Remembering the Olden Days~

    

The wisdom of country folks is found in the minds and hearts of those who were born and reared there. This wisdom is expressed in the stories people tell of earlier days and earlier times - stories of happiness and hard work. Stories of hardships and joy are the values and beliefs that have been passed down from generation to generation. It helps to make Country living what it is today.

It is often said and I believe it, that the most important things we can give our children in today’s world are roots that are as deep as a giant oak tree, and wings as strong as an eagle.

Remembering the “Olden days” is more than nostalgia, it is remembering our roots, and their values. Memories are all around us reminding us that other people have gone this way before–plowed the same fields, harvested the same crops, and dreamed the same dreams we do today.

Sometimes it is restful and fun to sit back quietly, close our eyes, and let our mind wander back to our yesterday. I am sure some of my memories will rekindle some for you:

·        

•  I remember my first day of school, all decked out in my new feed sack dress and drawers to match that my mama made just for me. My new shoes and how special I felt that I was a big kid now and carrying a lunch box to school. Branded into my mind is the smell of freshly oiled hardwood floors, double-seated desk that was shared with another student, writing on the chalkboard, and standing in the corner if I talked too much, (Which I was required to do very often). Drinking water from a bucket sitting on a table in the corner and the little plastic fold-up glasses each student was required to have to drink from. Writing tablets with wide lines, large pencils, and color crayons came only eight to a box.

• ·       I remember dirt roads twisting and winding through the countryside, along little streams, through valleys, and around steep hillsides.

• ·       I remember when a horse and buggy were still the way of travel for many of our neighbors and families in the early 1950s.

• ·       I remember those same roads in the winter, with windblown snowdrifts cutting off travel of any kind making them impassable as snow storms accumulated.

• ·       I remember the dust from those same roads in the summer making it impossible to keep it out of the house. It covered the tables, floors, and knickknacks just about everywhere to my mother’s disgust as she cleaned and polished every day.

• ·       I remember walking a mile to a neighbor’s house to bring him a box filled with food because he lived alone and my mama thought he would enjoy a home cooked meal. Goodness, I can still remember the taste of those homemade biscuits that might be in the box along with a jar of mama's delicious strawberry jam and a huge pat of freshly churned butter that went along with those biscuits.

• ·       I remember the Sears catalog that came each spring and fall, creating never-ending wishes and eventually ending up in the outhouse once we realized the wishes were mostly just that…Only wishes!

• ·        I remember the mail carrier who made the rounds each day, Monday through Saturday, no matter what the weather. Very often having to be pulled out of snowdrifts by a farmer and his mules; sometimes two or three times a day before he got the mail delivered.

• ·       I remember party line telephones (for those fortunate enough to have a telephone) had to share the line with ten other families, each with their own special ring. When the phone rang most often someone picked up the receiver whether it was your ring, or not…that is how you kept up with the gossip in the neighborhood. There were no secrets in the community for those who shared a party line.

• ·       I remember cleaning the chicken coop and spreading the poop on the garden to build-up the soil…It also made mama’s geraniums grow huge.

•   I remember gathering the eggs, feeding the hogs, spreading down hay for the calves, and carrying buckets of water from the well and gathering wood for the night. Wow! Today’s youth don’t know what they are missing. Even farm-grown children have it better now than they used to.

• ·       I remember the traveling salesmen and how amazed I was at how much merchandise they could store in medal baskets in the back of their automobile. It was hard to believe how fast they could unpack and again pack all those items. 
  

• ·       I remember going after the cows and on a hot summer day taking a dip in the pond disregarding the orders of my grandpa not to…Now I ask you,what farm kid has not taken a swim in the pond on a warm sunny day?

• ·       I remember picking blackberries, fighting chiggers, climbing trees, swinging on a grapevine, taking a nap in the barn on a bed of fresh cut  hay, chasing butterflies, and catching lightening bugs on a warm summer night and putting them in a mason jar.

• ·       I remember the joy of knowing the carnival had come to town. The Farris wheel, Merry-go-round, the aroma of fried onions cooked on hamburgers, and popcorn. I recall the yell of the Carnies as they got the attention of the people with their calls, “Come on over and try your luck. Three balls for a quarter. Ring the bowling pin and win a stuffed teddy bear.” Knock over the bottle and take home a genuine Indian doll” (Made in Japan).

• ·       I remember when there was no Television. We had no electricity, so we   only had battery operated radios, and I did my homework at the kitchen table by the light of a kerosene lamp. We had no inside plumbing...Mercy, there was only an outhouse!

• ·       I remember walking to a friends house where there was only a path leading to their home in the hills. Sometimes close to a mile away from the main road.

• ·       I remember on that high hill where I grew up - how clear and bright the stars at night, how black the shadows, and the immensity of our great universe. God's heavens make me consider how insignificantly small each of us is on this earth when measured by this vast domain.

When I grew up, I once left the country and moved to the city. I thought no one need know I was raised a “country girl” from the back hills of Kentucky. It didn’t take me long to realize you really cannot take the country out of a country raised kid. Why would you really want to? Growing up in the country we learned how to work, how to cooperate with others, and the importance of helping out your neighbor. Now, I am not saying City folks have not learned these same value, it is just that the country folks learn it with a different heart. We see things through the eyes of God every day. By way of watching a newborn calf enter into the world. See the chicks peep their way into the world with a strong determination to be set free. The widespread beauty of nature all around us, the joy of a sunrise as the sun pops over the hilltop with God's smile painted on the walls of the early morning sky. We see friendship in the hand of a farmer's wave as we pass by his fields where he is tilling the soil for another crop in the making.We hear it in the friendly greeting at the little town's only filling station as someone calls out "Howdy Folks," welcome to our neck of the woods...

My beliefs and values came out of my rural upbringing and no matter how much I once wanted to be rid of them, they are still there and make me what I am today. 

Mary Frances King

The photos are of my Brother-in-law and Sister-in-law that still know the value of living on a farm. With having all the modern conveniences of today's world they still have the peace and tranquility of country living at it's best....