Boy Oh Boy, there never was anything as good as Mama's Blackberry Cobbler. You see, she climed a bob-wire fence at the top of our lot and went way over the hill and through a pasture to pick blackberries. They were free and with seven mouths to feed it just made sense to go to all that trouble to pick the berries. Mama thought so anyway, the rest of us weren't so sure. Any of us kids that were home when she was ready to go had to go with her. She said she didn't have time to pick them all by herself plus she wouldn't be able to carry all of them home.
I liked the adventure of going just not the thorns I got in my hands and arms. I say I liked the adventure until one day when my older brothers were told they would be going. Mama said Jeanne, my oldest sister could stay home if she would wash up the breakfast dishes so Mama could prepare the berries for a cobbler to have for supper dessert. Jeanne was more than glad to stay home cause she wasn't a tomboy like me and she sure didn't like that bob-wire fence.
Mama handed out the buckets and off we went. I saw Jeanne grab a magazine and plop on the couch. I thought "boy she will be in trouble if she doesn't wash those dishes. Mama climbed through the bob-wire fence followed by Joe and then Bob. I yelled, "I can't get through this fence by myself." After all, I wasn't very old but Mama left Jeanne home with my little sister so I guess she thought Jeanne couldn't handle two of us. After getting through the fence I was pretty happy til Joe asked me if I had heard what happened at an old run down vacant house we were passing by. I thought I was going to hear something good, Bob snickered back at Joe and Joe said "hush Bob". I told Joe to go on with the story. Well I was very young.
Joe said that some years earlier a family lived there. Everybody in town was afraid of the old man. He beat his wife and the kids all the time. Sometimes the kids didn't come to school for weeks at a time and the wife was hardly ever seen. Joe told me to run fast past the house if I heard a loud moan coming from the house when we passed. I said "maybe we will see the kids and can play with them". Joe and Bob laughted to themselves and said "we'll tell you why you had better run for your life if anybody comes out of that house."
Mama said, "boys, stop all that whispering and come on. We don't have all day to get to the berry patch." "Ok, Mama" yelled the boys. We were a far piece behind Mama. "But Joe" I said, "you have to tell me." Joe continued on that one day the Mama and all the kids were murdered in that house and you could still see the blood on the floor. Bob made a moaning sound behind me and of course I thought it came from the house. I screamed and run hard to catch up with Mama and stayed real close to her. The boys laughted and talked to each other as we arrived at the patch of berries.
We picked what seamed a long time and I had my little pail full except I kept having to pick a few more to replace what I ate along the way. The boys yelled out loud, "there's a snake on the bush." Sure enough there was. Bob said, "I'm going to kill it and take it home to scare Jeanne." Mama told him in no uncertain terms that he was to leave that snake alone and fill his bucket.
Needless to say, the boys didn't mind Mama. Joe got two good size sticks and put one over the top of the snake and one under the branch it was on. I was sure Mama would hear the smacking together of the sticks but she had her head stuck down to the ground picking berries from the bottom of the bush. Joe hid the dead snake and made me swear I wouldn't tell Mama and I didn't.
We started home and had almost reached the top of the hill when I heard Mama scream, "Run for the fence fast." We looked back and a big black bull was gaining ground on us fast. Mama held the fence for us and we went through that fence like it didn't have a single barb on it.
I was sure glad to be home, with the scare of the murder and the rageing bull I just wanted to feel safe again. We entered the house before Mama and Jeanne was washing the dishes. I knew she wouldn't have them done. Joe stepped ever so quietly up behind Jeanne and held the stick out over her shoulder and said "Booh!" Jeanne looked around and saw that snake on her shoulder and screamed louder than I thought was possible. A plate went up in the air along with a lot of soap suds and came crashing onto the floor. In comes Mama. You can guess the rest, or maybe you can't. Mama asked Bob if he knew Joe brought the snake home and he lied and said no. When Mama asked me. I was afraid to lie so I said yes.
Now do you know the end of the story? No? Well Joe got yelled at for bringing the snake home. Bob, of course, didn't know he brought it home, and me? Well I got spanked for not telling Mama Joe brought the snake home.
I still can smell Mama's good Blackberry Cobblers and long for them, but I have never gone berry picking again.
Man, TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Another Bob Story
I know I have already told you a Bob Story but one came to mind today that might explain why it takes Bob so long to think and talk.
When we were just little kids we all progressed at different times. Some of us talked and walked at different ages. Mom had five of us kids so I am sure she couldn't spend a lot of time with each one of us. Bob was the third kid, Jeanne being the oldest, then came Joe eleven months later. Boy, they were almost cose to be twins!
Anyway, on to the story of Bob. I didn't know there was anything wrong with Bob cause I was two years younger than Bob and I really don't know how smart I was at that age. All I knew at the age of three was the two older kids made fun of Bob and laughed at him a lot. I never heard anything out of Bob about it which brings me finally to the gest of my story.
One Sunday morning we were all around the breakfast table waiting on Mama to sit down so we cound dig into the bacon and eggs and biscuits with Mama's homemade apple butter. Mama said we could start without her cause she wanted to put the frying pan into soak.
All of a sudden Bob said, "Ma, you burned the biscuits". Then we heard a loud clang as Mama had dropped the heavy iron pan into the sink. She came running over to the table with water dripping from her hands and a startled look on her face. I saw Daddy look at her with surprise.
Mama put her wet hands on Bob's cheeks and looked him right in the eye. Mama said "Bobby", (that's what Mama called him when he was little) you said a whole sentence, why haven't you talked before?" Daddy said, "yes he's never said a word before and he is five years old!" Mama asked him again and waited to see if he would speak again.
Bob pulled Mama's hands away from his face and looked at Mama. "Well, Bob said, you never burned the biscuits before."
I suppose that's why Bob doesn't have much to say, and when he does it takes a long time for him to say it. Now I'm not saying anything was wrong with Bob but you can judge it as you may.
I'll sign off now and leave Bob alone for a while. I guess Bob might say this was just another of his Trials and Tribulations. Bye!
When we were just little kids we all progressed at different times. Some of us talked and walked at different ages. Mom had five of us kids so I am sure she couldn't spend a lot of time with each one of us. Bob was the third kid, Jeanne being the oldest, then came Joe eleven months later. Boy, they were almost cose to be twins!
Anyway, on to the story of Bob. I didn't know there was anything wrong with Bob cause I was two years younger than Bob and I really don't know how smart I was at that age. All I knew at the age of three was the two older kids made fun of Bob and laughed at him a lot. I never heard anything out of Bob about it which brings me finally to the gest of my story.
One Sunday morning we were all around the breakfast table waiting on Mama to sit down so we cound dig into the bacon and eggs and biscuits with Mama's homemade apple butter. Mama said we could start without her cause she wanted to put the frying pan into soak.
All of a sudden Bob said, "Ma, you burned the biscuits". Then we heard a loud clang as Mama had dropped the heavy iron pan into the sink. She came running over to the table with water dripping from her hands and a startled look on her face. I saw Daddy look at her with surprise.
Mama put her wet hands on Bob's cheeks and looked him right in the eye. Mama said "Bobby", (that's what Mama called him when he was little) you said a whole sentence, why haven't you talked before?" Daddy said, "yes he's never said a word before and he is five years old!" Mama asked him again and waited to see if he would speak again.
Bob pulled Mama's hands away from his face and looked at Mama. "Well, Bob said, you never burned the biscuits before."
I suppose that's why Bob doesn't have much to say, and when he does it takes a long time for him to say it. Now I'm not saying anything was wrong with Bob but you can judge it as you may.
I'll sign off now and leave Bob alone for a while. I guess Bob might say this was just another of his Trials and Tribulations. Bye!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Trials and Tribulations
My brother Bob has always said he was going to write a book someday, but so far he has only been able to come up with the title "Trials and Tribulations". I always told him if he would record his stories that I would type them for him. I had better brush up on my typing because this is the first time I have typed on a computer and believe me it ain't like the typewriters I have used in the past.
Bob told me one day he was sitting on his front porch and a man came walking by and waived at him. Bob waived back. The man asked if he could come sit and visit with him a few minutes because he was the new preacher of the Friends Church and was trying to visit as many people in town as he could. Bob said, "sure, come on over and sit a spell."
Bob said they talked about the town of Galax and how he was born and raised there and left town several times but always came back. Bob said the preacher was quiet for a minute and then turned to Bob with a serious look on his face. He asked the preacher if everything was alright.
"Oh yes" he said with a smile. "I sometimes take on a serious look, I've been told, when I am worrying about someone's walk with the Lord". "Bob, do you ever think about the Here After?"
Bob said he thought for a minute. Bob's minutes are longer than the average and he talks slower than that. Bob told me he told the preacher he thinks of the here after every day. He said the preacher looked surprised and said, "you think about the Here After every day. Why may I ask?"
"Well Sir," Bob said in his slow southern drawl, "Every day when I come out here on this porch, I ask myself, what did I come out HERE AFTER."
This is the end of one of Bob's trials and tribulations!
Bob told me one day he was sitting on his front porch and a man came walking by and waived at him. Bob waived back. The man asked if he could come sit and visit with him a few minutes because he was the new preacher of the Friends Church and was trying to visit as many people in town as he could. Bob said, "sure, come on over and sit a spell."
Bob said they talked about the town of Galax and how he was born and raised there and left town several times but always came back. Bob said the preacher was quiet for a minute and then turned to Bob with a serious look on his face. He asked the preacher if everything was alright.
"Oh yes" he said with a smile. "I sometimes take on a serious look, I've been told, when I am worrying about someone's walk with the Lord". "Bob, do you ever think about the Here After?"
Bob said he thought for a minute. Bob's minutes are longer than the average and he talks slower than that. Bob told me he told the preacher he thinks of the here after every day. He said the preacher looked surprised and said, "you think about the Here After every day. Why may I ask?"
"Well Sir," Bob said in his slow southern drawl, "Every day when I come out here on this porch, I ask myself, what did I come out HERE AFTER."
This is the end of one of Bob's trials and tribulations!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Fall Has Come Again
There are several ways I know when fall has arrived. For one, my old cat Charlotte yells at me to get her heating pad out of the garage and put it in her bed. Also, there comes the leaves making a mess all over the yard, not that I have to pick them up any more, but they do make my allergies worse. I know when I feel the pounding pressure in my head and I have to get out the nose spray fall has arrived. And then there is the arrival of my good "friend" and neighbor, Sylvia, back from a not so long enough summer in her California home. I shouldn't talk nasty about her "bless her heart", not that I could possibly get a word in edge-wise when she is around. I don't mind talking - uh, I mean listening, to her but she feels compelled to tell me every detail of all the charity work she has sweated over for the entire summer. She does admit, under her breath, that she didn't do it ALL by herself. Once in a while she will change the subject long enough to ask me if anything gossipy has happend while she was away, but before I can get out three words she is cutting in again to tell me about something that she did, not knowing how she could have possibly forgot to tell me. I will have the good fortune to have her around until Spring. Oh, how I like to see an early spring. Oh, good readers, have I told you that FALL HAS COME AGAIN? See you later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
