Pop-Up Blog-Hop: Mumentous by Amy J. Schultz
Notable
Quotables from Mumentous by Amy J. Schultz
A Texas homecoming mum precedes you with the power of a juicy
rumor.
In Texas, football is an identity. Your team and fellow fans
are your people, and once you’re in, you’re in for life. While the rest of the
world might just see a field, brightly lit by vibrant LED displays, Texans
understand that Friday night lights describe the collective energy, pride, and
sense of belonging that glow from the stands.
Which is why, by gosh, you must dress for the game. You’re
not just a spectator! You have a critical part to play, so you’d better suit
up.
Anchored in the past and fed by expectation, a tradition
flows most deeply in places with the fewest obstacles to it. Ultimately, those
that survive allow themselves to be contoured by the times rather than dammed
by them. Even in Texas, the land where homecoming mums began.
How do you make a mum?
“Wine,” she said. “Lots and lots of wine.”
This century-long evolution of what it means to “go” to
homecoming, mums included, has been a long, slow burn, stoked by Texas
teenagers being teenagers living in the present. Charged with contrary desires
to fit in and stand out and to “go-fight-win” for a place you love more than
you can explain, today’s rules of engagement are slowly eclipsing the original
courtship ritual that predates anyone alive.
The key to any mum is to own it.
From conception to completion, a mum under construction
becomes another family member. Like a demanding relative from out of town, it
moves in and can take over for weeks on end.
The members of this professional group, united around mums as
both a business and a cause, were like homecoming superheroes. Their mission?
Fight against the evil misconception that mum-making is just a fun little
hobby.
I lifted my eyes up to the funeral mum created in honor of
one of the matriarchs of the entire homecoming mum industry. I imagined all the
care that went into creating it, and the fullness of a life lived in a loving
community of family and friends. The shimmer of a joyful disposition. The
embellishments of fond memories. The practical, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants apparatus
behind the scenes that holds it all together.
Every mum is part Christmas tree, part Disney princess gown,
part wind chime, and part banquet hall centerpiece, and like snowflakes, no two
are exactly alike.
I never thought I’d see a fall in Texas without high school
football. Then again, I never thought a global pandemic would happen in my
lifetime. I’ve now experienced one of those two things.
These are fun and really show the vibe of the book. Thanks for sharing!
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ReplyDeleteIt really is something special to see these excerpts from my book collected together like this on your site. Thank you for the opportunity, and your interest in MUMENTOUS! - Amy J. Schultz, author, MUMENTOUS
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