Tall Tales from Kansas

it all started with Mafalda Maritote

Last week Marti Huff and Nancy came to Lawrence for lunch at the Ladybird Diner. We are pie lovers, the lot of us, and no one does pie in Lawrence Kansas any better than the Ladybird. Trust us.

As soon as we slowed down, after all talking at once... which is what you do when you are giddy with delight at the thought of a leisurely lunch, Marti embarked on a tale of intrigue from her days working for "The Outfit". This all began with her recalling Mafalda Maritote (such a name! who could forget it?) who was the sister of Al Capone. 

When Marti graduated from the Bryant and Stratton Business college in Chicago, they assisted her in finding gainful employment as was their practice back in the day. So, for the grand sum of $75.00 a month, Marti sat at her desk in a "chicken pen" of an office, at the Maryland Match Company, typing out letters to all the hotels in the area encouraging them to use their matches. Right next door were the offices of Abraham J. Titlebaum, which may or may not have been the front for the mob. 

Somehow, Marti's relative in Florida read about Mafalda's wedding and through the guest list traced this to the Maryland Match Company. Once the grandparents in Chicago found out about all this, they whisked her out of there lickety split and put her on a sleeper train to the east coast where she would spend the next months serving in the role of governess for a relatives children while the mother looked after her newborn. 

Thus she was saved from being drawn into the underbelly of the mafia crime world and instead became the matriarch of the Huff/Walrafen/Pfanmiller dynasty of Kansas City. And now you know ... the rest of the story (I didn't want to steal that line, but you have to admit it goes perfectly there). 

P.S. we did NOT get a psychic reading but you can't pass up a photo op like this. That does not mean we may not venture in there after our next lunch date. I mean how can I not have been there in the 36 years I have lived in Lawrence? AND... If I am diving in with anyone, it's going to be Marti Huff. 

cloud study # 62

Sky with clouds. Sunday morning between 6:33 and 7:32 am. It was glorious.

Note to self: go outside and look up more often. 

jimracks and doodads

This week, my self-prescribed, heart expanding, resilience therapy consisted of lunch with the Huff girls. There was discussion of how Nancy is faring 7 weeks into retirement (very well), whether legs really do look better tanned or not (it was a 50/50 split), the need to support small/local businesses (even if you might have to drive 30 minutes to get there), and the vital importance of taking time to just sit and be. Books, haircuts, new glasses, and the joys of aging also made it on the agenda. 

For 90 minutes we laughed, Marti taught us about "jimracks and doodads", and we sampled the iced sugar cookies, a chocolate crinkle, the snickerdoodle, and an over-the-top 7 layer bar that included chocolate, coconut, pecans, granola, ?butterschotch chips, butter, and maybe sweetened condensed milk. 

At the end of our time together, I was filled up. Somehow more open inside. Good humans, these three.