24,006 (Shreveport, LA)

greetings from the neighboring state,

the house concert went extremely well...many many many thanks to the wonderful jenny and russell harris for organizing the show. they were fantastic hosts and a good time was had by all (i think). the pictures, assuming they turn out, will be forthcoming shortly...

today i went with my dad to fairplay, texas, a small town near carthage (which is a small town near henderson, which is a small town near tyler). my grandma lives there, and i spent my formative years there (until about age 5). the purpose of the trip? Waldrop Cemetary Day. Every year (now the last Sunday of September, previously the 2nd Tuesday in July), the relatives of those folks buried in the Waldrop Cemetary convene to leave flowers, remember the dead, and eat a lot of food. Today's Cemetary Day was no exception.

The cemetary is just off a farm road, surrounded by a shady grove of tall east Texas pine trees. Though the cemetary is over 150 years old, it is very well-kept and well-tended, due in large measure, no doubt, to the dedicated relatives who, over the years, have kept this yearly get-together going. I spent most of the afternoon wandering in and out of the headstones, reading the names and noting how many of the birth/death dates were alarmingly close together. There were more same day birth/deaths than I could count on my fingers and toes. There were also quite a few folks born on my birthday, including my great-great-great aunt in 1875. There was also a relative born on my birthday in 1929 who died 4 days later (on my friend Eric's birthday).

My grandma walked around with my dad and I and told us stories about nearly every headstone we asked about. The most interesting story belonged to a set of headstones near the front of the cemetary that belonged to a Mary Ethel Holland Wills, around age 30, and a Maggie Lou Wills, around age 12, both of whom died on the same day in the 1930's and were buried next to each other. My dad and I assumed maybe they were sisters-in-law, but we couldn't figure out where the husband/brother was buried. But when we asked my grandma, she told us that in fact it was a mother and a daughter who had been murdered by their husband/father, who had then killed himself. As he was a murderer and also not a Holland (my family line), the Hollands refused to bury him in the cemetary - I believe he is in Tennessee now. That certainly wasn't the story I was expecting to hear...rather a sordid past for a small east Texas town...

Anyhow, on that note...the tour will resume on October 7th in the Big Easy, a city I have never visited but can't wait to see. Please tell all your friends in New Orleans to drag themselves out to Neutral Grounds to see me play... 9 pm sharp.
buona domenica,
vanessa