The photo was in my Papaw Green's living room in the Tanyard Branch, on Little Mud Creek, in Floyd County Kentucky. The boxing gloves were my Uncle Edd's. I believe he had brought them back from his time in the army. Edd was in Korea.
Some of my favorite memories of the Tanyard included going to the barn with Papaw Green when it was milking and feeding time in the evening. We usually didn't get back to the house until it was beginning to grow dark. I can remember the lightning bugs and the warm summer evenings. We would have supper and Renie, Papaw Green's wife and my step-grandmother, would usually have fresh clabbered milk. That's a kind of home-made buttermilk for you yankees.
Supper, especially in the summer, always had the staples of fresh green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, cornbread, and sometimes some muskmelon. Often fried chicken was a part of the meal. We would sit at this long table made of rough lumber. I don't know how long it had been in the house, but probably for a long time, since Papaw Green had eleven children. Behind the table, along the wall with windows behind it was a long bench that we kids sat at. I can still remember all of us sitting down at that table and eating together. It wasn't all good all the time, but I do have fond memories of the Tanyard and Papaw Green.
Papaw Green had two mules. One was named Jane and the other Pearl. Sometimes he would let me ride them. I don't know how big they really were, but they seemed to be really big to a little kid. He used the mules to plow and tend his huge garden.
At the head of the Tanyard Branch Papaw Green had an orchard. In the fall we would pick apples. The back porch of the house would have bushel baskets of apples on it. Frames of wood with tin laid on them would be used to place sliced apples to dry for winter storage.
One of the things that marked late fall/early winter was the hog killing time. Now that I understand that the LORD didn't create hogs to be food, according to Leviticus, in HIS Word, I hesitate even discussing this, but it was what we did. Pork was the main meat staple in most East Kentucky families. Most families raised a hog or two to butcher. Chicken was often on the hillbillies dinner plate, but we didn't have much beef.
One of the old sayings that I remember from mom, dad, and my grandparents was something like this; "They had a pure hogkilling time over there!" Now realize that this was a not intended to say they were simply butchering a hog. This old saying meant that there was a fight or huge quarrel that got way out of control. I've often wondered why this saying was used in that regard. I don't know, but maybe God has a sense of trying to say something to people that they might not be listening to. Could HE have been saying all along that hogs were not meant for human consumption? I don't know. And whether HE was saying that or not, in that old expression, I do know now that pork is not for human consumption.
Another common event in East Kentucky was having church at someone's home. This happened especially if someone was seriously ill and couldn't come to the church house or was nearing death. Everyone would gather in and the meeting would go into the night. In the event of a person nearing death the gathering could last most of the night. While the singing and preaching was going on we kids used to run around outside and catch lightning bugs or play hide and seek or tag.
One time I remember in particular. The house meeting that we attended was about 2 miles up the road from our house. We lived just across the creek from Grannie and Papaw, my mom's parents. Their names were Marion and Mae. We were all at the meeting and as it was ending some of us kids began walking home together. I was pretty little but my Uncle Bud, mom's brother, and his friend and his friends little brother were with us, so mom let us go with them. It proved to be quite an eventful evening.
As we were walking home we heard a gunshot. Then a pickup truck with some men in it drove by us. The driver had a shotgun hanging out of the driver's side window. As we rounded the corner we saw a man laying on the front porch who had been shot by these men. Some of the older men who were behind us came along and went to help him. They told us to run on home. We did, as fast as our feet would carry us!
We learned later that the shooting was a result of a game of cards that caused a fight. They had already beaten the man with one of those old wooden pop bottle cases. He tried to get help but no one would open the door to let him in. They were afraid. He was pounding on the door of the home where he was shot, begging them to let him in and they were too afraid to do it. He didn't die from his wounds, but he was paralyzed for life. I don't know what happened to the shooters.
Well that turned out to be quite a story that began with a simple photo of me and Linda playing with some boxing gloves, but there it is. More from the Life and Times of a Displace Hillbilly! Be seein' you, LORD willing.
No comments:
Post a Comment