I love modern technology. It gives us a sense that our lives are easier and less worrisome than prior generations. But the "Thomas" in me plus a healthy dose of Ozark pragmatism, makes me look sorta slanchwise at some of the gadgets we use and say; "Wouldn't we be better off if we did it the old way?"
The leaves in my yard needed to be removed, piled and burned. I was offered the use of a gas-powered leaf blower; which seems the most logical, reasonable, sensible and least physically demanding option available.
I politely declined and opted for the raking method.
"Why?" you ask? Well, raking leaves is good physical exercise and helps me maintain my "girlish" figure!! If I was a "tree-hugger", I would say that there are environmental benefits to raking vs blowing. And there is the financial aspect to be considered: A $20 rake compared to a $150-$300 leaf blower.
But none of these are the real reason I rake my leaves. It mostly has to do with memories...
Many fall evenings, when I got off the school bus and looked up the long driveway toward the Homeplace; I would see my old Dad, out in the yard, raking up the leaves. The Homeplace was surrounded by several large white oak and red oak trees and one lone blackjack oak in the front yard. Dad would wait till most of the leaves were down and then he was on a mission to clear the yard of leaf litter!
The leaves would be raked into windrows of manageable size. These windrows were then raked into piles to be removed.
After the piles were made, a large tarp was laid flat and pulled up to the edge of the pile.
Then, with Dad standing on one corner and me on the other corner nearest the pile, we would pull the edge of the tarp taut and then rake the leaves onto the tarp.
After the pile was raked onto the tarp (or as much as it would safely hold), I would pull the four corners of the tarp together, sling it over my shoulder and trudge to the garden or burn pile and empty out the "Santa Bag" of leaves. This was repeated over and over until the yard was spic and span.
When I am raking the leaves up into piles, spreading out the tarp, raking the piles onto the tarp (with just one corner held) and toting them off to the burn pile; my mind just wanders back... I can recall the sure, steady "whisp, whisp, whisp" of Dad's rake; the silence of both of us - since words weren't really needed; the challenge of keeping one step ahead of him with the tarp and toting the leaves; the aggravation of having to do this chore when there were so many other things I wanted to do; the feeling of pride and accomplishment when I looked at the yard at dusk and it was all neat and tidy.
So... Rake? or Blower? Obviously you can choose for yourself; but for me; I'll just rake.- the memories far outweigh the ease and time-savings...
"Whistle While You Work" was a song made some-what popular by the Disney movie "Snow White". My Grandpa Riggs, "Popo", did whistle occasionally, but it wasn't his preferred method of workplace euphony.
Popo was a "Dee Doodler".
I was very privileged to be with Popo while he worked for my Dad building several houses, and I have often said; "Popo was the most impulsive person I have ever known". And in retrospect, he was also a person that could focus so intently on a task, problem or situation, that he completely shut out his surroundings.
In those times, when he was so focused, he would start a sing-talking routine that I call the "Dee Doodles".
It wasn't a song... But on the other hand it was a song... sort of. It basically had one pitch and no metered time.
In his normal voice volume, Popo would start something like this; "Dee dee doodle dum dee. Dee doodle doodle dum dee". Then he might pause and for a few seconds and then start up again; "Doo dee dum doodle dum dee. Deedle dee dum dee do". Another pause and... "Doodly doodly doodly dum"
There were times when it seemed like (to use an old LP record player phrase) Popo's needle got stuck on the "Deedles, Doos and Doodles"! He would begin in his regular way and then... "Deedle deedle deedle deedle de dum" and "Doo doo doo dum de doodle doodle doodle doodle dum day".
The older I get, the more I realize how unique and privileged my childhood was. Everyone has their story but I would wager that very few had a "Dee Doodly Dum Day" Grandpa!
(And If I were brave enough, I might try to recreate an example of Popo's "Dee Doodles" and include it in this post!)
My Grandma Fox's lifetime spanned many monumental changes in society, the sciences and technology. She was born on June 23, 1900 and passed away on December 22, 1983. She was almost three years old when Orville and Wilbur took the first airplane ride, nineteen years old when the 19th Amendment was passed, fifty-five when Salk introduced the polio vaccine, sixty-nine when man landed on the moon, and the year she passed - the video game "Mario Brothers" was introduced. Her lifetime began in the horse and buggy days and ended with the space shuttle flights! I am a very privileged person to have known her like I did!
Grandma Parzettie Roseanna Fox nee Callahan was industrious, tough, gentle, kind, funny and onery! Heavy on the onery! I have heard it said that "she would rather scare someone than to eat!" And I somehow believe it.
And I remember this story that she told...
When Grandma Fox was a young lady, she had lots of freckles on her nose and cheeks. From the way she told it, it wasn't just a few scattered here and there but a very liberal amount that God had blessed or (perhaps rather) cursed her with. It was a source of shame for her and she was determined to get rid of them.
Fables, home remedies and old wives-tales seem to flourish in the Ozark Hills and Grandma heard about a sure-fire way to get rid of all her freckles.
First, she was told to find some stump-water.
Now if all-ya'll don't know what stump-water is, maybe I can 'splain' it to you! Sometimes in a logging operation, a hollow tree will inadvertently get cut down and the stump, with the hollow part in the middle, collects rain water. Or, a healthy tree gets cut and as the stump decays, the middle rots out first, making a place for water to collect. I found a good picture of one on the Avantgardens Facebook page which is shown below.
The water collects bugs, mosquito larvae (wiggle tails), leaves and is usually brownish in color and doesn't have a very good smell.
After Grandma had found her stump-water, she proceeded to follow instructions.
She took some of the stump-water in her hands and rubbed it on the freckles. Yep! She took that dirty, stinky ole water and put it all over her nose and cheeks!
Then, she was supposed to rub her hands on the part of her body where she wanted to freckles to move to!
Well, Grandma chose the top of one of her thighs.
It wasn't supposed to happen immediately, but over the course of a few days or weeks, so the fable went, the freckles would leave her face and appear on her thigh.
And this is the rest of the story....
I know she is older in the picture above, but you will look in vain for a freckle on Grandma's face. And although this is slightly embarrassing to relate, the freckles did move. I distinctly remember her telling me this story and when she got to the point of saying that the freckles moved to her thigh, she exposed enough of the thigh for me to see a big patch of FRECKLES on the top of it!!!
So to all my "be-freckled" friends out there, THERE IS HOPE!!! It may seem somewhat quaint, but a Fable took care of the Freckles for my Grandma Fox!!!
