By Grant McGee: Local columnist
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” asked The Lady of the House last Saturday morning.
“I figured you wanted to sleep in,” I said.
“What are you talking about? We’ve got stuff to do.”
Before I knew it we were bundled up against the cold and off in search of small-town adventure.
Do you remember last Saturday? It was a gloriously sunny day but a bitter blast of cold air was coming from the north. Last Saturday’s “yard-salers” were obviously brave and determined. We noticed that a common theme was most folks had just dragged the boxed stuff out for the buyer to play “Name Your Price.”
“It’s too cold,” said one Saturday entrepreneur.
After a frosty morning of treasure hunting we went over to the Clovis-Carver Public Library for the Friends of the Library Book Sale. The prices were mighty fine — hardbacks 50 cents and soft-covers just a quarter. In my excitement over the room full of bargains I bought a book I already have. I had forgotten about it in my own room full of bargain books.
Then it was on to Muleshoe for their annual Christmas arts and crafts thingy. At Texico we crossed the railroad tracks into The Lone Star State. The Lady of the House remarked on the roughness and unevenness of the road going over the tracks.
I wondered if there would ever be a bridge crossing the state line. I wondered what the politicians say about it. Do the Texans in Austin say, “Aww, there ain’t no need for our folks to go over into New Mexico.” Do the folks in Santa Fe say, “Texas has more money than we do, they should build it.”
We rolled into the parking lot of the Bailey County Exhibition Center to go to a Christmas bazaar. We walked in and were hit by the wonderful fragrance of barbecue. Mmm, I knew I had to have some of that!
We walked around the tables where folks were selling all kinds of little Christmasy things, handcrafts, woodcarvings and such. We ambled over to the exhibition hall corner. This was the source of that wonderful barbecue aroma. The Jennyslippers had set up and were selling all sorts of edible goodies. The Lady of the House and I decided on a couple of brisket sandwiches.
“What does jennyslipper mean?” I asked.
“We’re a branch of the Chamber of Commerce,” said one lady. “We do events for the chamber.”
“But what’s a jennyslipper?” I asked.
“Well, a jenny is a female mule.”
A man stepped in and cleared things up. “A jenny is a female mule and a slipper is a kind of shoe.”
“Oh!” I said with eyes wide open. “Muleshoe. Jennyslipper. I get it!” I believe this is what some folks call cowboy humor.
We finished up our brisket sandwiches and headed on home to Clovis.
Later that night we bundled up and headed downtown for the Christmas parade. I was wearing double pants, a shirt under a sweater under a hooded sweatshirt under a wool coat topped off with a scarf and a knit cap. And I could still feel the cold, northeast wind cut through me as I watched the singing kids, the twinkling floats and multiple Santa Clauses parade by.
Were you at the parade? Does this sound like what you did last weekend? Ain’t life grand in a small town?
Grant McGee hosts the weekday morning show on KTQM-FM in Clovis. Contact him at: blisscreek@plateautel.net
