Charmed Chaos
Musings on Life, Love, and Linguine-Poetry & Writing
Texas Roots
“You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can’t take the Texas out of the girl.” – Janine Turner
I didn’t have a typical childhood. It was one spent moving from place to place, never living anywhere for long. The one and only constant besides my dear mother was the fact that up until I was 39, I spent most of my life living in Texas. No matter where I may roam, it will always be home.
Home. Where people still sit on a porch and drink ice tea and listen to the crickets sing. Every Sunday, there is a pot of beans on the stove seasoned with salt pork and onions; the smell hangs in the humid air. Summers are hot and sticky in the South but that didn’t stop us from playing until all hours of the evening. I recall hot nights filled with fireflies and June bugs, while we played hide and seek under the star swept sky.
I remember the mockingbird singing me to sleep outside my bedroom window. I can hear the raspy sound of night insects hitting the screen, chasing the light from within my room. How their spiny legs would get caught.
During the day, my sister and I would hunt for locust shells in a race to see who could find the most. One summer, I sat and watched a butterfly cocoon for hours every day. On the morning it finally emerged and dried its wings, it flew and landed on my bare shoulder. For several days after, I would go to the bush and wait. It was if the butterfly knew me, for it always returned until one day it didn’t. I cried for days.
For the last 22 years I have lived in Arizona and it is my new home. But even now there are times when I hear Texas whispering my name on the evening breeze. My heart grows heavy and I yearn to be there, under that vast bluebonnet sky.
©2021 Linda Lee Lyberg
Author’s Note: Dear Readers, I am recuperating from breast cancer surgery so I will be posting some of my older pieces that were popular this week. I hope to be back to writing new works soon.
Linda Lee Lyberg is a wife, mother, artist, published poet and author. She resides in Mesa, AZ with her husband Pete (aka The Big Viking) of 23 years, and her dog, Ricky Bobby. Linda writes various forms of poetry, as well as short stories.
You can read more of her works at: charmedchaos.com
and her Amazon Author Page
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Charmed Chaos 
As a Texas Gal born and raised in Austin, Texas and my ancestors going back to the early settlers of Texas, I can totally relate.
Hope you are resting and taking it easy during this time. I have been praying for you.
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Thank you s much my sweet friend.
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Lovely memories … I feel the same about Illinois, down State.
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This is beautiful – it sounds like an idyllic childhood……you took me right there. Hope you recover well and swiftly, Linda. Take good care.
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What a wonderful read of your childhood, and I wonder if we often associate home with our childhood?
Warm read!
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Thank you!
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Memories are so precious! Sorry about your surgery. Praying your recuperation goes well and you get a clean bill of health!
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There is just something about Texas. The winter we spent there will remain in heart forever. Take care of you Linda.
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Yes, there is. Thank you V.J.
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Welcome
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
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Nostalgic childhood of simple pastimes…..not here anymore especially in the cities of today….
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Pingback: Three Links 7/10/2020 Loleta Abi | Loleta Abi Historical & Fantasy Romance Author & Book Blogger for all genres
If you’d ever consider submitting some of your work for publication, Dixie State University has an online literary journal and is currently open for submissions.
You can check us out at https://www.r7review.com/. The deadline to submit this year is November 6th.
We are in need of fiction and nonfiction submissions. We also accept memoirs, audio recordings, visual art, book reviews, multimedia (video/audio), photography, etc.
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Thank you- I may do that! Sorry, This landed in SPAM for some reason.
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I’ve been trying to reach out to only really solid authors who have a good chance at being published. It might seem like spam to some people though.
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For whatever reason, sometimes a perfectly good comment goes to Spam. Yet another WP mystery!
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