Hattie Mae Dixon

20.25''x 30''x 11.5''

My family is unusual, but aren’t we all? What they all have in common is a highly personalized way of thinking about themselves and others. I run the streets and alleys in my hometown, Coushatta, Louisiana. I see the houses stuffed to the ceiling with old newspaper piles. I see the ambulances leaving after couples fight in the backyard and after the 19 year old has hit the telephone pole at 90 miles an hour. I see the ambulance take away everything but the sorrow. I watch the dogs at the saloon seeking a temporary fix to the sameness of their lives. I have put off talking about procrastination that I see in so many.

So my story (I’m sticking to it) is to be alive, aware, and accepting and to make as much music as I can.

Growing up in this family

I asked myself early on

‘Is it as I wish or is it as it is?’

When I accepted the answer,

I sang myself a little ditty:

‘Wake up Mr. Day!

I’m coming, strumming, and humming…

Yesterday is gone-

Only the tangled threads of my memory revealing that I was.

Tomorrow can’t be touched—

Anticipation has never been enough.

So wake up Mr. Day—

I’m a coming, strumming, and humming…

Maybe we can do some drumming

Together!’