Today we sat down to a very inviting dinner of pasta with grated cheese, cauliflower and broccoli combination and a portion of sauteed meat. Some Cinnamon strusel on the side. As we began our repast, Darcy approached a segment of her cauliflower, which fearing being stabbed by the fork, leaped from the plate, landed in her lap and immediately sought refuge behind the couch in the lower sitting room, and as of this moment is still hiding under the couch.
The sauteed meat on my plate, upon observing the plight of the cauliflower and when approached by a fork and knife, flew from my plate in terror, in an effort to escape the awaiting fate of being consumed, but unfortunately, landed in a fold of my trousers and was thankfully recaptured before it could meet up with the missing cauliflower and form a dreaded meal alliance.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
The House By The Pond
Though we initially lived with my Grandparents on their farm, we eventually moved out. During the two and a half years we lived in Mississippi, we must have lived in 8 different houses.
One house in particular, outside of Carthage, was situated in a large pasture with cows and horses roaming this pasture. It was not uncommon to look out the front window, or winder, as they are referred to there, and see a cow looking back at you. Of course the worst of the problems was being careful where you stepped. Since, most of the time we did not wear shoes, cleaning up was easier.
Almost all large pastures had a pond somewhere. The pasture in which our house was placed had the pond right in what would be considered the front yard.
We moved to a place closer to town and the people renting the place had two houses situated next door to each other, and each was for rent. My folks tried their best to come up with the $12.50 to rent the nicer place but simply couldn't swing it and we had to settle for the cheaper house for $10.00.
That was the house where the snow drifted into the front room through cracks in the wall.
One house in particular, outside of Carthage, was situated in a large pasture with cows and horses roaming this pasture. It was not uncommon to look out the front window, or winder, as they are referred to there, and see a cow looking back at you. Of course the worst of the problems was being careful where you stepped. Since, most of the time we did not wear shoes, cleaning up was easier.
Almost all large pastures had a pond somewhere. The pasture in which our house was placed had the pond right in what would be considered the front yard.
We moved to a place closer to town and the people renting the place had two houses situated next door to each other, and each was for rent. My folks tried their best to come up with the $12.50 to rent the nicer place but simply couldn't swing it and we had to settle for the cheaper house for $10.00.
That was the house where the snow drifted into the front room through cracks in the wall.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Day I Saw Superman In Mississippi
As I mentioned in a previous blog, when I was a child of seven I lived with my parents and grandparents on a rural farm in central Mississippi. The days were made busy by the need for chores to be completed and where the adults were concerned, the livestock need attending to and the fields needed plowing, seeding and weeding. This, of course involved every day of the week including weekends. Sundays usually involved tending to the livestock and then the remainder of the day was devoted to church services and activities for relaxation.
One Sunday, my parents told me and my brother we were going to the small community up the road, that a treat was in store for us. The team was hitched to the wagon and the entire family rode up the road to the small town which consisted of a few homes, a small store and a gas station. (The gas station had one pump which was a gravity fill pump. The fuel to be dispensed was pumped into a reservoir at the top which was measured in gallons and then allowed to flow into the fuel tank of the vehicle by means of gravity.)
When we arrived, I noticed a good sized tent had been erected in the pasture across the road and this is where my grandfather drove the team. When we went into the tent, I saw that a movie projector and viewing screen had been set up and when the other families from the area had arrived, we all sat and watched 3 episodes of Superman, starring Steve Reeves. What a treat.
One Sunday, my parents told me and my brother we were going to the small community up the road, that a treat was in store for us. The team was hitched to the wagon and the entire family rode up the road to the small town which consisted of a few homes, a small store and a gas station. (The gas station had one pump which was a gravity fill pump. The fuel to be dispensed was pumped into a reservoir at the top which was measured in gallons and then allowed to flow into the fuel tank of the vehicle by means of gravity.)
When we arrived, I noticed a good sized tent had been erected in the pasture across the road and this is where my grandfather drove the team. When we went into the tent, I saw that a movie projector and viewing screen had been set up and when the other families from the area had arrived, we all sat and watched 3 episodes of Superman, starring Steve Reeves. What a treat.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Peddling Watermelons From The Pickup
Toward the end of the Mississippi growing season,when the crops took less attention from the need for plowing and weeding, we would load the old pickup to overflowing with watermelons, corn, beans, peas and anything else we thought we could sell and we would head to the outlying areas of Carthage and Kosciusko and drive up and down the streets shouting our presence, letting the people living there know that we had all kinds of vegetables and fruit to sell and at very reasonable prices.
The bed of the truck would be piled high with our produce and we would ride on top of the pile and while one of my Uncles would drive slowly up and down the street, we would jump off and on the truck, running up to the houses, carrying what we could to entice the folks to buy. The trucks of those days had decent running boards and we quite ofter simply road by standing on these running boards and holding on. On one of these outings while my Uncle Arnold was driving, I actually fell off the truck but, since he drove so slowly up and down the streets, I was able to catch up and get back on before he even knew I had fallen off.
We would sell 20 to 25 lb watermelons for a quarter apiece, and if the people hesitated, we would sell them two for a quarter. The rest of the produce sold for mear coins.
If we got hungry, we would simply break open a watermelon and scoop out the center. The watermelons my grandfather grew were always 100% super sweet. Of course the best ear of corn is one you walk out into the field to pull and shuck and eat right there on the spot.
Fig and plum trees were grown in great abundance. In addition to the crops in the fields, my grandmother had an acre of land adjacent to the house that was plowed and planted and it was from the garden that she would harvest the produce she needed for cooking our meals.
Another crop my grandfather grew that was in great demand was sugar cane. He had one of the few pure sugar cane crops in the area. In later years the sugar cane crops became hybrid and were not nearly as sweet. We would cut canes from the growth and sell sections the people needed. It is pure heaven to strip a section and chew the pulp for the sweet juices. His crops made the greatest molasses, and the process of cooking cane sugar for molasses is a story for another blog.
When we were finished for the day and got back to the farm, if there was anything left in the truck, which was usually the case, we would save the best melons and produce to eat and then we would drive up next to the hog pens and pitch the rest over for the hogs. Those hogs would be in seventh heaven. Come to think of it, slopping hogs is great material for another blog.
A well managed farm the size of the one my grandfather had could produce a large amount of vegetables and fruit. Of course, the families on these farms were very much dependent on the success of these crops. Cotton was the real mainstay of the southern farms and therein lies yet another blog.
A tough life but rewarding.
The bed of the truck would be piled high with our produce and we would ride on top of the pile and while one of my Uncles would drive slowly up and down the street, we would jump off and on the truck, running up to the houses, carrying what we could to entice the folks to buy. The trucks of those days had decent running boards and we quite ofter simply road by standing on these running boards and holding on. On one of these outings while my Uncle Arnold was driving, I actually fell off the truck but, since he drove so slowly up and down the streets, I was able to catch up and get back on before he even knew I had fallen off.
We would sell 20 to 25 lb watermelons for a quarter apiece, and if the people hesitated, we would sell them two for a quarter. The rest of the produce sold for mear coins.
If we got hungry, we would simply break open a watermelon and scoop out the center. The watermelons my grandfather grew were always 100% super sweet. Of course the best ear of corn is one you walk out into the field to pull and shuck and eat right there on the spot.
Fig and plum trees were grown in great abundance. In addition to the crops in the fields, my grandmother had an acre of land adjacent to the house that was plowed and planted and it was from the garden that she would harvest the produce she needed for cooking our meals.
Another crop my grandfather grew that was in great demand was sugar cane. He had one of the few pure sugar cane crops in the area. In later years the sugar cane crops became hybrid and were not nearly as sweet. We would cut canes from the growth and sell sections the people needed. It is pure heaven to strip a section and chew the pulp for the sweet juices. His crops made the greatest molasses, and the process of cooking cane sugar for molasses is a story for another blog.
When we were finished for the day and got back to the farm, if there was anything left in the truck, which was usually the case, we would save the best melons and produce to eat and then we would drive up next to the hog pens and pitch the rest over for the hogs. Those hogs would be in seventh heaven. Come to think of it, slopping hogs is great material for another blog.
A well managed farm the size of the one my grandfather had could produce a large amount of vegetables and fruit. Of course, the families on these farms were very much dependent on the success of these crops. Cotton was the real mainstay of the southern farms and therein lies yet another blog.
A tough life but rewarding.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The Rolling Store
We moved to Mississippi when I was seven years old. My family and I moved in with my grandparents on the old 120 acre farm they owned northeast of Carthage. This was a very rural area where the farms were far apart. The next nearest farm was my Great Uncle Charley Edwards and that was on down the road several miles.
When we moved into my grandparents house, they still had three of my father's siblings with them, the youngest was my dad's sister who was a year older than I was. The farms back then were supported by growing cotton, corn, watermelons, beans and any other crops we could sell or live on. They raised hogs, cattle, chickens and of course had horses and mules for pulling the plows and wagon. (my grandfather had a tractor but he did not like to use it, preferring mules and horses to pull the equipment). He also had a pickup, but preferred the wagon most of the time.
It was important to have a large enough central family to help to take care of the farm since, as one can imagine, there was a lot of work to do. One of the two brothers who were still at home was married and his family lived in the house as well. Everyone had chores and jobs to do and this included my Aunt Paulette, (my dad's youngest sister) and me.
We fetched eggs, fed the chickens, etc. The one really important job we had was to listen for when the men would call from the fields to take their one water break for the day. After milking and feeding the stock, the men took the mules to the fields and would plow the fields all day long with only the one break. Of course, what I mean by calling is exactly that, yelling loud enough so we could hear. There were no cell phones then. We usually knew approximately where they would be and when we heard them call we would each take two large bottles of ice water into the fields to find them for this midday break.
Anyway, for doing these chores, Paulette and I usually got a few pennys and a couple of nickles each week.
So our big event of the week was to watch for the Rolling Store to come by our farm. The Rolling Store was a local merchant who converted an old bus into a store on wheels, They would stock the bus with a variety of goods that the farmers may need and since markets were quite a ways from the farms and the families did not have the time to go to market because of the demands of the farms, these traveling stores were essential to the farmers.
They usually had all needed items including fruits and vegetables not grown on the farm and my grandmother would supplement her needs in this way. The bus was built with an aisle down the middle with shelves on either side. The aromas were always so nice. The smell of fruit and vegetables, coffees and other packaged goods. There would be sawdust spread in the aisle as well.
They usually had a really good supply of candies which is what Paulette and I were interested in. We could choose from the penny candies, gumdrops, bubble gums, or if we so desired, we could get a candy bar of which the Baby Ruth was my favorite. What a treat it was to stand on the side of the road in anticipation of the Rolling Store.
When we moved into my grandparents house, they still had three of my father's siblings with them, the youngest was my dad's sister who was a year older than I was. The farms back then were supported by growing cotton, corn, watermelons, beans and any other crops we could sell or live on. They raised hogs, cattle, chickens and of course had horses and mules for pulling the plows and wagon. (my grandfather had a tractor but he did not like to use it, preferring mules and horses to pull the equipment). He also had a pickup, but preferred the wagon most of the time.
It was important to have a large enough central family to help to take care of the farm since, as one can imagine, there was a lot of work to do. One of the two brothers who were still at home was married and his family lived in the house as well. Everyone had chores and jobs to do and this included my Aunt Paulette, (my dad's youngest sister) and me.
We fetched eggs, fed the chickens, etc. The one really important job we had was to listen for when the men would call from the fields to take their one water break for the day. After milking and feeding the stock, the men took the mules to the fields and would plow the fields all day long with only the one break. Of course, what I mean by calling is exactly that, yelling loud enough so we could hear. There were no cell phones then. We usually knew approximately where they would be and when we heard them call we would each take two large bottles of ice water into the fields to find them for this midday break.
Anyway, for doing these chores, Paulette and I usually got a few pennys and a couple of nickles each week.
So our big event of the week was to watch for the Rolling Store to come by our farm. The Rolling Store was a local merchant who converted an old bus into a store on wheels, They would stock the bus with a variety of goods that the farmers may need and since markets were quite a ways from the farms and the families did not have the time to go to market because of the demands of the farms, these traveling stores were essential to the farmers.
They usually had all needed items including fruits and vegetables not grown on the farm and my grandmother would supplement her needs in this way. The bus was built with an aisle down the middle with shelves on either side. The aromas were always so nice. The smell of fruit and vegetables, coffees and other packaged goods. There would be sawdust spread in the aisle as well.
They usually had a really good supply of candies which is what Paulette and I were interested in. We could choose from the penny candies, gumdrops, bubble gums, or if we so desired, we could get a candy bar of which the Baby Ruth was my favorite. What a treat it was to stand on the side of the road in anticipation of the Rolling Store.
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