PEACHES AND CREAM

8-29-08...PEACHES AND CREAM

Auntie, Will you make us some whipped cream so we can have some peaches and cream? Now Clydene you know I need this cream to make butter today, and I told you those peaches are not ripe enough to eat yet. Just wait till they are ripe and I'll make sure you girls get all the peaches and cream you want. We were 6 and waiting was not in our vocabularly yet. NOPE Didn't like to wait. Now girls I'm going to walk out and milk the other cow, slop the hogs, feed the chickens, and gather the eggs, you two go on down to Lucille's (my Mama) and behave yourselves. OK. We started down the lane and went by the fruit orchard. Those peaches looked so good hanging there. We didn't like the limbs but we sure likes the fruit. Now I dont know who decided that those peaches were indeed ripe but I suspect it was me! Anyway we scooted under the barb wire frnce and picked a few. YEP! SURE NUFF DID! Brenda Auntie is in the barn, lets go back to the house and peel these. OK. As we went in the back door there on the wash stand was the gallon jar of fresh milk with the yellow cream rising.. UMMMM! I can taste it now. Thick and creamy!! We went on by but we both still wanted whipped cream. We thought alike and could almost read one anothers mind. Not a word was said. Brenda got a big mixing bowl, I got the egg beater and a big spoon, and here we went. We took the cloth off the jar. Brenda hold the bowl and I'll dip some cream out. OK. Well folks if you know anything about cream you know it was thick and hard to dip. Wait Brenda, set the bowl on the floor and help me pick up this jar and we will pour it in the bowl. That'll work RIGHT? WRONG!! We couldn't hold on to the jar good and we were kinda doing a little jig with it. Cant you hear Turkey in the straw playin' on a fiddle? Kinda the tune we were jigging to. We got some in our bowl though and didn't spill as much as you might think. We put the jar back on the shelf and bent to pick up the bowl. Our hands were slick by now with the cream so we did another jig right on into the kitchen. Well our feet were slick too and when we jigged in on that slick floor down we went. We were wallering in milk and cream. Boy we sure better get this cleaned up Brenda said. We got time, lets make our whipped cream first. We took turns with the egg beater but nothing was happening. Brenda lets put it in the freezer and it'll get ready while we oeel the peaches. We got knives (which was a great big NO NO!!) and them durn things were hard as a rock. Don't matter we said we'll eat em' anyhow. Poured some of the cream out of the bowl, sprinkled on some sugar and got us a spoon. Sat right down there in the floor and ate every last one of them peaches and cream. I kinda remember they tasted awful but we ate em' anyway. Heck fire wadnt gonna go to all that trouble and not enjoy it now was we! HECK NO! Well Auntie had finished her chores and walked down to give my Mama some eggs. I guess you know we were not there. I think my Auntie figured it out as soon as she saw we weren't there. Mama had the boys but My Auntie did a jig of her own right back to the house and walked in on us just finishing up them peaches and cream. Auntie was angry! I mean was she ever angry! With good reason. She came charging in to that room with blood in her eyes and we knew we were IN TROUBLE. Make that DOUBLE TROUBLE!!! Auntie started across the floor after us and remember the floor was slick, Turkey In The Straw all over again. Slipin' and slidin'. We got tickled. GIGGLE GIGGLE GIGGLE! SHUT UP RIGHT NOW. WOOOPPPS! Down she came. Well I couldn't have stopped giggling then if it meant my life(which it almost did I think). GIGGLE GIGGLE GIGGLE!!! We folks I figure we just looked adorable sittin' there on the floor looking down at Auntie, cause she got tickled to. When Mama and the boys got there I guess she thought she would have to have us all hauled away to the loony bin. She looked startled for a minute then she got tickled, the boys were giggling too. Don't know how long that went on before our Mama's came to their senses and saw the situation clearly, but I suspect not long. Auntie said nothing was hurt but her pride. But let me tell you that was not all that was hurt on us. Nope, our backsides were striped. But later on that night was when we really got our punishment. We were both sooo' sick. OH MY GOSH GREEN SLIME SICK. OOOOHHH! I can still feel the queasiness right now. UGGG' Guys our Parents had fun with us, and I know now that when they said it hurt them more than it did us to have to spank us. THEY MEANT THAT YEP SURE DID!!!

SHE WAS ALWAYS LATE

8-26-08...SHE WAS ALWAYS LATE

If you think you know someone who is slow, You would probably think again if you knew Brenda. OH MY GOSH! was that girl slooooowwwww! Still is. I was always early and I still like to be. All through our school years somehow I got appointed to make sure Brenda was ready and on the school bus. Well my Friends that was an almost impossible task. If we were at the same house it was somewhat easier but still a hard task. When we were at separate houses!!!! Now that was when the trouble came out and grabbed me in the throat. We had to walk up to the cormer, turn right and walk to the next corner. Thats where the bus stopped. I'd start up our lane and here would be Brenda, out on her porch in all stages of dress. CLLLYYYDDDEEENNNEEE, hold the bus for me!!!! OOOKKKAAAYYY but hurry up Brenda, I'm gettin' tired of this!! It was the same every morning. Our poor driver was always so patient and waited on her. I know he didn't want to really, made us late for school sometimes. Besides the other kids started griping. I was getting embarraced myself and had just about had enough of it. One evening I said Now Brenda you better be there in the morning. I'm not a'gonna tell Hollie to wait. Yes you will, You better Clydene. I'm tellin' you I aint gonna do it. We'll just go on and leave you. I guess she didn't believe I'd do it cause of course she did the same thing the next morning. Out on the porch half dressed hollering, CCCLLLYYYDDDEEENNNEEE! Tell Hollie I'll be there in a minute. Well durn her I had got my can plumb full of this and I wasn't gonna do it this time. I'm tired of this stuff, Yep tired of it. I got to thinking though, Now, If Brenda misses the bus she'll get to stay home and I'll have to go to school. Heck fire I'm not a goin' to school and her staying here havin' fun without me. Of course she wouldnta had much fun cause she'd a got in trouble but I wasn't thinking that way. Brenda, you better come on now. I ainta gonna do it today. I see it comin' come on right now, I mean it Brenda, you better come on. I'll wait right here for you, now come on Brenda!!! Well folks she got the point finally and decided I meant what I said so she ran back in grabbed her book satchell and here she came a runnin'. Hurry Brenda!! I'm a hurrin' Clydene, wait a minute. Well she came on all right. Yep she came on. HALF DRESSED!!! There she was in all her glory. Socks, no shoes, slip and sweater, no skirt, sweater on backwards. Oh My Gosh Brenda, you can't go like that! You're not dressed. Oh my Oh My what are we a'gonna do! Brenda I should box your jaws red, that just what i outta do!! Just then we heard the bus honk three times and pull out. We looked up and there that big ol' yellow thing went likety split up the road. There we stood. What'll we do Clydene. Well Brenda how in the heck do ya think I know! I guess we'll just have to stay right here all day. Then when the bus gets here this evening we'll just go on home. Nobody'll ever know. RIGHT?? WRONG!! My Mama heard the bus honking, and knew I didn't get on it. I don't know how she knew that cause she sure couldn't see up there from our house. Come to think of it, I'm still not real sure how she knew, but she knew all right. Yep she knew all right. She bundled my Brother up and here she came up the road. Brenda lets hide! Where would we hide Clydene? Sides I don't wanna. I'm cold. Well Brenda you shouda thought of that when you come up here half nekked' I'm not nekked' Clydene, You shut up before I slap your jaws. You sure better not try it by golly I'll throw you in that ditch. No you won't. Yes I will! By then my Mama was there and the jig was up! Oh my gosh was it ever up. Mama was upset, my baby brother was a cryin' and Brenda was even bellerin like an ol' donkey by then. I don't know what you girls think your'a doin' Mama said, but you both get your tails down that road and you do it now. " BUT MAMA" No buts get going. Which we did. You are both gonna get your buts busted good when we get there. WHICH WE DID!! Yep we sure nuff did. Now do you think that all resulted in Brenda turning over a new leaf and gettin there on time? Shoot fire No! She was never on time and never will be. NEVER NEVER NEVER!!!! DURN YOU BRENDA. I STILL OUTTA BOX YOUR JAWS RED!!! YEP I SURE SHOULD! But I wont!!!

WE FOUGHT TOO

8-23-08...WE FOUGHT TOO

Now folks, Brenda and I loved and helped each other but we had an occasional brawl too. When we were in about 3rd and 4th grades at School we started making friends other than each other. Good Idea because we had to break free a little and explore other people. It had always been just us. But Hey, when we got home it was the same as it had always been. Well it was till one Saturday when we had a day planned for lots of things to do. We were at Brenda's house just having a ball down by the pig pens. YUKKY now but I dont remember even noticing that then. We heard a car coming down the lane. And now folks when a car came down that lane it was coming to our house!! Didn't matter which house either, still our house. We waited and listened till the car came in sight to see which house it would stop at. We were prepared to get to the house before they stopped. It came on up to Brenda's house and we ran to meet it. Well now let me tell you right now, thats when the manure hit the fan!! It was Brenda's friend Wilma Jane. Now I did not like "WILEMER PANE" at all (that was the worst thing I could think up to call her) I didn't like that snooty nosed thing infringing on my place in Brenda's life. Durn Her Nuthin but a long nosed smart elec. Brenda she's not'a stayin here and Im'a gonna' tell her so. I was ready to tell her to by golly when Brenda did something she had never done before, that little nut pushed me down. Go home Clydene we dont want you here! well let me tell you the blue fire jumped up and flowed over. How dare her, why the nerve of that smart elec, push me will you. I was up like a bolt of lightening and the squabble was on. First I let WILMER have it with all the claws I could muster up, then I went after Brenda. Wilmer pane's snubby nosed Mother started screaming like a wild bull with a hornet on his backside and here came my Auntie. I was busy working on Brenda when My auntie got hold of me. Clydene! What is wrong with you? What do you think your'a doin'? Well I was fired up like a ol' settin' hen and I wasn't hearing anything. I mean to tell you I think my brain had exploded, might'a been foaming at the mouth for all I know, I WAS MADDDDD! Wilmer had blood running down her nose and her Mama was taking on like a lost milk cow in the woods. ( by the way she looked like one too). Auntie held me till I calmed down a bit but when I found out that Wilmer and her Mama had come to pick Brenda up to take somewhere, "WELL" more manure! Mama was there by then and was prepared to take me home via way of the peach tree. When Brenda started to get in the car, I come un-glues again. They calmed me down and Brenda didn't go. I don't think snub nose wanted her to go by then. I had to tell Wilmer and her cow Mama that I was sorry and was supposed to hug them but they didn't want a hug for some reason. RECON WHY? Brenda and I were separated for a few days. I was given a lecture and told how I had to let Brenda have her friends and I had to have my friends too. I was so unhappy during the week-end. I think our Teachers were in on it too because they kept us apart in school all week. On Saturday we were back to normal but we were changing and beginning to understand why we couldn't always have it the way it had been. We still were together a lot, we still loved each other but we learned that our worlds didn't revolve around each other. Oh Yes! we still got in to trouble now and then. Even now sometimes we go on one of our tangents. Before Mama died Brenda was down here and we both stayed overnight with Mama. She had to knock on the wall just the way she used to and tell us to quieten down. "GIRLS QUITEN DOWN IN THERE NOW" Another thing I was to come to understand too. I was not really mad, I was hurt, jealous and scared, But most of all JEALOUS. Mama worked on me a while on that one. Jealousy is a bad thing Clydene. Yep I know that Mama, I know....

HOME PERMS

8-22-08...HOME PERMS

My Mama put home perms in everyone's hair when I was growing up. Everyone found out she could do it and came for her to work her magic on them. The three I remember are Lilt , Prom, and Toni. Or was it Bobbi? Oh well whatever. I had natural kinky hair and didn't need them. Brenda got one ever few months and I was always so envious of her. I wanted a perm and Mama just wouldn't give me one. I was miffed over that big time. Well Brenda didn't want to get them, she hated it. Aint that the way it always is? We want what we can't have? Auntie bought Brenda a perm and sent it down to Mama one day. Mama was supposed to put it in Brenda's hair in a day ot two. Brenda didn't want that thing and I did so guess what we decided? Yep we sure did! I said Brenda lets take that perm out to the pasture where that big tank is full of water and we will put it on my hair. OK she said then I wont have to get it. Mama had a box that she kept the rollers we got that and we had the pretty pink box with the perm and we were set. Mama we are gonna play in the pasture. Ok but don't go where I can't see you or holler at you. OK we wont. I told Brenda-- Now Brenda you will have to roll it and put the things on it. I don't know how Clydene. Sure you do you've got enough of them that you should know how. I'll tell you what to do. I was just sure I could tell her how. Hadn't I watched my Mama do it hundreds of times? Sure I had. YIPEE I'm gonna get me one of them perms just like Brenda does. We couldn't get to the towels without Mama seeing us and asking questions, but there were things hanging on the clothes line so we got some things there. We knew I had to cover my face during the process don't ya know. We knew what we were doing! Yep we sure knew all right. Then you had to mix some white powder in water (neutalizer? I think) and we didn't have a container. It'll be Ok Brenda, I'll just get my hair wet and you put the stuff in. Well Brenda rolled my hair up on the rollers (permanent wands?) and not very good either, but that would do. I splashed water out of the tank on my hair and got it wet. Brenda took the little bottle of stuff and was going to squirt it on the way we saw Mama do. That was our first problem. The top had to be snipped to make a little hole. We had nothing to do that so I said, Heck fire Brenda, just take off the lid and pour it on, Which She did! I held my rag up there ( which happened to be one of my Daddies shirts) and shut my eyes tight and she poured. OH MY GOSH BRENDA You poured that all over me. It was even in my ears. Well come here and put your head down on this tank and I'll splosh water on it and rinse it out. Which I did, and She did. She got me another rag(this one was Mama's dress) and I wiped and swiped around and spluttered. She gave me another rag(My dress) and I wrapped it around my head. I had heard Mama say, Now we wait (I didn't know how long and we couldn't read well enough to read the paper in the box). We waited a few minutes (coulda been seconds, don't know) then I stuck my head back over the tank and Brenda sploshed some more. Now we didn't know really what came next but we still had that white powder so that must be it. Yep that's it I said. Brenda took the powder like we had decided and sprinkled it all over my head. She handed me another rag. ( don't know what that was but I think it was a dish rag). Now we wait again she said then we take the rollers out. Yep we were doin' good right? WRONG!! After she sloshed my head around in the water a while I said hand me another rag. There aint no more she said. Take your dress off then. No I ainta'gonna do it! Oh well it was wet anyhow and mine was too. The sun will dry it. Mama hollered and said for us to come to the house and eat. Just a minute Mama. No minutes, come right now. Well Mama had seen us sloshing around in the water. We did that a lot in the hot summer, that was OK. Lets go Brenda, How does my hair look. Brenda's eyes just about popped out of her head, before she said, looks good, I'm goin' home. I knew then that something was wrong. Brenda you better tell me! You girls better get up here before I have to come get you. I'm a'goin' home. NO YOU ARE NOT!! I grabbed her and drug her along with me. When we got there my Mama's eyes about bugged out of her head just the way Brenda's had and I knew something was wrong, BAD WRONG!! What in the world have you girls done!!! Nothin' we both parroted. Nuthin my foot Mama said. Clydene why is your hair green and yellow, what did you do? HUH OH! I didn't know what to say so I just stubbed up and stood there. She put a perm in her hair, I told her not to. LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE I said! Both of you shut up Mama said. Well we knew now that she was really Mad at us so we instantly SHUT UP. Yep we shut up fast. Mama finally got it all out of us and she started crying. Well we couldn't stand that and we started bellering. Auntie came running down there. Mama told her what we had done and I thought she was gonna' cry too. Money was hard to come by then and there was none to buy another perm for Brenda and besides that my hair was ruined. I had long hair and Thank the Lord after Mama cut it real short it was OK but we got in lots of trouble that day and learned anoher lesson or two. We felt bad about the ruined perm but somehow they got another one and it all turned out good. Well good except fot that durn peach tree. One of these days Brenda we'd outta cut that durn thing down!! Another story. We got what we deserved everytime we got that tannin' and we knew it. We always hated when we made our parents sad too. Would you call that stubborn Or what? I call it Great Parents. YEP!!

BATH DAYS

8-19-08...BATH DAYS

I've already mentioned that it was difficult for us to have much more than a pan bath in the winter. But in the hot summer we got a good tub bath every evening. If it had rained we had water in the rain barrell sitting at the eve of the house. Late evenings that water would be nice and sun heated. Mama dipped it out into a NO.3 wash tub and there you have it. Other days if the barrell was empty she drew the water from the well and put in that tub. The tub was placed where the sun was on it almost all day. When daddy came home he and Mama carried the tub behind the house for our baths. Most times there were bugs, leafs from trees, and trash in the tub. We just dipped them out and got in. Boys one house girls the other house. Quiet a production. HUH? Just so happens that I was terrified of frogs, still am! Now I dont know if that frog jumped in there or someone put it there but what I do know is I didn't see it in the dusky evening light. Brenda and I crawled in and guess where I sat down. YEP!! ON THE FROG!! Brenda wasn't afraid of them but when I reached down to see what was under me, I picked up that blasted frog and the race was on!!!! I slung the frog but it landed in Brenda's lap and she thought it was a snake, and the muffins hit the fan big time. We were both struggling and sloshing around with very little room to do so. I wanted out, Brenda wanted out and neither of us were making any progress. Brenda get out of my way, You get out of MY way, I can't, I can't either. We started screaming and throwing our arms around then and we both later had a black eye that we were kinda' prowd of. Battle scars ya know. But right now we wanted out away from that frog/snake. We succeded (though I'll never know how) in turning that tub over. I guess ya think we were out now, RIGHT? WRONG!! When my Mama and Daddy got there we were UNDER THE TUB. And the frog/snake was under there with us. We were really moving then and that ol' tub had the dents to prove it. Daddy moved the tub and very quickly turned his head.(yes we were taught not to undress, raise our dresses and show our panties in front of anyone but our Mamas. We weren't uneducated) We heard Daddy and Mama laughing and Boy were we mad. The cat even came out in Brenda that time. It ain't funny! There's a frog/snake in there we said at the same time. It just ain't one bit funny!!! ( still aint funny to me) HE HE! Well of course they had seen that poor ol frog limping away as fast as his little hurt hopper could carry him. Mama got our towels off the fence and wrapped us up. Daddy carried me and Mama carried Brenda inside the house and Mama helped us get in our jammies. She kept telling us it was only a little frog and it was gone. It was hard to get us quietened down and in bed. We made Daddy look under and in the bed for frogs/snakes. He told us a story about a brave little Princess, Mama got us a cookie and we were set. But, Hey, I can still feel that frog in my hand and I think Brenda is still about half convinced that it was a snake. We never enjoyed those baths as much after that either. But we grew up in that wonderful invironment amoung all those loving wonderful people and I feel so blessed today by those growing up days. We were happy and content and loved greatly. YEP!!! WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES. SURE NUFF!! GOOD OL' DAYS

SUNDAY DINNER

8-17-08...SUNDAY DINNER

Now I had Dinner today (which by the way is the noon meal here) but it was not anything like those wonderful dinners we had on Sunday when I was growing up. The best and most scrumptous meal of our entire week. It was mostly prepared on Saturday and eaten after Church on Sunday. It was quiet a production. Winters were less because there were no fresh veggies from Daddy's garden. The chickens were molting so no fresh eggs, and no good ol' fresh chicken to fry. No milk from Brenda's Daddies cow ol' Pet. But Boy those summer Sunday's were a feast. On saturday evening after the chickens went to roost, Daddy would go out to the Chicken house and pick out a nice plump rooster to kill. The hens were kept for laying eggs and hatching more baby chickens to keep things productive. Only needed maybe two Roosters that wouldn't fight each other. Daddy would pick one and take it by the feet and bring it outside. Now if you are squemish ya' probly' better just quit readin' now. OK?? Anyway Daddy would wrap his hand around the middle of it's neck and swing it around and around till' the head popped off, then let the chicken flop till' it was dead. (IF YOU ARE GASPIN' FOR BREATH RIGHT NOW I WARNED YOU) It was the way it was done then, just a way of life that Daddy had to do to feed us. Some of you know how the chicken was then put down in boiling water for a spell so the feathers could be plucked. The rest of you probably dont wanna' know the rest of the story. That chicken (usually two of them) was fried up in hog lard in Mama's big Iron skillet. Oh My Sooooo Good. Chicken gravy made with flour , fresh cow milk, all cooked up in that skillet where the chicken was cooked. Fresh veggies, Chocolate cake with fresh cream. Oh I am so hungry. Well one fall evening Brenda and I got to wishing for some of that fried chicken. We decided to go on out to the chicken house and get us a chicken. Heck fire, we could do that. We had watched our daddies do it thousands of times. Right? Wrong! First off when we got in the hen house the roost was too high for us to reach. Brenda climb up on that bucket and get one. No, You do it. Brenda you'll have to help me. We managed to get on the bucket together and looked up to pick one off when I think every chicken in there started pooping. In our face and just about every inch of our body. Brenda grab one and lets go. She reached up and said which one. Don't matter. When I reached up to help her the bucket tipped over with us and down we went. All the chickens got spooked and started flying down landing all over us with those sharp feet. We were afraid to get up and we had left the door open so guess what? YEP! Those chickens scattered and out they went. Now we are in trouble Brenda, them chickens are a'gonna get in Daddies garden and eat everything up. I'm a'goin home she said. Oh no you're not you're a gonna help me round up them chickens. The Chicken house was not close to the house but Daddy heard the chickens and come a runnin'. Of course there was no catching chickens. They had been on roost so daddy said,:; You two just better hope they go back in there to roost or they will be in the garden first thing in the morning. What in the world were you a' doin' anyhow? We told him we just wanted to get a chicken and get it ready for Mama to fry so he wouldn't have to do it. Girls those aren't fryers, they are layers, but that was nice of you to think of it. Next time ask before you go off doin' somethin' like that. We didn't get a tannin that time even though I know we needed it. Poor Daddy had to sit up that night and close the door after the chickens went back in, and it's a wonder they did. Poor Mama had to heat water and clean us up. We felt so bad. We were sorry that we did it and I think Mama and Daddy knew that. Years later I knew that they were probably hurt also. Hurt that they couldn't get a chicken to fry for us. Daddy killed a laying hen and Mama made dumplins the next day. I'm sitting here crying right now over that. Our parents fed us what they had to feed us and we never went hungry, but oh those Sunday dinners still makes my mouth water. I can almost taste that chicken. No Chicken has ever tasted the same. I miss those simple days. YEP SURE DO!!!!!

THE HOUSE I GREW UP IN

8-15-08...THE HOUSE I GREW UP IN

When I was four month's old My Parents bought and moved into the house that became home. I grew up happy there. We had only lived in walking distance of the house as the crow flies. The people who lived in our house and we lived in theirs. Each family bought the houses at the same time and we just switched. Daddy wanted this house cause his sister lived just across the pasture. Brenda was 11 month's old then. Of course I don't remember this but was handed down the story. Anyway that was the start of a wonderful loving home. It still sits there today but I only went back one time and it broke my heart to see it. Just bears out the meaning of YOU CAN'T EVER GO BACK. Oh but I can go back in my memories any time I want to. My Daddy worked in the coal mines just up the track. The mine was at the crossing and sat there for many years after it was dug out. Anyway back to that great home. Daddy paid 500.00 fo it in 1944 and I guess that was a lot of money. He paid payments through his pay check at the no.2 mine. The man was a friend and that is probably the only way Daddy was able to pay for the house. Luke Parks let him pay when he could. The mine wasn't steady so Daddy was often not working. But he did pay for it eventually and that's where we stayed. Brenda and i started roaming around as soon as we both could walk and could always find something to do. Some things I don't remember but was told about later makes me wonder how we survived childhood. But this happened at that old house before Daddy was able to make any repairs, and it wasn't dangerous to anything except our backsides. Brenda spent a lot of nights with me. Her house was crowded with brothers and sisters and we liked it better at my house. The house was not much more than a hull very open and cold. Of course there was no indoor plumbing and no electricity. We had a outside toilet and it was not close to the house for obvious reasons. Catalogs were the toilet paper and you didn't want the colored pages, they didn't work well. At night we had a 'slop jar' yep that's what they called it. Kinda like a bucket with a lid and a bail for carrying it out. We could pee in it but nothing else if you get the meaning. If ya had to go at night you had ta go to the out house. One very cold night for some reason Brenda and I both had to go and not to pee. Oh lord Brenda I ainta goin' outside. Me neither she said, go ask your Mama if we can use the slop jar. You go ask her I'm not going to. Heck no not me. Well then what are we gonna' do? Hey I said, that ol' back room is empty, just an old wood floor and there is cracks in it. We'll just go in there and poop then we'll pee on it and it will wash down the cracks. NOT!!! Well here we went and let me tell you we may as well gone outside. Our bear feet were freezing from that cold floor and Brenda got a big splinter in her toe. She started to holler out and I got hold of her just in time. Shut up Brenda they'll hear us. Well we squated down there and did just what we started out to do wiped off best we could with our gown tails and hurried back to the big ol' feather bed and snuggled up. Clydene are you sure that will wash down the cracks. Oh sure it will! And sure it didn't!!! The first thing Mama saw the next morning was our gown tails all smeared. And I imagine she smelled us a little too. What in the world did you girls do she said. Whatdaya' mean Mama. We really didn't know. We thought she'd never know what we'd done. Now Mama would have gone with us to the toilet and we knew that but we just didn't like going in that dark thing at night. When we realized what a mess we were in we had to fess up. But Mama it washed right on through the cracks we were hollering and she led us to the back room. When she opened the door and led us in there it was in all it's glory,,, frozen to the floor!!! Oh yes, that room was cold as outdoors and we were not even supposed to open that door at all. Oh My gosh, what a mess. The floor sloped down and the pee had only ran down a distance before it froze. I can still see it now. It was hard for us to believe what we were seeing. We got our thrashing right there poopy gowns and all.. My Daddy scooped it up (more like scraped) with a shovel before he went to work and brought in the wash tub with water. Mama warmed the water on the old stove and sat it on the floor for our baths. Sloshed us in together and cleaned us up. When it was daylight she warmed more water in the scrubbed tub and put us in again. Then she sent Brenda home with a note and we both got another spanking from my Auntie. Times were hard then but somehow we had so much Love that we never knew how hard. I learned a lot in that old house. Had a lot of love and made a lots of happy memories. I can go back in my memories and it is fun. YEP!!!

WE SNITCHED SOME SNUFF

8-12-08... WE SNITCHED SOME SNUFF

Well folks, I was gettin' ready to go on to school days but got side tracked. I found some old pictures in the old trunk that was my Great Grandma's. Also found her old black purse. Oh my did that bring back some loving memories. Granny carried that ol' black purse everywhere. Hardly ever put it down when others were around. It was hers and it was private and we knew we were not supposed to touch it. Mama said one day to us,, Do not even get close enough to it to breathe cause Grandma Mattie will know. Well, Come on now, she shoulda known us better'n that, Don't ya think. But then maybe that's why Granny never put it down. OOOOOOH. After all these years I GET IT!!! WEll I'll be, HMMM. Anyway back to that purse. Brenda was not really Granny's kin. She was from the other side of the family. But who knew, we sure didn't. We had lots of Grandma's and Grandpa's. Anyway Granny dipped snuff and she was vwry neat about it. Never saw it on her teeth or running down her chin. No sireee. She had her little can in that black purse and a little bitty doll spoon to dip it with. Oh it was just so facinatin' to us, how we would love to get a hold of that teeny little spoon and do what Granny did. One day we got our chance. Granny sat her purse on a table in the front room(what they call living or family room now a days. Front room to us then and now) so she could stir up one of her delicious cakes. Makes my mouth do crazy things right now just thinking about that chocolate cake. Scrumpdidilious. Yep the best. Brenda come on lets go look in Granny's purse. Oh boy she was ready. Wouldn't a done it on her own but I doubt that I would have either. We crept in there and very quietly opened that wonderful mysterious black purse. Oh my grasious sakes alive, what treasures we found. Mints, gum, and other stuff we weren't interested in right now. I grabbed the snuff can and the teensy weenesy spoon and we took off. Now there was a door in the front room but we went right through the kitchen and out that door. You girls get outta the kitchen now and stay outta the way my Mama said. Well we were a gettin' yep, we were a gettin fast. We ran around the side of the house and plopped down in the grass with our treasures. I took some on that cute little spoon and said here Brenda. Nope you take that one then I will. I popped that in my mouth and very fast got another spoon full and popped it in Brenda's mouth. OOOOHHHH, it don't taste good we both spluttered out. That's when our lesson started. Yep it was a long lesson. We started spitin' and gaggin' and splutterin. It was coming out our noses and going down our throats. We got strangled of course, couldn't even holler for help. I was gettin' sick and Brenda said she was too. Well we got morbid. We lay there holding on to one another, cryin', splutterin' and thinking we were gonna die deader'n door nails. Well we were ready, we were to sick to die though, we were just huddled on the ground bellerin' when Mama and Granny got there. Oh yeaw The troops had arrived right on time just like they always did. Mama said later that she got to thinking we were acting kinda funny whan we had come through the kitchen. Well her and Granny decided they better see what we were up to. The whole snuff dippin' episode probably was only a couple of minutes from start to finish but it seemed like hours to us. Mainly because we got sooooo sick. Bawlin' like a dying' calf sick my Granny said. We didn't get to eat any of Grannys chocolatecake that day. Couldna' if theyd' a let us. TOO durn sick. We were really sick sick sick. Never wanna be that sick again. Guess they figured that was all the tannin we needed or maybe we kinda scared em a little. We sure nuff thought we were gonners that day. That old Black purse is still in the trunk and that teensy spoon and a can are still there. But ya know what I have very seldom ever opened it again. It seems like a sacred thing to me almost. The last time I opened it (yesterday) I could feel my Grannies presense and I started geetin' kinda sick'. All in my mind?? Don't know the answer to that. Nope don't know...

FIRST GRADE OF SCHOOL

8-11-08...FIRST GRADE OF SCHOOL

When I started first grade Brenda was in the second grade. She was seven month's older and her birthday fell so she could start before me. We both hated it. The morning I started to school Brenda and I were so sure that we could again be together all the time the way we had been all our lives. How wrong we were. We of course were in different rooms and only saw one another at recess. Well I dont know how Brenda made it through the first grade without me I just knew it was a hard time for me. Brenda was still shy and wouldn't ever speak up and I wasn't there to do it for her so she almost failed the first grade. Auntie thought it would be better the year I started, but it was not to be. Brenda wouldn't ask to go to the bathroom and she would wet her pants in class. At recess I would go running to Brenda's room and we would go out together to the playground. I don't think I even got aquainted with my class that year very well. And the reason was I cried till recess when I could see Brenda. We tried everything to stay together. One day we climbed a pear tree on the grounds and tried to hide when the bell signaled recess was over. Another we got in the toilet and stayed in there. Our teachers caught on to our little schemes and watched us very close. They even decided to separate us and not let us play together at all. Well Let me tell you when that happened we were not havin' any of that. Nosiree guys that aint'a gonna' work. We pulled sit downs and running from them, nothing was working. Well we had'ta do something so we hatched up a good scheme. We Thought. We sneaked down to the far end of the play ground and sat down. we sat there and when the bell rung the end of recess we both laid down. Brenda now when the teacher gets here start crying and tell them we are both sick. Well I guess Brenda was learning not to do everything I said anymore so she said NO I aint'a gonna' do it Clydene I ain't, You do it. Oh Well My goodness Brenda you little stubborn thing just watch and do what I do. It was Miss Sally and Miss Sullivan our teachere who came after us. I started crying and said we are sick Miss Sally we've a'gotta go home. We wanna go home. Yeaw we are sick Brenda said in a perfectly normal voice. I hollered Brenda you are'a sposed' to cry, you aint cryin'. Well that did it. If they hadn't already figured it out they sure did then. I had already been crying every day in class anyway so wasn't a very good idea for me to cry, and Brenda wouldn't do it so the jig was up. But I wasn't quiet ready to give up yet. I just set there and stubbed up like an old opossum and of course Brenda was good at that anyway so she did it too.. BUT------ It werent' a workin'. There ween't any Peach trees near by but the teachers didn't use them anyway. They had paddles and just happened to have them with them. They took us to the toilet. ( which was not far away. they were outside toilets don't ya know) and used those paddles. Then took us back to the classrooms and told everyone what we had done. To add insult to injury they sent notes home to our parents and they did have a peach tree. Yep I guess we learned another lesson though I really don't know what that one was cause we still wanted to be together. Had to tough that year out though and the next one. It was a small school and 3rd and 4th were in one room and 5th and sixth were in one room. So we were finally together again. Yep together till' she married and moved to Kansas, then we really had something to cry about. Was never the same again. But Hey we still had a lot of growing up to do and we were and still are close. Sisters in all but name. GOOD NUFF'

HOW I GREW UP

8-10-08...HOW I GREW UP

I'm from Arkansas. Born There Raised There Still Here. Oh I lived in lots of places throughout my life but I'm home now. In other states I was often made fun of. The way I talked was funny. The way I expressed myself was funny. I said Mama and daddy, Papa and Granny. They thought that was funny. Hey, I still do all those things, say all those things in the same way but I'm home now and we Arkies are all just alike. I worked in a lot of different states and it never ceased to amaze me how they could think I talk funny. Never ceased to amaze me that they thought sometimes that I was an illeritate, backwoods hill billie, who had never been outta' them there hills. One lady (well that's not what I'd rather call her) kept trying to get me to talk and say things so she could giggle at the way I said them. Oh I caught on to that one fast. Yep sure did. I clammed up like a gator's mouth on his prey. She just kept on and I'd smile then just shut my mouth tight. I was in her home and I wasn't gonna' say the things I wanted to say. Well, at least not in the way I really wanted to say it. Nope, My Mama and Daddy taught me some manners and this person sure needed a few taught to her. I clammed up for a very long time and she must have begin to think something was wrong with me. She said Clydene please say something. You are scaring me. Well that's what I was a waitin' on cause I had a plan in that back woods illeritate hill billie head of mine. When her ol' prune of a face screwed up like she was about to cry I burst out giggling. I mean I giggled I got up from my chair and walked all around the room and my giggles got hysterical. At least she thought they did. That ol' big shot well spoken bitty was scared to death. I guess she thought that back woods monster that had raised me up was a gonna get her. She jumped up screaming and I grabbed her by the arm and had to hold her up to keep her from falling. Oh My Goodness I felt good. But please don't tell my Daddy cause I might get a tanning if that god forsaken city had a peach tree that is. Well I said very calmly to her. Honey now you just sit right down there and I'll get you a nice glass of water and I'm a gonna' talk to you. I said, Betty, you are my friend and if we both want this friendship we've gotta get a few things straight. Now I work with you and you know I'm a dietitian. I didn't get my education in a back woods or on a hill. I got it the same way you did yours. Now furthermore sugar I know we don't talk the same way and your speech is as hard to understand and as funny to me as mine is to you. And let me tell you what a hill billie really is. There was a small town that sat right at the base of a bunch of hills. There was a man named Billie who was a recluse and liked to live alone. He didn't bother anyone, would do anything in the world for anyone, just felt at peace with himself and the out doors. Billie came down to the town now and then to buy the things he couldn't get in the hills. Somebody would say There comes ol' Billie from the hills. After a while it was shortened to Here comes Hillbilly. And my friend that is the true story of what a hillbilly is. Well honey my name is not Billie it is Clydene and that is what I'd like to be called please. I was raised simple and different than you were but I make more money than you do which shouldn't bother good friends at all. Your speech is good and proper but we Arkies don't have time to add all those ing's to the end of each word we say. We talk slow anyhow and adding anything would take me all day to get anything said. Yes We were taught to say them just the way you were we had good educated Teachers too and all of mine were from Arkansas by the way. If we are to be friends you can laugh with me but I don't want you laughing at me. The end of that story doesn't end with us being buddies but I had to use that same technique with lots of other's that It Did Work On. So I gained some friends who had the sense to see ME as ME and not the way I talked or the different way that my great Parents brought me up. I learned other's unique ways and I wanted them to learn mine and take me as me and I would take them as who they were. I'm just me sugar JUST ME!!!

WADE THE DITCHES

8-8-08...WADE THE DITCHES

Brenda and I waded the ditches when it rained in the summer. But we only waded after we got permission from our Mama's so they could watch us closely. Well usually we got permission first. This one day both our Mama's were busy so we decided not to bother them and go ahead. MISTAKE BIG TIME! We got in the ditch in front of my house. The ditch went all the way to the end of our (well I don't know what it was called then) block) which was a lot farther than we really meant to go. Then we got out and went to the other side of the road. I like to think that we really thought this led back home, but I'm not sure we were thinking at all. Our Mama's never let us go that far and they certainly wouldn't have let us sit down in the ditch. The ditches were very deep and it had rained a lot so they were half full and the water just gushed out the end of the tile. We liked that> Wow Brenda, ain't this fun? Yep sure is! We didn't have any idea how far from home we were but we did know not to talk to strangers. An old man walked by right then and though he knew who we were we didn't know him. Hey Girls. Brenda don't answer him. No I wont she said. Girls, you better get out of there. Do your Mama's know where you are? Of course they do I said. Don't talk to him Clydene Brenda said. But he kept standing there. He was very old we thought and we can outrun him if we have to. Girls, come on now there might be snakes in there. Brenda he's lying to get us out so he can get hold of us, just sit still till' he goes away. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity to us then walked on. We Thought! Brenda He's gone come on lets go home. I raised up to look and there he was looking down at me. Brenda was pushing on me to hurry and all at once she screamed the loudest scream I've ever heard and fairly pushed me so hard my face hit into the bank of the ditch and buried up in slimy mud! Sputter, Sputter, Gurgle, BRRREEENNNDDDAAA stop it that man is there. CCCLLLYYYDDDEEENNNEEE, there's a snake crawling on my foot! I don't care Brenda get back down before he gets me. NOOOOOOO! It'll bite me! The old man was sitting on a rock where I suppose he was planning to watch us till our Mama's got there. And he knrw they would be looking for us. He knew us and he knew our Parents. He was very old I guess because he tried to jump up when Brenda hollered snake and couldn't get up very fast but he too started hollering for someone to help. I thought he was a crazy little girl killer or something so I sure wasn't getting out of that ditch. NO WAY NO HOW!!! I said Brenda get back down in there and I'll get that snake and throw it out at that ol' man. After it bites him then we will run home and get our Mama's. I pushed her down and reached down to get the snake. Heck that was better'n' facing that crazy old man. Where is it Brenda. I reached down in the water and grabbed A LONG STICK! Brenda you nut, it's just a stick. I was actually mad that it wasn't a snake. Wouldn't do no good to throw a stick at him now would it? Poor old man. I'll bet he was wishing right then that he had just walked right on by them crazy kids. Anyway you probably know the rest of the story but I'm a gonna tell you anyway. Our Mama's had followed the screams and hollering right to us. They sat our Brothers down for the old man to watch( Mama don't set them down there. That's a crazy ol' kid killer) and pulled us outta' that ditch likity'split'! They were so happy we were OK, kissin' and huggin' and cryin' that we thought they would forget the hide tanning. Well they sure didn't forget. No siree. We got it all right and we got it good. Then got more when our Daddies got home. We knew we deserved it too. And we were so glad to see our Mama's that day we woulda' almost asked for a tannin'. Well almost. If we hadenta' got all those tannings we wouldn't have been as loved as we were. NOPE, WORLD'S GREATEST PARENTS. We sure enough had that!!!!

LOST IN THE BIG CITY

8-6-08...LOST IN THE BIG CITY

I called Brenda and we consulted a bit on this one. We put our two pea brains together and come up with what we have agreed is the facts. It was in November but neither of us can remember our exact age at the time. We did agree that our Brother's were not there so we must have been four. Anyway that doesn't really matter. As I've said before Brenda and I hardly ever got out of our little valley on that dead end road and I think this was our first trip to the big town of Ft. Smith. ( well it is big now) Our Parents were going Christmas shopping we think, that don't matter either. Such pretty sights and sounds. Brenda and I were just flabbergasted' by the awe of it. Our Daddies took off to another part of the big store and we of course were left with our Mama's. They carried us for a while just to keep up with us I expect. When they came to something they wanted to look at they sat us down with strict orders not to move. We tried not to move, we really did. So many things to see and we had passed some dolls. We tried to get them to stop but of course they didn't. We were standing there gazing with such wonder around us when a beautiful lady came by. She was pushing a stroller with the mostest', greatest' most beautiful doll I had ever seen. Brenda look! Lets ask her where she got that doll, then maybe our Mama's will buy us one. Otay' brenda said. That girl couldn't talk plain till' she was purt'neart' grown. We tried to ask the lady but she smiled at us and kept going. Well I took off after her with Brenda on my tail saying Clydene you better come back. The lady looked back and saw us and stopped. She looked serious now but maybe we could ask her where she got that doll. She was trying to talk to us and pointing back but we didn't understand because as we found out she didn't speak English. Brenda was pulling on my coat tail and saying cumon lets go I'm scared. She slowed me down enough for the Lady to start down another aisle. Our Mama's had spotted us by then and were hot on our trail but I was going to see that doll no matter what. I took off running down that aisle after that woman likity'split' and Brenda was right behind me. By now I think I was dragging her by my coat tail cause' she wouldn't turn loose. She was strong as a bull but I'd seen that doll and I was movin'on. There she is Brenda lets go. After running up several aisles we caught up to her. I was asking about the doll while attempting to pick it up. Had it by the arm too but the lady got hold of me and she could say NO! If she couldn't speak any English she could sure say No. Well that little doll started crying and I said shoot'fire' Brenda this is a real baby. We don't want that thing. Lets go. That was what Brenda wanted all along so we turned around to go back to our Mama's and they weren't there. Brenda! They left us, They left us. Brenda started bellering and held on to me tighter. We had made such a twisting run around that of course we didn't know where our Mama's were and I guess they hadn't been able to keep up with us. The lady took us by the arms. Heck she didn't have to take Brenda's arm she was grown to my coat. The lady tried to talk to us and tell us she would help us find our Mama's but we wanted loose from her and we wanted loose now. Poor Lady, trying to push the strooler with that loud mouth baby hollering and get us to co-operate. Bless her heart. I kicked her on the shin and took off but she still had hold of Brenda and as you know Brenda was anchored to me. My Auntie and My Mama had finally caught up to us and I can imagine what it looked like to them. Now here is where I've learned I got my scrappiness" My auntie was a small woman but she came charging like a mad bull, pulled that poor woman away from us and slammed her in to the nearest display, which just happened to be toys of some kind that started falling off the shelf. Well Brenda and I were gonna' sit right down there and have a ball with all those toys but my Mama got hold of us and got us outta' the way. The poor Lady was trying to tell my Auntie what had happened but Auntie was like an old mad setting hen protecting her eggs. Brenda was bellering' and so was that baby. Oh My goodness. What a sight. I got tickled and Brenda stopped bellerin' cause' she always did what I did. We were giggling.. Some man came up and I think was about to take somebody off to somewhere. Auntie finally settled down enough to listen. The man translated and the poor Lady told her story. She was going to take us up to the front desk or something and try to find out our names so our Mama's could be found. Auntie thought she was kidnapping us. I don't think there was much shopping done that day. We met our Daddies outside the store. They gripped cause' we weren't there when we were supposed to be. Auntie and Mama had hugged the poor Lady before leaving the store. The Lady came out and heard our Daddies grumbling and she ducked back in that store so fast she was just a blur. At least that's what I heard my Daddy say that night. Our poor Mama's were explaining to our Daddies what had happened and they started laughing which didn't set well with our Mama's. Anyway, If they had planned to give our hides a tanning when we got home, they forgot all about it. "YIPPEE" The Goodest' Parents in the World" YESSIREE!!!

OLD REFERS

8-2-08...OLD REFERS

It is 105 here today and I got to thinking about all the hot summers in the late 40's and early 50's. Brenda and I roamed the area around our homes with ease never thinking it was hot. The refers then were not self defrost like they are now. All the refers then had those metal ice trays with the pull handle to open and get the cubes out. We were going to fix us a glass of kool aid and had gotten that dad burned cranky tray open. I said Brenda I've got a good idea. Yeaw What? she said. Lets dump this ice out and pour in some kool aid and make us some purple kool aid cubes to chew on. Oh Yeaw that would be so good. We didn't know at the time that our idea was already being used. We thought we thought it up our selves. We poured the koolaid in the tray. Didn't even think about having to carry it over and getting on the stool to be able to set it in the freezer. Auntie was out in the garden working and My Mama had our Brothers so we wouldn't want to disturb them to ask, now would we? Nosireee. We were good girls. I climbed up on the stool and said Brenda carry it over here and hand it up to me. Well Brenda was and still is a klutz. I shoulda' known better than to trust her with that job. Here she come spilling purple all over her and the floor. She finally got there with some left in the tray. I said Brenda Why can't you do anything. Look at that mess. Well I sat the tray in the freezer spilling some but not much. Frost was built up in the freezer and it sure looked pretty turning purple. But right now Brenda we better get this mess cleaned up which we did very well if I say so myself. Yep, we knew how to clean up messes. Brenda ran and got on the stool to check our freezer pops. Brenda, Silly, You know they are not frozen yet. CLYDDDEEENNNEEE. Brenda hollered. Look at the mess you made in Mama's freezer. How in the world are weagonna' clean this up? I ran over and got on the stool with her and there was that pretty purple frost. Hey Brenda I've got an idea. Lets lick it off. Hey yeaw that's a good idea she said. GOT THE PICTURE?! Needless to say both of our tongues stuck tight to that freezer bottom. And Boy do I mean tight. We couldn't even scream and it was burning and hurting like heck. Well You know we had great parents who always came to rescue us. My Auntie came in the kitchen door right then carrying a big box of veggies. WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU TWO DOING!!!!! Well shoot fire Auntie we can't talk, we can't even move. It didn't take her long to figure it out and she unplugged the refer and started pouring cold water on the bottom under our tongues. Warm water freezes faster don't ya know. I'm not sure how long it took but I do know we ate cold soup for several days afterward. And I do know that our bottoms were just as sore as our tongues. Next time we will ask. Our Parents were upset more about our poor tongues than they were about what we did. We found that out years later. Why didn't they tell us then for goodness sake. We would nota' had to suffer near as much now would we? Like I said before. We had the greatest Parents God ever made. YEP WE DID!!!!

HOBOS

8-01-08...HOBOS

We lived right by a RR track when I was growing up. The crossing was only a small distance from our house and there was a train came by around midnight. It would start the whistle just in front of our house and it would blow until it got to the crossing. Boy did Brenda and I have fun with that if we had company who were not farmiliar with that procedure. Scared the pants off them! There were Hobo's who walked the track all the time then. They would stop at our house and ask for food and water. They always got it. We were not a bit afraid of them. In those days no one locked doors. We just went to sleep with no worry. Sure is different now. Anyway one night we had a friend staying all night with us. She had never been there before so Of course we planned to scare her big time. We had done it to others but this was a snooty cousin of ours from the city (she called it a city but it was just a small town. Little snot nosed smart elec) we really wanted to get her good and proper so we planned the event for several days and come up with a neato' plan. We thought! We decided to get Pricilla( yep Prissy silly) outside before the train came and scare her spitless then threaten her about what we would do if she told. We stayed awake because we were so used to the noise we never even heard it anymore. Prissy silly' went to sleep. Brenda was and still is a sleep hard head. Couldn't wake her with a bomb once she was asleep so I had a big job keeping her awake. Everytime I realized she was driftin' off I'd nudge her very gently with a open diaper pin. When she would jump and start to holler I'd put my hand over her mouth and nose to stiffle it down. Clydene you better quit or Ima' gonna' tell! Shut up Brenda and be quiet. Your a gonna' wake Prissy Silly. That was quiet an ordeal. My gosh I sure was havin' to work hard to pull this one off. Well at just the right time I woke Prissy silly and told her we were going out to pee' so come on. I don't have to go. Well if you don't go now we are not goin' with you when you need to go. She came but she had to have her robe and fuzzy silly slippers. We were beginnin' to think we'd never get the little smart elec' out. Well we did get her out just as the train started that mournful whistle. Sounded like all the demons were coming and Prissy Silly just went berserk, banana's and crazy all rolled in to one. We had done it YAAHOOO! But now wait a minute, not so fast, somethin' was certainly not right here! Remember, I told you about those hobo's? We we never figured that one would be bedded down in the grass on the other side of the fence. Nope never knew they done' that, Nope, sure didn't know that. He raised up when Prissy silly was screamin' like a hyena and we all saw him. We all started screamin' and hollerin' and tryin' to run and just succeeded in going to the ground in a big heap, scrambled to get up and got all tangled up in Prissy Silly's robe with the pink tassles that matched her fuzzy pink slippers. Prissy Silly had long pink fingernails and they were thrashing the heck outta' us. Let me get hold of her, I guarantee you she won't have any more fingernails, Brenda. Well Brenda was screaming and crying and scratching too and lucky for me her fingernails were worn down just like mine. Mama and Daddy came running out and I heard Brenda's Mama and Daddy a comin' through the pasture just a hollering. Wanna' know what they were hollering, Huh Do Ya? What have they done now?!!! Well that wasn't nice now was it. We coulda been hurt. We all quited down only to hear such moaning and groaning comin' from over by the track. We had scared that old man so bad he had got up and run. With the train going by he was blown back down in the weeds which in that spot was a blackberry vine. GET THE PICTURE? Now what we didn't know at the time was Daddy had told him he could sleep there. He was old and Mama had fed him that afternoon. We got over our scare of him and started gettin' scared of the peach tree limb. We always went out at night to use the BR and we weren't scared of the old Hobo. We knew him almost like family. He was through there often but Prissy Silly had us so worked up. Her screaming coulda' woke the dead we thought. We we taken in and our scratches were doctored and we were put to bed. But We Knew, Oh yep we knew. Morning was comin' and we kinda figured what was gonna' happen'. Well it sure did happen. We were expectin' it and knew we deserved it but this time it was a tough pill to swaller' cause' Prissy Silly got to watch and then of all things, we had to tell her we were sorry and give her a hug. "PSHEW" That was nasty. Yep, that one backfired on us. And our Parents made us feel so sorry for what we had done to that old hobo. But now fellin' sorry for Prissy Silly was just too much for us to swallow. Nope, We never did feel sorry for her. She had it comin' Don't Ya Think?????

A TRIP BACK IN TIME

7-28-08...A TRIP BACK IN TIME

I just haven't been up to snuff lately. Not feeling well and getting depressed about it. I have always found laughing at things make them better but just couldn't get in a laughing mood. How stupid of me. All I needed to do was take me a little trip down memory lane to get myself back on track.
I got to thinking about the day Brenda and I dumped the cows water cause' we were mad at my Auntie. Now I can't for the life of me remember what we were mad at her about. It musta' been bad cause' we were very mad at her I know that.
Brenda's dad had a cow Ol' Pet who was in our pasture at the time. There was no pond so they came down and drew water from our well and filled a wash tub for the cow to drink. It was hard work. Auntie was doing it that day and Brenda and I were watching her, all the time whispering things about her in each others ears. BOY! Were we mad. She had to draw a bucket of water, walk over to the fence, pour it in, then come back, draw another bucket, go back, pour it in and do that till' the tub was full. Hard work and the weather was hot. We sat there like the little Angels that we were till' Auntie went back through the pasture to her house. We had whispered and whispered and got ourselves into one big tizzy' of a madder than a hornet mad. I said, Brenda lets pour out that ol' water. That'll show her. Yep that'll sure show her Brenda said. We ran over and crawled under the fence. Brenda, You get here and I'll get there and we'll both push at the same time. OK lets do it. Well we Huffed and we puffed but the tub was so heavy it wouldn't budge. What'll we do now Brenda said. Don't know Brenda let me think. (she never helped me think) OK, here's what we do, we get the bucket and pour out one at a time. That shouldn't take long. I went first of course and succeded in pouring half a bucket of water all over me but it was out of the tub wasn't it. Brenda took her turn and did about the same thing but we were on a roll now. At least we were till' my Mama hollered from the kitchen window. You girls get out of that water right now. She thought we were just playing in the water. If she'da known what we were up to all of us woulda been saved from later problems. But she didn't sooo. Soon as she was outta' sight we went back to our work. Boy did we ever work hard. I guess getting madder' than a hornet puts you in gear. I don't know how long we worked at that but I do know I wouldn't want to do it right now. Work is work don't ya know. When we got enough of it out then we were able to tip the tub over and dump the rest. The tub tipped over on a rock and that made one heck of a racket which brought my Mama running out. Now we had us a lot of explaining to do which we tried hard to do to no avail. See Mama knew we were mad at Auntie so she already had it figured out. She hollered, (we were in hollering distance between the two houses) told Auntie to Come here a minute and we knew the jig was up. When Auntie got there I don't think she had a hard time figureing it out either. Our Mama's were really smart that way. Why would you girls do that to poor ol' Pet now she is thirsty? (I guess that was reverse phycholigy (Make em feel guilty) and it worked, we did feel sorry for ol' Pet but we were still mad at Auntie. We thought we had really gotten back at her and It just served her right, the ol' mean woman. Set that tub up girls Auntie said, which we did. We were beginning to feel a little better toward Auntie right now. She seemed to be taking it pretty good wasn't acting mad at all. Well girls the tub has to be refilled now don't it. Oh yes Auntie we sure don't want ol' Pet to get thirsty. Boy this was easy. We thought we were gonna' really get it for this one. Auntie and Mama each got a bucket, walked to the well, took turns drawing a bucket of water, put half in each bucket and said come here girls!!! We knew we couldn't draw a bucket of water we were not strong enough to do that yet. So what were they gonna' do now. Go get a switch each they said. Oh my goodness mercy sakes alive what in the world are they doing Brenda? I don't know, maybe we should run. Nope I done that before, don't work I said. We gathered our switches and took them back to our Mama's. Now girls, each of you will bend over and pick up a bucket and go pour it in the tub and bring it back here. We didn't hardly know what to think then but we bent over to get the bucket and Boy did we find out!! When we bent over our legs were stripped with the switch. Mama! That will kill us if we get a stripe for every bucket I said ,and Brenda said yeaw that's gonna take us a long time. well you should have thought of that when you dumped it out they both said together!!! Oh My oh My Oh My we started crying and begging and making all kinds of promices and those two just said. Get going. Of course we only had to do it three times but we were so scared after the third time the lesson was learned. we felt so bad after that for our Mama's. They had to fill that tub back up and it was a hard job, we should know shouldn't we. We learned more than one lesson that day. I still feel the shame when I think what we did. But of course it didn't stop us from getting into mischief. We were, though, careful not to do anything that would hurt our parents in that way again. We had good Parents and we loved them, and we both miss them terribly now. They were the best. YEP THE VERY BEST!!!!!

STILL HONERY

7-25-08...STILL HONERY

Brenda and I could always get ourselves into messes. Still can if we see each other. She lives 300 mi. away and I sure miss her bad sometimes. When we talk on the phone it is always for hours. I talked to her today and she told me something I had forgotten. This happened when we were twelve and we sure enough knew better by then.
I was spending the night at Brenda's. Our Parents had gone to visit my Aunt and uncle and we didn't want to go. Auntie left Brenda's older sister in charge of us. She was 16 and should have been more responsible. Auntie had a bushell of grapes on the porch. She was going to can them the next day. Our friend Travis who was 11 had told us that his Dad made wine in their cellar out of grapes. He said his Dad cooked grapes, put in some sugar and some cake yeast, the only kind there was at the time. We decided we would just make some. Oh Lord, Yes we did!! By then we knew very well how to clean our mess up so there was no problem there. We cooked the whole grapes till they were mushy, put in a bunch of sugar and half a pound cake of yeast and cooked it some more. I don't know why Tut ( her name was Yvonne but we all called her Tut and don't ask me why) didn't come out of her bedroom when that smell started but she didn't. Smelled sorta' good but also sorta' bad. We got some of Auntie's canning jars and caps and sealed that stuff up. We cleaned up our mess real good, we were experts at that now. But Brenda, what do we do with the wine now? We can't drink it. Well she said I've got one dresser drawer that is mine and we can put it in there. Which we did. Right in there went 3 pints of beautiful purple juice. We hid it under Brenda's underwear. We had no idea what we were supposed to do now so We'd just wait and ask Travis when we see him. Well that turned out just fine for a change. We didn't get caught and no one would ever know. OH Boy were We Ever Wrong!!! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
About a week later I was again spending the night with Brenda and we had forgot all about our wine making. We hadn't got caught or made a big mess so it sure didn't seem like a big thing anymore. Not as much fun, if you know what I mean. Well we were asleep when we heard something. Sounded like a gun might have fired in the woods so we went back to sleep. We heard some more strange noises during the night but that's the way it is in the country at night. A sound carries a long way. Nothing to worry about. Right? Wrong again. The next morning Brenda went to get clean clothes and noticed something funny looking running out of her dresser drawer. Oh Yeaw, You guessed it. She opened it and there in all it's glory was our wine, broken glass and all. Brenda what in the world is that I hollered. Well I don't know she said, Tut is probably up to something. She did pester us a lot. So what did we do but go get Auntie and just told on that hateful Tut. Just look what she did we said. Are you gonna' make her go get a switch? Auntie hollered Tut get in here right now!!! But in the meantime Brenda and I must have had the same thought because Brenda looked at me and said,,,, Oh My God Clydene do you know what that is? well of course I knew what that was but I sure wasn't planning to tell. Brenda You big mouth. How could you be so stupid. Of course then we had to fess' up and tell the whole story and all three of us had to go get a switch. Us for what we had done and Tut for not watching us when she was supposed to have been. All four parents got their turn at us that time and we had to live in antisipation of when each one would take their turn. They made us suffer for a long time over that one. Now was that fair? Of course it was!!!! One more thing. You may be wondering why Auntie hadn't found the jars. Wasn't that way. We all had to fold and put our own clothes away so Auntie had no reason to look in Brenda's drawer. I think Auntie and my Mama both started looking then. Never saw them do it but I know my Mama and My Auntie. YEP!!!

GETTIN READY TO GO

7-24-08...GETTIN READY TO GO

Now, I remember this incident vaguly and Mama and Auntie filled us in on details several times as we got older. My Brother was born when I was four almost five. Brenda's brother was born exactly one year earlier. So I was five at the time this happened and like I said I have vague memories of it. I think Brenda and I were sorta' kinda' jealous of our little brothers. One reason I think that is because I very distincly remember Telling My Daddy to take him back because he was ugly and I don't want him! Didn't take me long to love him though. But this one time I think we were both kinda' aggervated at them because we had to go on a trip to the Dr when they were both sick. No one home to keep us and our parents would never leave us with anyone anyway. Just the CODE of the families or something. It had to be hard on them getting all four of us ready at the same time and we went everywhere together. Don't know why just the way it was. No car so my other Aunt was coming to get us and she was soooo! persnickity Mama said. Brenda and I were first. We got all clean and in our dresses with matching socks and bonnets. No pants and sneakers then. They hadn't even been invented yet. Well I guess we looked like little dolls cause' our Mama's said so. They told us to sit down and don't get dirty till' they got the boys ready. We did just that but it was taking so long we got figity'. we didn't figure it would hurt to go out on the porch where it was cooler now would it!? Couldn't fault us for that. Could You? We sat there like the little dolls we were for what seemed like a long time to us. Later we were told it was only about five minutes till' they came looking for us. Can't say I really believed that then.
Brenda lets go look at the garden. OK. Her Daddy had just ploughed the garden yesterday and it had rained on it. He told us that things would really grow good now so we figured those taters' would be about big enough to eat and wouldn't our Mama's be prowd of us if we got some of them for supper. (I REMEMBER THINKING THAT) We just walked on out there to do just that. The ground was really soft I guess and our little legs were really short and I had a new white dress on. WHOOPS! What tha heck? I remember being scared to death because I couldn't move with my legs up to my hips buried in black mud. "BREEENNNDAAA Help!!! I can't you help me. OH MY OH MY OH MY!!! We're gonna' sink under and no one will find us for a hundret' years!!! Of course you know our Mama's arrived right then carrying our Brothers on their hips and the rucus was on. The boys couldn't be put down and they couldn't come in and help us carrying them. ( I told them we didn't want them boys in the first place) As usual Brenda was right on my heels and she grabbed on and held tight. We were not going to sink more but we sure thought we were. Well, Thank The Good Lord My Aunt Georgia arrived then. She would not come and get us but she would hold the babies so they could. The very Idea. Can't y'all take care of these kids better than that. Told you she was persnikity'! Mama and Auntie waded in and pulled us out. I musta' really been stuck cause' I came out without my shoes. Sid. Brenda's Daddy ,dug them up later. That was the least of our worries though. Guess you know what happened then. Oh sure Peach tree tannin'. I know, I know, We deserved it but I still get a sick stomach when I see black mud. Besides It was all Brenda's fault anyway. Wasn't she a whole seven month's older than me? Little smart elec' shoulda' known better!!!

OLD BARNS

7-21-08...OLD BARNS

Everyone had a big ol' barn in my neck of the woods when I was growing up. That's where we played and one day that's where we got in a lotta' trouble.
My barn was built out of cross ties off the railroad. We lived right beside the tracks and when The RR CO. put in new ties Daddy drug the ones they took out over using Ol' Dixie, our horse. When there was enough he built the barn. (remind me to tell you some stories about that RR track) But this happened in Brenda's barn. Because it had a loft we played up there. Had lots of things up there to play with, even paper and pencils and cigar boxes of our "secret" stuff. No one ever went up there anymore but there was an old rotten bale of hay that we just loved to sit on.
One day we had been watching my Daddy roll cigarettes with Prince Albert Tobacco out of a red can. We decided we wanted to try that but never could sneak any out of the house. I said Brenda, that tobacco looks just like coffee grounds lets get some coffee and use that. OK she said but what will we use for paper? There was no way to get any of daddy's. I said, lets use paper sack. Yeaw she said. that will work. She got the coffee out of her house and I found a paper sack in the trash and she got a couple of matches. Boy now we were in business. Of course we took our treasures all up to the barn loft.
We sat down on that old bale of hay and proceeded to tear the sack into little strips about the size of cigarette papers. We put the tobacco inside the paper but it wouldn't roll up on the coffee and stay. Well shoot Brenda said, that don't work. I said Brenda Daddy licks the paper so it will stick, that's what we have to do. OK! We each got one ready and started slobbering on the paper. (Remember it came out of the trash?) Something tastes horrible Brenda said as we started spittin' out tobacco and no tellin' what else. Brenda go in the house and ask Auntie for some water to drink and we will wet the paper with that. OK she said. We wet the paper and then poured the coffee in and it rolled up nicely. Now we got it!! We had one match each. Of course I was first, Brenda wouldn't do anything till' she saw me do it. My paper wouldn't light of course. It was too wet and my match went out. Brenda, give me yours and then you can light yours off mine. Which she did!! I held the second match to the coffee cigarette till it burned down to my finger (cigarette still not lit of course) Ouch it's burning I said and dropped the match in the hay that I was sitting on. And that's when the trouble started!!!! The hay caught!! I said brenda take off your dress and beat this out and I did the same. We couldn't make much headway so we took off runnin' for the ladder that would take us out of the loft. Brenda pushed ahead of me. Little smart elec. She always let me go first and she's not gettin' away with this. Why the very idea!!!! I tried to push her back and she fell down the ladder and on the hard floor below. Then she started howlin and moanin'. Brenda shut up someone will hear you. We gotta get outta' here. Brenda's daddy come running in the barn about that time with my Auntie right behind him. He went up the ladder with toe sacks and made short work of thay hay fire. Guess it was only smoldering then. Auntie started to strap our backsides but discovered Brenda was in pain, so she said you get youe butt' home right now and tell your Daddy to bring his car out here. I took off runnin' and she picked Brenda up and took her out to the lane where Daddy picked them up.
Brenda got home later that evening with her arm in a sling. She had a broken collar bone and I had already had my legs stripped with a switch. Brenda was promised the same thing when her arm healed but the little smart elec never got it. I even remineded my Auntie that she was due a licking a couple of times. I'm still mad because she never got her striping. Durn' you Brenda.

SCHOOL DAYS

7-17-08...SCHOOL DAYS

Brenda was only seven month's older than me but she started to school the year before I did. I missed her so bad. I was just lost so when she came home in the evening I guess we had lots of catching up to do. I ran up the lane to meet her one day when she got off the bus. She was running down to meet me. We decided to cut through the pasture so we'd meet faster. Brenda's Dad had an honery old gray plough horse in that pasture that we were leery of so we usually watched for him. One day we weren't watching good enough and Smokie ran out between us. He was snorting and rearing up. We weren't really scared of him (WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN) so we just decided to go around him. Well that honery old horse wouldn't let us pass. At first we were laughing and giggling but soon we realized that Smokie was serious. Brenda was the jittery kind anyway but I was fisty. I decided that ol' gray mare wasn't going to get the best of me. No way! No siree! I said, You just get outta' here you ugly ol' thing, I'm not afraid of you. Come on Brenda we'll crawl under the fence. Brenda was hangin' onto my dress as we ran. I could hear that ol' nag right behind us. I thought he was just playing with us but I was wrong about that because he started nudgin' Brenda in the backside. She went wilder than a rabid skunk. She jerked my dress to hold me back I guess. well I was movin' on and the whole bottom part of my dress ripped off at the waist and caught on my ankles. Somehow Brenda got all wound up in the dress and we both hit the ground. Hey, Now I was scareder' that Brenda. We were right at the edge of the barbed wire fence when we landed. Brenda turn loose of me so I can get out of this dress. I can't! Why not? My arm is tangled up in it. Oh My gosh! Oh Lord help us! We were screamin' like wild cats caught in a briar thicket. Ol' Smokie had stopped and was rearing up. Each time he came back down his hooves were a little closer to us. Dirt was a flyin' all over us. I said, Brenda turn loose of me. Mama is gonna' kill me for tearin' my dress and I'm a gonna' tell her you did it. You little cry baby. I looked up and saw Auntie running torward us with her arms a flyin sayin Get Out of there. She was talking to Smokie but I thought she was talkin' to us. I said Auntie make Brenda turn loose of me. She tore my dress clean off me. Make her let go of me. Auntie said Be still girls, Don't move. well we were havin' none of that. We wanted outta' there and we wanted outta' there right now. We kept squallblin' around there on the ground and Smokie kept rearing up and a snortin' like an ol' pig. I don't know how my Auntie would have done it if My Mama hadn't come runnin' up right then. They dropped down on their knees and each or them got hold of one of us and pulled us under the fence at the same time. they said they just knew if they didn't get us at the same instant that Smokie might get the one left behind. Mother's think fast. Then there is the fact that Brenda and I were so tangled uo together they probably couldn't have pulled us apart anyway. God only knows how we two survived to grow up. we had good Parents and God watching over us. GOD must have thought I'll be so glad when these two grow up. They are wearing me out!!!!

THE REST OF THE STORY

7-16-08...THE REST OF THE STORY

I wrote about my stinker of a cousin Sonny, and how he tormented Brenda and I. Well we got him back and we got him back good. It just didn't seem to help his love of red shiny things a lot. His tormenting just went on to anyone he could torment. And it sure wasn't me, NO SIRE Not me ever again.
As he got older his fixation with those red things just seemed to get worse. When he got his first car at 18 it seemed to only get worse. By then his older sister Mary had an adorable four year old Daughter. She was the first grandchild and since Sonny had been the baby of the family until she came along there was conflict big time and the cow manure HIT THE FAN!!! Sonny was a spoiled brat all his life but little Lucinda moved in on his turf. Sonny pestered that poor little thing to death. I thought someone should just put the big baby out of his misery. Hey I'll even help do the job guys!! I have a few more tricks up my sleeve. Hey! Anybody listenin' to me? I'll even supply the bullets. (or maybe this time we'll get pig manure. It smells worse and a pig is more his style). Sonny had a shiny red old chevy of some kind and it was his pride and joy. The little spoiled brat!!! Well little Lucinda (even if shewas only four) had picked up how Sonny doted on that car. She must have inherited that from me. DON'T YA THINK? One day she was so mad at him that she was outside in the yard and Sonny was gettin' what for inside from eveybody. Oh how I wish I could have been there. I still just drool at the mouth thinking about it. Little four yr. old Lucinda got his smart elec, goat faced, diginity just where it hurt him most. I'm still jealous that a four year old was better at the job that I was at seven. First she got rocks and dirt and put them all over the car anywhere she could reach. And Hey she was my little cousin so that was not enough. She took one of the rocks and scrapped it all down one side of the car. Oh My Oh My I am gettin' so excited! It seems that Sonny had either lost or didn't have the gas tank lid. He had a rag or something stuffed in the top of the tank to keep out the dirt and such. Aunt Bonnie had given him the money for a new cap but right now he seemed to be gettin' into all kinds of trouble in the house. Now I don't know if Lucinda knew what she was doing or the seriousness of the act. ( I suspect she did though. (wasn't she my smart little cousin?) She pulled that rag out of the tank and proceeded to fill that hole up with her rocks and dirt. OH YES SHE DID!!! well you cn imagine what theresults of that was. I wasn't really old enough at the time to understand what happened but I can tell you Sonny didn't need to buy a new gas tank lid. In fact as far as I can remember I never saw him drive that car again. YIPEE He finally got what was comin' ti him. SMART ELEC LITTLE CREEP! YOU GO LUCINDA. YOU GO GIRL. You are a tribute to your big cousins.
Sonny is old now in his 80's. He owns a used car lot. He drives a fancy red sports car and he is still just as egotistical as ever. Wonder If Brenda and I and Lucinda outta get together on this?

THEY CALLED ME CAT

7-15-08...THEY CALLED ME CAT

Brenda and I were like "Lucy and Ethel". If one got into something you could bet the other was right there helping. I was the one who usually did the thinkin' it up. And we both did the doin'. Brenda was quiet and shy and didn't say much. I think because she couldn't talk plain and was teased. That brings me to the story I started out to tell.
We had four older cousins who were the meanest most tormentin' "things" on earth and they delighted in pestering us. Brenda would go hide but my claws would come out. Hence the name "Cat" was pasted on me. They lived to make our lives miserable. They all lived about a mile away and weren't always there but when they were the cat fights started. Later when we were grown they said they loved to see me put my claws out and hiss at them with my eyes firey. Now it is funny, but not then.
One of them seemed bound and determined to make me hiss and spat. Brenda would run off and abandon me every time. She'd come crawling out of what ever hole she hid in with her head bowed down in shame as soon as they were gone. One day I said" Now Brenda we have to do sumpthin' to those knot heads and "You are gonna to help me". No I'm not-- Yes you are! That went on for a while and then she agreed. " Now here is what we do".
The boys rode their bicycles over when they came and one of them was a shiny red with those clicky thingies' in the wheels, tassle hanging out of the handle bars and just spruced up something awful. Sonny was so puffed up about that bicycle. We were not allowed to touch it. Don't even get near it he would say. He polished and shined it from the little red neck flag blowing in the wind to the tires. Always wipin' and swipin' on it. Now Brenda, that's where we get him! We waited till' he came without the other three one day. He was 15 we were 6and7. Got it?? We planned for a week and had everything ready and stashed under the house. He rode up, got off his shiny bike, put the kick stand down, and turned around to swipe and wipe on that stupid bike. We were rough, and we were ready, We got us a big hand full of cow manure, (all fresh and just the right consistancy,) got behind him and said "Hey Sonny". He looked and the crap flew right into his face in all it's green glory. While he was spluttering and wiping and saying I'll kill you both, we took the bucket of manure and dumped it all over his bicycle with pig slop and mud all mixed in. Then we just stood there and giggled and pointed till he got his wits about him enough to start after us, Them we ran like the wind around the house and right smack dab into my Daddy. Brenda started running the other way, away from my Daddy and saw she was runnin' toward Sonny so wheeled around and just stood there. Brenda said, Clydene did it, I didn't wanna'. I said not a word because I knew that everyone knew she was telling the truth. Besides I could see my Daddies lips start curlin' and quiverin' and knew he was trying not to laugh. Sonny had stopped in his tracks too because he knew not to touch us with my Daddy standing there. When Daddy burst out laughing then Brenda and I knew we could relax so we laughed till tears were making tracks down our faces through something that smelled to high heaven like a mixture of green manure, mud, and pig slop. Sonny, That big old 15 yr. old baby laid down on the ground and started kickin' and screamin' like a hyenna. Daddy knew exactly what had been going on and I guess he knew we would take care of it when we got enough, so he had just sat back and waited for us to take care of that smart elec tormenter. And boy oh boy did we take care of him. After we all (including Sonny) got a few words of wisdom from Daddy we all went to the creek way down in Brenda' pasture. There we washed ourselves, and Sonny washed his bicycle. He never quit his snooty ways with that bicycle and it carried over into all the cars he owned afterward, BUT!!! He left Brenda and I to our own devices and warned the other 3 boys to do the same. Which they did!!! They were bigger than us but as it turned out----- WE Were Smarter'n them!!!!!
Part two of this is a story of Sonny all grown up with his first shiny red car, and what his own 4yr. old niece did to the car.

THE DAY WE MADE TAFFY

7-12-08...THE DAY WE MADE TAFFY

My cousin Brenda and I were always "DOING SOMETHING". Maybe we had too much time on our hands, especially in the summer when school was out. Brenda's Mama worked out of the home but my Mama was a housewife and took care of us. There were four of us, me, my Brother, Brenda and her Brother. The boys stayed inside with Mama but Brenda and I were back and forth between the houses. We lived only across the barbed wire fence and up the lane a short way. Mama could see in their kitchen window. We decided to help my Auntie out and wash her dishes which we started but that was too hard. We left some pans full of water on the wash board to "SOAK". Well "We'VE DONE OUR GOOD THING FOR TODAY" We said to each other, now lets cook something. Of course we wanted something sweet. We got out my Auntie's recipes (no book just a pile of recipes that she never used. She cooked out of her head she said. I didn't understand back then what she meant. I kept watchin' her head when she was cookin' but nothing ever came out) But I am ramblin' so back to our cookin'. We decided on making taffy because we had seen that done and the pullin' was fun. Since I've never wanted taffy since that day (YUKKY) I can't tell you what went in it but we cooked it up. What now I said. Well it has to cool before we pull it and the recipe says pour it out on a flat surface. There was a bunch of that stuff and the only flat surface we could see was the kitchen table. Sooooo! Guess What? Yep! That's just what we did and that stuff was still hot. There were cracks in that old wooden table but we couldn't help that, NOW COULD WE? OH MY GOODNESS WE SAID. We've gotta' clean this up before Auntie gets home or My Mama shows up checking on us. OH MY! OH MY! OH MY GOODNESS!!! Well DO you remember those pans sitting on the wash board soakin'? We'll just use that to clean up the floor, the chairs, and whatever else needed cleanin'. Auntie will be so happy and prowd of us when she sees how we have cleaned her kitchen , Don't you think she will, Brenda? Oh yeaw she will be so glad that she don't have to wash them dishes and mop them floors. Why no tellin what she may give us. Ok so we got all the pans down and set them on the floor under the table, got some towels and set to work!! Of course we weren't very strong so we spilled some of the pans before we got them there. Then we slipped in that soapy water(we used Oxydol detergent and boy was it slick) We wallered around down there and just cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. We thought the floor looked good when My Mama walked in with our Brothers, one on each hip, but she didn't agree with us, and there was taffy hardening on the table. OH MY OH MY OH MY!!!! You've got to understand that we were seven and eight at the time and knew better. You also need to understand that things were different back then. We were the only ones who lived down there. No one to hurt us and no one who would hurt us. Our doors were NEVER locked at our houses. NO NEED TO. Anyway back to the rest of the story. My Auntie came home about two hours later to find a spotless kitchen. Brenda and I cleaned that kitchen while My Mama watched. YES SIREE WE DID! We thought we were out of the woods now. We had baths and Mama sat us down to wait. We even saw her trying not to smile a couple of times so we just really felt good about it. "THEN MY AUNTIE GOT HOME" Mama told us to just sit right there and "DON'T YOU MOVE TILL I TELL YOU TO" We kinda thought she was gonna' brag on us to Auntie about what a good job we had done. Well we had cleaned that kitchen up real good all by ourselves, "HADN'T WE" I guess you know the rest of the story and I guess you know we didn't ever do that again. Auntie spanked us both, Then Mama spanked us both while our little snooty nosed Smart elec Brother's has cookies and milk. That is how we learned our lessons in life back then. We experienced things and we took the consquences. NO MORE NEXT TIMES. WE LEARNED GOOD. We had wonderful parents. We were spanked when we needed it and we were loved unconditionally all the time. Oh those were the best memories! THE VERY BEST THERE IS!! Kids now just have no idea what they are missing. DON'T YOU THINK?

HOT DAYS OF SUMMER

7-11-08...HOT DAYS OF SUMMER

It is so hot today it is about to frazzle me like an old prune. I just got to thinking about those wonderful summers when I was growing up and heat did not bother me in the least. I remember one scorching day when Brenda and I were trying to decide just what we could do to make things more exciting. We got in to several things that day, one being mashing poke berries into Aunt Georgias chickens water and making it a beautiful purple color. We waded around in it for a while till our feet were purple. That purple was over the black from the shale that covered our roads in that area. We took a sip of it (you know down on our knees with our mouth's just the way the chickend drank it) Well that was sure gunky tasting. How could anything so pretty taste so bad? Aunt Georgia came out and chased us out of it and told us we would probably get sick from drinking that nasty water. She pointed out the stuff floating around in there. And I'll let you decide what it was. Kinda shiny and green. Well that adventure didn't last long so "WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO NOW" We strolled down the lane to my back yard and spotted the black walnuts under the tree. As they fell off the tree Daddy spread them out for drying so the hulls would come off and the walnuts could be cracked for nuts for the winter. I said, "Brenda why dont we help My Daddy and start taking the hulls off these walnuts" OK, Thats a good Idea she said. Well the walnuts were green. I don't know if any of you have ever experienced what happens when you bust the green off a walnut. If not, let me tell you. The juice from the green hull turns everything in comes in contact with a dirty, black, kinda' pukey color. And it does not come off of your skin or out of your clothes for a very very very long time. Get the picture? We had purple and black feet, pukey black every where else. We had even sat in both colors. But Hey we were having lots of fun!!! When we got tired of that we strolled back out the lane to Brenda's back yard again. There we spotted that big old persimmon tree just loaded down with green persimmons. Now we had ate a lot of ripe persimmons, had persimmon cookies and cakes. Those were yummy. But we had never tasted green persimmons. Well, Wasn't it time we did? HUH? Sure it was. Those green persimmons were as hard to open as the walnuts and there was more of that juice inside and it was sticky and gooey. Something sticky and gooey had to be yummy, RIGHT? WRONG!! If you have ever tasted a green persimmon you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't,,, DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT!!! Our mouths puckered up something awful. There is just no way to explain what a green persimmon does to your mouth my lips are curling up just thinking about it.
" Well Brenda,that didn't come out very well." We ran back to the chickens water and got down and tried to wash out our mouth's but that didn't work so NOW WHAT! We spied the fruit orchard and figured we'd eat some fruit to get that awful taste out of our puckered up mouth. We were told to stay out of that orchard. And just a few days ago My aunt had told us, "THAT FRUIT IS NOT RIPE GIRLS. YOU CAN"T EAT IT NOW. STAY OUT OF THERE" OK, We Won't eat any. But surely she wouldn't care since we just had to have something besides green persimmon in our mouth. Surely we didn't need to ask her. NAW. IT"LL BE OK. We picked apples and ate a few. They didn't taste good either but much better than the persimmons. But why is my mouth still puckering up? I guess My Mama and Brenda's Mama spotted us at the same time eatin' apples because they showed up at the same time. There we stood in all our glory. I guess we looked like a dirty rainbow or something."WHAT IN THIS WORLD HAVE YOU TWO DONE NOW" "IT WAS BRENDA"S IDEA" I SAID. "Oh no it was not my idea it was Clydene's idea" Brenda said> " Well it makes no difference whose idea it was" Mama and Auntie said. Since you are in the orchard you can each break off one of those little limbs right there from that peach tree. I guess you know what happened next. HUH? We got spankings then not time outs. I was never so miserable in my life right then. Well, So I thought!! I think Brenda and I probably got sick about midnight and I mean sick!!! GREEN APPLE, GREEN PERSIMMON, PURPLE WATER sick. Oh my gosh Mama You didn't have to spank me to teach me that lesson. NO SIREE!! NEITHER OF US HAS EVER FORGOTTEN IT!!! And it has been 58, FIFTY EIGHT YEARS AGO. My stomach is gettin' queasy just thinking about it. You know, Back then the things we got into were small things like that. Our Parents in time would laugh about them. But the lessons we learned were not small at all. I forget things that happened last week, but I will never forget those sweet growing up years way down at the end of a dead in road amoung the trees. Makes me homesick and brings tears to my eyes as I sit here. GOD BLESS THOSE SWEET PEOPLE WHO RAISED US UP. THEY DID A GOOD JOB I THINK.