PEGGY FIELDING'S NEWSLETTER
Vol. 7 Number 10 November 2007

SNEAK AROUND

Yeah, sneak around to the archives so you can see the interesting doodads Dan inserts into the letter. Go to www.peggyfielding.com. I have a lot to tell you this month.

FAN LETTER FROM ILLINOIS

I was thrilled to get a fan letter from Carol Ann Culbert Johnson. I thought it was from Tulsa's Carol Johnson but no....it was from a reader in Oak Lawn, IL. She said some pretty nice things such as..."your book was a Bible for me. I related to everything (in it) and I will try my hand at more confession writing." Now, readers, that is nice. Writers love to know they are appreciated. Carol also wrote..."Thanks for the wonderful information."

I love that Carol Ann!

JACKIE'S FAULT, AS USUAL

Recently I went to Reasors Grocery on Yale. At the jelly bean dispenser I stood with my basket trying to decide on what flavors to buy.(These were for Jackie. The only kinds of candy I really like are those butterscotch discs or pecan pralines. So you see what happened next was all her fault.)

I turned my head back to my cart just in time to see a large male hand reach into my black cloth OWFI bag which I use as a purse. The hand pulled out my small blue plastic makeup kit.

I snatched the case from the young man's hand and shouted, "You stuck your hand into my bag. You were stealing from me!"

He answered, and shuffled a bit, "Oh, no. I thought I dropped something and it fell into your bag, ma'am."

More loudly I shouted, "Now you are proving to be a liar as well as a thief. Disgraceful behavior."

"No ma'am, I was just..." He was white, about 6' 5" tall, light brown, well cut, combed hair, his body ws clean and fit looking and he lingered to argue with the angry little old woman. That astounded me.

"I'm sorry your Mother wasn't with you. You're a disgrace to your family. Did she bring you up to steal?" My voice raised even more.

He shuffled in place to face me. "Oh, no ma'am, I was just..."

"Just stealing. That's what you were just doing, young man."

"Oh, no, I..." He shuffled in place again.

"You would have been shocked to open my little kit and find only lipstick and a comb." I screamed.

He looked baffled.

"You appear to be such a nice young man. What a shame." My rant rose into the air.

"I am a nice young man, I...."

"You are not. You are a thief and a liar." My words grew shriller by the second. I moved closer to him.

"I just...."

"Go home now. Tell your Mother what awful things you've been doing. Then go tell your grandmother about your behavior, you horrid boy." he looked to be about 20 years old.

By this time the store security had edged up behind us and my object of attention was trying to slip away. I punched my finger hard into his chest three times to emphasize my shout. "Thief, thief, thief."

He disappeared toward the front door, the guards right after him. By the time I got to the door they were back inside. One of them said, "He got away, ma'am, but we got his license number."

The second guard walked to my car with me. I asked him how tall he was. “6' 2," he said. I realized my robber had been much taller.

"Tell your Mother that an old woman said you were a well-brought-up young man," I said to the guard.

He grinned widely. "Thank you ma-am." he tossed my groceries in with a happy heart.

And that whole adventure was all Jackie's jellybean's fault, which means that the whole thing was actually Jackie King's fault.

SHADES OF TULSA

The Tulsa NightWriters are putting out an anthology of members' contributions. I offered a short, short, short story to the mix. The book will be available at Steves Books on Harvard on Sunday, Dec. 2, from 2 until 4 pm. Come by and get copies for Christmas presents and we'll sign them for you. I am sending my cousin Margaret Rose, in Madill, a signed copy. Hope she smiles when she reads my little story.

THE HUB OF THE UNIVERSE

When I was a kid in Oilton, I thought the center of the universe was in Cushing, Oklahoma. Twice a year, if she had any money, Miss Hazel took me to Hines Shoe store in Cushing for my Sunday shoes (usually roman sandals) and that was thrilling beyond measure. Hines had a machine that allowed me to look at the bones in my feet through my shoes and socks and skin. Magic! Right?

Of course, if later on, a boy from Cushing, the hub of the universe, had asked me out I would have believed my goal in life to have been achieved. That would have meant I had caught the attention of a sophisticated Cushing male citizen. But hell, none of them came my way. I was somewhat disillusioned when I recently learned Hines shoe store no longer exists in that town....what? not the hub of the universe?

BUT WAIT, THIS WAS IN THE SUNDAY TULSA WORLD

CUSHING - The nation's largest oil hub, located 50 miles west of Tulsa (in Cushing) is booming.

So maybe I was right. Cushing is, in at least one way, still the hub of the universe.

SEX AND LOVE

I continue to long for the Sergeant in "The Unit." He is also still touting All State Insurance and that is one ad I always watch with great interest. I wonder if he is married in real life. Do any of you know? Wonder if he is turned on by aged crones?

BYE FOR NOW

See you in December. Is this year really over?

Have a lovely Thanksgiving. I have been invited to share the meal with Jackie King's daughters and their families

Love, Peggy Lou