Charles Rather Alderman at large...Edwards Mississippi

For some reason,the pictures are not in order. So beginning at the end....
The above is Mrs. Rather congradulating her husband.

Mayor Perkins shaking hands with the new alderman at large Chasles Rather.

Judge Ivory Britton swearing in Charles Rather, our newest town board member.

Hinds county Gazette

Christiansen's Comments

Non voters want and demand their rights and privileges, but it is said, “If you don’t Vote, You can’t complain.”

Well, fact is….This is America….therefore even if we don’t vote, we are nevertheless allowed the same privileges of those who do vote. This is America so Everybody in America entitled to representation, the young, the old, all races, all religious faiths, even the unborn are represented.
One of the privileges, we have as Americans, is to disagree with those who are elected to offices…someone who has never cast a ballot, for what ever reason…In many cases it is just because we do not want to be inconvenienced, has the same right to protest, to whine and complain…. as those who do vote. And the same right to call elected officials to beg for help.

I said that to say this: when we do not make the effort to vote, when we do not take any responsibility .…. we are free loaders, we are parasites, we want, demand and expect something for nothing.….Americans who do not vote are riding on the backs of those Americans who do vote, of the citizens who see voting not just as a right, an honor and a privilege…but also as a responsibility …..it is by the voting and holding our elected officials accountable for their action that American is free.

I am on my soap box this morning because , we in Edwards had an election, December 2, to fill the Alderman at large seat, left vacant by the late Robert Jack Smith …Lots of folks did not vote…The election did come up with out much notice so maybe that is why…But there will be a run off Tuesday December 23...so we get another chance to have our say in our city’s government.

Another thing, when we vote especially, in our local elections it shows the men and women who are willing to take on the job of directing our cities, that we do appreciate them and their willingness to serve. Please vote.

I know you have noticed, you just can’t buy good souse anymore….. you have noticed….Right? As we speak I am making a batch of ….I am thinking this might be my best batch yet….I added a bit more vinegar….In a couple of hours it will be set , I can cut off a slice, lay it on a cracker and I will know for sure.

That’s it from here…201 Luster Street….call if you need me.
PS if you have a good souse recipe email it to me, GloriaChristiansen@gmail.com my goal for this winter is to perfect the perfect souse recipe.

Thanksgiving in Raymond Mississippi

This is the Hales home on Main Street in Raymond Mississippi, where I enjoyed lunch Thanksgiving day. Of course this picture was taken last Spring.

HCG December 4 2008
Thanksgiving day, I was invited to have lunch with the Hales, Cliff, and Nancy, and their children Carolyn, Joel and Blanton over in Raymond. This time of year…well, all through the year…but especially at season, the holiday season, I become nostalgic for a time that has passed by…wishing today’s children could have the uncomplicated childhood I knew…..a life lived at a slower pace…Such as when I was a kid, the whipped cream on top of the pie, came from a cow that had been milked that morning…..ran through the separator on my aunt and uncles back porch and whipped fresh for lunch. …It didn’t come from an aerosol can.


I drove over to Raymond ….The drive was beautiful, there was still lots of fall color, I pulled up and parked in front of the Hale’s home, a beautiful old home, two story, with a wrap around porch, dressed in white wicker furniture. The children were in the front yard playing kick ball with their grandparents Keith and Peggy McKey, watching from the porch swing was Keith’s mother, Carolyn McKey.

Little Carolyn came to greet me…I was carrying birdhouse, a hostess gift, I handed it down to her, Her eyes lit up, “We get to keep this?” It was just a simple thing I had made in the shop, but she was thrilled… I spoke to the ball players on the lawn and the one fan in the swing…Then went into the house passed through the front room, into the dinning room, the table was beautifully set , I found Nancy, in the kitchen, pretty as a picture, calmly engaged in preparing a meal for her family and guests. .


A colleague of Cliff’s, Tony, joined in the festivities of the day…Tony is originally from Oregon, so this was his first time to experience a southern Thanksgiving meal…Tony being from Oregon I doubted he was familiar with cornbread dressing…so anxiously I watched Tony, waiting for his reaction when took his first fork full of cornbread dressing….The Southern Thanksgiving meal is not all that different from the Midwestern ones I am familiar with…..except for the dressing…..I like it now, But years ago when I took my very first bite of cornbread dressing…I just about could not swallow it…I was so startled by the texture. But Tony liked it straight away.!


The meal was lovely, as was the company. When I left the Hales to come back to Edwards, I dove up Main Street, looped around the square and passed back by Cliff and Nancy’s…as I passed I saw the children on the lawn playing, men folks on the front porch….dogs romping in the yard You all, right then and there I had an epiphany! I came to realize, A 2008 Mississippi thanksgiving was not all that much different then a Nebraska Thanksgiving in 1948. On Thanksgiving Day Carolyn, Joel and Blanton’s they were surrounding by family, food and friends….……


And ,the Hale children when they grow up, no matter where they go, they will take their very own memories….of Thanksgivings spent on the front porch, the sound of screen doors opening and closing, dogs out in the yard catching Frisbees, and of course cornbread dressing. They do not need my old memories about cream separators…they have their very own.


The Hale Children may or may not recall my being with them this thanksgiving and that’s okay….But I can think of an honor no greater then to be part of someone’s childhood memories….

Love to all and call if you need me

Harley's Funeral and the decorating of the Christmas tree

Harley Loved parties!

finished!!!

Jac and Suz

Harley was laid to rest in the rose bed.

Harley as he was at visitation....

Christiansen's comments
Hinds County Gazette

November 27 2008

Much has happened since I last was here. Our poodle, Harley, who was at least 16 years old, had to be put to sleep Monday two weeks ago.

John found Harley, abandoned, on the Natchez trace, one hot afternoon, in July of 1994. We were puzzled as to why, because, when John found him he was groomed, well fed, and showed no signs of ever being abused. But with in a very short time, we understood why he had been dumped beside the road. . Harley was not a good traveler….He loved to ride …but he barked and whined the whole time he was in the car. John and I soon came to believe his first family took him on a vacation…thought he would get tired of barking and whining and shut up on after while, but he didn't and they took the yapping as long as they could and just had to put him out, before they lost their minds….So we had no hard feelings toward his first family. ….And Our family were blessed with years of enjoyment from Harley’s faithful companionship.

Then one of my daughter ’s family cats, Baby Girl, had to be put to sleep this week, she was almost 18 years old, they had had her very nearly as long a they had Garrett. Baby girl’s passing made me conscious of the fact that my three cats, Boo, Scout and Harper Lee could out live me. If my cats live to be 20, I will be in my 80s…Elderly animals are not easy to tend to…you have to love them to deal with their little messes, piles and puddles for sure. …and Harley eating manners became quite untidy in his old age… food morsels dropped every where and he upchucked a good bit …his breath was just awful.

When I die who would take of my elderly cats and dogs? I would not want them to go to a shelter.. So I have made the decision will not be getting any more pets…and pray I outlive the animals I have.

I have good news!…I spent a bit of time the last couple of weeks being tested, scanned, and probed….There is no sign of cancer any where…I get the port out Tuesday! That chapter of my life is Over!

My Christmas tree is up and decorated! My buddies, Jacqueline and Suzanne, came over and did it for me…They were feeling sorry for me…what with Harley's death and me having to endure those tests. Actually it was Jacqueline who did the decorating…Suz had medical malady of her own, resulting in a big bo bo on her pointy finger, it was bandaged up in such a way, that it made the entire hand nearly unusable….But Suz did her part…she was a great encourager to Jac. Decorating a Christmas tree, is tedious job, but Jac brought a CD of Christmas music, So with music playing, and Suz’s encouraging words, her giggles of delight and big smiles of approval…It wasn’t long until the tree was up and lit and beautiful.

Me? What did I do while my friends were decorating my Christmas tree? Not much....I did get up to refill a glass now and then....But, mostly, I just sat there with my feet up,... watching… and Thanking God for friends…....

Love to all

Call if you need me…..

GloriaChristiansen@gmail.com