Rhonda McAninley has a way of remaining peaceful in a contentious world. She embroiders.
"I have some kind of needlework with me all the time," McAninley said. "I've done handwork for 50 years. It's peaceful."
In her spare moments, she reaches for her bag-holding needle, thread and cloth-and gets on with embroidering.
McAninley likes to make things for others.
One her best creations is the "baby bag"-a soft, colorful cloth bag to hold "one's stuff." Her bags usually have patchwork, quilt-like designs and drawstring closures.
And the baby bag remains useful as the user grows older.
"You keep it and put small things you need to take with you for the rest of your life. It was made for you by someone's loving hands, and you love it, too," McAninley said.
She said embroidery gives her a unique relationship to language and communication. If she hears or sees a group of words or sayings, like some helpful advice or wisdom, she imagines how those words would look embroidered on something.
"I can see the phrase and have the personal feeling of how I might do that. Then, I draw it up and embroider it. That feeling is what I hope others will see in my work," she said.
McAninley's way of thinking goes back decades. Her mother, Linda Resigner, was a registered nurse who did handwork when Rhonda was growing up in Northern Louisiana.
"Mother was very good, could take scraps and make them look so beautiful. That's what I like to do. It all started when I made some gifts for the mothers of babies where I worked," she said.
Her hobby is supported by her husband, Tim, who is retired after a career as a mechanic with American Airlines.
"He's 100 percent Irish," she said. "That's where the name 'McAninley' comes from."
The two met in Dallas, and after rearing two children, they began looking for land in the country. They found their spot near Linden and moved here in 2013.
McAninley now likes to show and share her work and recently has become associated with Linden Public House's Growers and Makers Market, a series of celebrations of local food, art and hand-crafted goods held during May through October. The next two markets are4 slated for Saturdays, Oct. 6 and 20, at 401 E. Houston in Linden.
Rhonda McAninley will be there, with her embroidery bag in the chair next to her table. If business or customer interest flags, she'll have cloth and needle handy to do her work.
"I like quiet time and to stay busy," she said.