Country Life – Then and Now
Mountain Folks Seek Shelter 2011
As a result the deadly tornadoes of last April it seems that the sale of storm shelters has gone up tremendously. I’ve never seen one close up, but they appear to be made in one piece and then buried. Well, let me tell you about storm shelters of the 1930’s and 40’s. My family never…
Read MoreAunt Bill Offers Advice 2011
Thank goodness Billie asked me to write this. I shore have been a-wantin’ to give these folks some advice. You see, we’ve got a new young doctor here on the mountain and him and his bride come by The Windy Knoll the other day when I see’d she’s in a family way. Law me, these…
Read MoreI Can Remember — can you? 1991
Can you remember when…? Travel was done by horses and buggy and/or mules and wagon. Spend-the-day company came unannounced and often. Sewing was done on a treadle sewing machine. We striped syrup cane, cut it and hauled it to the syrup mill where the juicer was turned by mule power. Fodder was pulled and a…
Read MoreNursery Rhymes 1988
Confusion is what we will all be experiencing if a Mr. Carter of Conyers, Georgia has his way. Mr. Carter has a three-year-old son to whom he reads nursery rhymes and to whom he has difficulty explaining the said rhymes. Carter advocates updating the rhymes you and I grew up with and the same ones we’ve read to…
Read MoreEvery Woman Should have a John 1989
Kudos this week to a man of small stature, but one who stands head and shoulders above most — a man of many talents. He’s quick tempered and short spoken, but even so he’s a keeper. I’ve heard him say many times of a Georgia friend, “She will work anywhere you hitch her.” The same applies to him,…
Read MoreVaried Room Uses 1999
The linens have been laundered and returned to the bed to await the next sleep-over company and now this room is to be used for something I doubt it’s ever been used for before. It’s July and time to harvest spent hydrangea blossoms for drying and that’s just what’s happening today. With clippers and large…
Read MoreStill Learning Jan. 2003
“Never too old to learn” is an old adage that’s been around for years; however, it still remains the same. The residents of The Windy Knoll, even with their advancing years, keep learning. One thing for sure that we learn daily is that we cannot do what we used to do. John re-learned that a…
Read MoreSchools of Music 2007
During the 1930’s and ’40’s Sand Mountain was known for it schools of music — called “Singing Schools” – and the mountain produced some famous singers. The two closest to The Windy Knoll were Cat Freeman and his sister, Vestal Goodman, who grew up just north of Geraldine. We were in the same age bracket;…
Read MoreWhatever Happened to Mama-isms? 2008
Recently I’ve read a book entitled Grits is Groceries . . . . . and other facts of southern life, written by Darrell Huckaby – a Georgia author/educator. Mr. Huckaby mentioned mama-isms in his book and wondered when they went out of vogue. He thought it was about the same time the Andy Griffith Show…
Read MoreAunt Bill Rambles
Well, I been a-thinking what I could say to you what you wanted to hear and I couldn’t come up with nair thang. So I decided to say a poem I learnt many years ago, but I don’t know who wrote it. The hardest thing on the farm I think Is teaching a little new calf how to drink. You pull…
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