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From: Jeannie A Travis <>
Subject: [AppalLife] The Good Old Days
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 06:45:07 -0600


Another great 'read' , Eugene...Do y'all remember when folks used to do
just about everything 'By the signs of the moon ?' The drugstore calendar
had all this 'moon signs ' information on there right along with the ads
for Lydia Pinkham, Black Draught, Hinkle pills, Carter's little liver
pills, etc, etc...

Gardens especially were planted by the signs...We had a row of green
beans one time that was very lush but produced few beans...Mama wasn't a
fanatic about it, but when she checked back on the calendar she saw she
had planted them on' blooming day '....Well, I think gardeners today
would wonder if there hadn't been an unusual shortage of pollinators
right then...Might have been a flaw in the seed...But I think if'
blooming day ' had anything to do with it the beanstalks would have been
loaded with beans, since the many blooms would have each developed into a
bean...Yep, I think it was a flaw in the seed....Strangely enough I can
remember seeing that row of beans...well over 50 years ago ! Guess the
expression ' Blooming Day " etched it into my mind...Heat will affect
whether beans set on or not, too. I had 2 rows of pretty green bean
plants one late summer...most of the blooms fell off because we had no
rain coupled with unusual heat ...

Mama said she was having trouble weaning me , so my Grandmother told her
to do it when the signs were right...in the legs, I think...Which doesn't
make much sense to me ..Well, she said it worked like a charm ! I have to
wonder though, if she had let nature take it's course would I have
nearly died at age 2 from Colitis followed by a horrible case of chicken
pox, or when I was 3 from double pneumonia...I was very tiny...weighing
less than 20 pounds when I was a year old...Mama said I never walked,
just started running when I was about 10 months old...Must have been a
sight ! Quite a change from my very chubby older sister...She said
recently when we were looking at old pictures that the mail carrier
called her "Stuffy !" Said we used to wait for him out by the
mailbox...wouldn't we have been thrilled by a handful of the junk mail
and flashy catalogs we hate today ?

Ah memories ! How blessed they are to take us back to a time when we
were young and could run and play all day long with nary an arthritic
twinge when we fell into bed at night .{After we washed our feet , of
course , which were dirty from going barefoot all day .} Crickets chirped
and lightning bugs courted outside the window as we lay there looking at
the stars..The Whippoorwills would be calling in that long lonesome way
they have......It didn't take long to get to dreamland...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hunting those hills of eastern Kentucky was a pastime that I often
think about now in my aged condition. . There is nothing like going to
a topmost
> peak on the hill that was just a little more prominent than the
> surrounding hills and finding a clearing. Look out over God's domain
> and feast your eyes on the beauty laid out before you. The green
> shades of the foliage, the contour of the hills sweeping and dropping
away before you. Truly a sight that brings peace and tranquillity
> to anyone who gazes upon the scene. I guess only an old "hill
> billy" like me can ponder that scene and receive the blessing that
> exudes from the mind during that moment. God is indeed Great!
>
> Eugene
>
>
>

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