Hickory nuts and willow switches posted 12/6/2007 7:29:04 PM | 4 kudos what's this?     report abuse

Loreli

My father's parents were your typical hard-working Americans getting by during the Depression.

They had a simple home on a good piece of land. The entrance to the gravel drive had a huge willow tree, and the yard was lined with trees of all other kinds. A very large evergreen framed the front of the house.

As small children, it was our "job" to clear the yard of hickory nuts. Then we got to bring some home, check them for worm holes, crack them and take the "meat" out.
They were used for all kinds of baking...what didn't get eaten by us, first.

We thought it was fun.

Grandpa and Grandma had geese in a large, penned off area in back of the house. You grow up with Mother Goose, and Farmer in the Dell-I'm here to tell you, geese do NOT wear little frilly bonnets, and they aren't real kind. We got lots of exercise!

We didn't get exercise swinging from the willow tree...Grandma would be out there threatening to cut switches from that tree and take them to our butts. It never happened. It didn't have to.

My Grandfather had 2 very old cars-Mercury s, perhaps, sitting at the top of his long gravel drive. I remember the peachy colored one well. The other may have been green in color.We were too busy racing around the huge yard, running from bumblebees, admiring the 8 foot tall sunflowers, catching bats and seeing what Grandma had baked. She almost always had her apron on.

My Grandparent's home is a mere 2 blocks from me. It is a paved road that runs by it now, rather than the dirt one my Dad describes. The same garage still stands...whether the door has been updated or not-I don't know. My Dad tells me he once went out on an extremely cold day, took the padlock off the garage, and, for lack of another hand, stuck the iron lock in his mouth in order to open the heavy door.

Enough said about the effect ripping a frozen lock out of your mouth can do.

My Grandfather was such a Good Samaritan...he drove so many of his elderly friends to their Doctor appointments. He loved nature, and animals. There was one day he found a squirrel he had been feeding had been run over by a car. My Grandparents had an appointment, so they picked up the squirrel and put it in the car to bury it when they got home.

At our young age, we thought it was creepy. As I age, I see the love and care in them more than I could say. Unfortunately, they both passed away before great grand children could have experienced that huge yard, the wonderful garden, the good cooking, and hickory nuts.

The evergreen still stands, albeit not as majestically, in tribute to those Grandparents I wish could have had for longer.

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Blogs by Loreli: The light through my window A night with the Living Dead They all look alike Thunderstorms and hot lunch A Lunar Eclipse and Blueteeth technology Anal retention and Bath towels I wish I was born to be pretty... Equestrian happiness Hickory nuts and willow switches Pig Farms and ostriches My Grandfather's Quilts Roller coasters of life My Package... An Autumn sky Strawberry Jam and hair snarls Cold hands, warm heart What we learn from, or teach...our children Purple Roses