A Lovely Birthday Bash Centered on 'Maters

These beauties are from my garden. Note the Miracle Whip (Ugh!)

Birthday hug from my friend Rhonda Morgan.

Best pesto ever from Bea Clements and Alison Weaver's 'nanner puddin' (I'll vouch for both).

Your favorite editor with one of his best buds, Keith Ferrell.

Partner/friend Tom Field hits the 'maters.

Christine Ward talks it over with the editor.

The editor at 66, minus 12 pounds.

The editor's legacy: Oz and I will be learning to walk at the same time in September.

Leah and Meah making it real. She's the birthday present.

The Midsummer 'Mater Madness and 66th Birthday Bash on Edinburgh Dr. last night night was just what an aging journalist needed: good friends, good food (some of it damn good), a sprinkling of loving family and a jumpstart into the phase.

This thing started a few years ago as a celebration of the joys of a Southern summer and the fruits (tomatoes) thereof. There is one Southern way to eat said 'maters (white bread, Miracle Whip and thick, piled high 'maters just picked from the north 40 feet of the back yard. We had all that. We also had some alternatives for those of us who can't stand even the thought of white bread, let alone Miracle Whip. We had some lovely whole grain bread; Sarah Beth Jones made a whole wheat chullah and, though I didn't make my Mother Smith's World Famous Mayo, we had McCormick's, a rare and delicate jarred version that is close to what the French originally had in mind.

Alison Weaver brought both key lime pie (to die for and maybe to die from) and 'nanner puddin'. My new babe Leah's new daughter-in-law Bea Clements (who is from the Canary Islands) sent the very best pesto I've ever tasted. I wanted to put it on everything, but had a difficult time getting it away from Maddie, who found a new love, I think.

My pal Richard Rife couldn't make the bash and I regretted that because Richard's tomatoes (some of those heirlooms from Thomas Jefferson) are always the star of the show. We made do, though, with a couple of beauties from my pal Keith Ferrell and some nice purple babies from my back patch.

Loved some of the goodies my buds brought. Janeson Keeley, always thinking Orange, brought a UT floor mat; Tom Field left a greeting card that sang when I opened it and wouldn't shut up; and Rhonda Morgan of the Arts Council left a marvelous sculpted onion that's going to the wall today.

Late in the procedure, I look over and there's little Oz standing at the coffeetable, trying to walk, looking up and smiling. Oz will be 1 Sept. 1 and I'll be two weeks into recovery with my new knee. We'll learn to walk together, I suspect.

(Alison Weaver photos, except for the one of Leah and Meah, shot by Bea Clements and Oz, which I shot.)