Writing my last post and mentioning my Maw Clara made me think about her Mom, my Maw (Beulah Mae) Kemp. She was born only a couple or 3 years after the American Civil War ended in 1865 and lived to the ripe old age of 98.
I never knew how any of the other kids felt about her but I loved that old woman with a special piece of my heart. I never saw her wear anything less than a sunbonnet and ankle length dress. We boys would be out in just shorts, our girl cousins in tee shirts and sorts and Maw Kemp would be hollering about "them young uns running around half nekkid!"
Each morning and evening she would take her "constitutionals"... a walk to the bridge and back. Probably some 30 yards or so each way but hey, she was old!
She lived out her days with Maw Clara and Paw Stuart in a little house not much larger than my living room, dining room, and kitchen combined. There was electric lights, running water (in the kitchen only) from a well and electric pump house out back and the only heat in Winter was from a fireplace. Lord, if I could only find one of the pair of andirons from that old fireplace it would be worth to me more than twice its weight in gold. Quick note to you kids here, andirons are those pieces of metal you see in fireplaces to hold the logs in place. Another quick note re: running water in the kitchen only. We bathed in a #2 washtub in the back yard, hot water came from heating cold water on the stove and "other" business now done in the bathroom was done in a little shed behind a mimosa tree. Sometimes there was store bought toilet paper, most often a Sears catalog and at times a basket of corn cobs... but I digress.
For some reason I loved to walk with Maw Kemp or just sit with her and listen to how things were when she was young. We can go to the store now and think nothing of buying salt. When she was a girl they would dig up the dirt from under the smokehouse and wash it until the water ran clear. The water came by the bucketful from the spring. When the water was clear it was set out in the Sun to evaporate until there was only the salt left.
Yes, I am proud to tell you that I come from people who had to work that damned hard to survive. Who had to in the 20th century hunt, farm and gather to put food on the table. Possum & sweet potatoes was a fine meal. I reuse my bacon grease because I love the taste although my doctor wants me to stay away from it. Back in the day they used it because it was all they had.
Time for me to get on my soap box and preach on something....
I actually heard rumor some airhead called a radio talk show as she was against hunting and said she only buys meat at the grocery store because no animals were killed to provide it. Hey! I can't make this up. Myself I've eaten almost any and every critter I can get. I can promise you one thing. Free range anything is better than cage fed. Even better is wild meat. Frogs taste like chicken? No! A home raised chicken is 100 times better than a store bought any day but frog is even better to my taste buds. I'd spit chicken and dumplings halfway across the county for squirrel and dumplings. Raccoon and possum I'll admit aren't on my top 10 list but even the best hog sausage can't compare with venison sausage.
Let me propose a challenge to you all. Maybe you don't have a yard or garden. Maybe you live in an apartment. Somewhere you have the space for a couple of 5 gallon buckets, right? Fill them up with dirt, toss in a few tomato seeds and grow yourself a home grown tomato. You'll either be glad you did or mad as Hell at the grocery store for what he sells as tomatoes!
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