, so we too send 'care' packages back and forth to each other. The internet is all well and good, but nothing beats the excitement of getting a package or a letter from someone you love huh?