August 4, 2004

Aunt Jane wrote:
Question: What other way did Jane entertain herself?

Answer: On the eastern side of our house we had a pond for the cattle to get water. That pond had an island in the middle of it, and we would ride our horses through the water to get to the island and play on the island. We would play like we were on some South Sea Island, and have the most fun. When we had company out to play, we would always want to take them to the Island. Pretty Girl wouldn't cross over to the island for anyone but me. If anyone else was on her she would lay down in the water, and cause all kind of excitement. That only added to the excitement. No one ever drowned.

JM

Martha Harpole wrote:
Last night I came home from church and Sonny stayed for a meeting. It was about 7:30 pm. Someone banged on my front door. I went to answer it, and a nervous black man was at my door asking for money. He had a deceased family member and needed to bury him. He wanted money to bury him. Needless to say, I did not give him money. He was from Utica. That made me wonder about his motive. I called the funeral home today, and they did not have anyone there who needed burying. Anyway, that made me think about Easter, our cook, telling me about the beggars who came in the 1930’s. I guess this was during the depression. She would tell me the beggars would leave a sign of some sort signaling good places to beg. I always promised her if she came begging that I would give her some food. (She would tease me and say I would ignore her.) End of story—the man left very sad. I had to be persistent to get him to leave.

Martha