One Morning about thirty nine years ago I was going to take my little niece (Nettie) to school. It wasn't like it was her first day to go, but if you had been there you would have thought so.
Everything was going so smooth until we got in the car and she realized that I was taking her to school not to Papaw and Mamaw's.
She cried as I started the car and as I started out of the drive she cried so much that my pants were getting wet. Not from tears but from wetting her pants. Back down the drive to change clothes and try it all over again.
After her mother changed her we set out on our drive to the school. I told her if she was good I would stop at Riedlings and get her some candy before going on to school. She agreed and she was great with getting her candy and we got back into the car to go on to school. As we got close to the street to go to Mamaw's house she started crying wanting to go their instead of school. I explained, that she had to go to school and see her friends and learn her abc's. She turned to me and said, "Your just like my teacher, I already know my abc's and I don't need to go there to learn them." I then asked her, "Do you know how to read?" and she said, "No." Well this is another reason why you need to go to school so they will teach you how to read." She immediately had a response, "My mother, can teach me to read as well, so why do I need to go to school." It was then I remembered my Grandmother's favorite saying, "Because I said so." The ride went smoothly as we drove onto the school lot.
She then spoke up and said, "I can't go in now because I'm late and everyone will be looking at me. Oh gee what do I do now. What I thought would be an easy task was turning out to be a problem and she needed to be in her class.
I said, "You are such a pretty little girl when you smile and I'm just a big ole guy, that when I take you in they will be looking at big ole me and you can just slide into your seat and it will be like you were there all along."
I never saw such a big smile on a little girl as we walked into school that day. When I turned to leave their was that smile again.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Meeting The King And The Queen
We loved to have get-togethers at our house and have the young kids our age come over and visit for the weekend.
We would always have a cookout and have a singing where everyone brought their instruments (piano, guitars, flute, clarinet, saxophone and accordion.) Whoever didn't have an instrument just got to sing along with the playing of the instruments. We really had a lot of fun doing this whenever we got together.
We also would play table games like Monopoly, Caroms, Checkers, Chinese Checkers, Parcheesi, and Scrabble.
We also had some party games we liked to play and the one we will tell you about today was; Meeting The King and the Queen. Anyone that was there that had never met the King and the Queen was fair game for us to blind fold them so that they could meet the King and the Queen.
Our mother would sit in one chair and we would have the person that was blind-folded to bend over and bow before the King and the Queen. We would have them shake the Kings hand and then kiss the Queens hand. (before we would take the blind-fold off, we would have my dad cross his leg and put his bare foot up where they would think that they had kissed the foot instead.) Whenever we would take the blindfold off the person would think that they had kissed the foot and they would be wiping their mouth to get the taste of the foot off. Then they would get to watch as the next person did was blind-folded and went through the process again and then see there reaction.
Some days we would play six or seven games like this and we would have so much fun at these get-togethers.
We would always have a cookout and have a singing where everyone brought their instruments (piano, guitars, flute, clarinet, saxophone and accordion.) Whoever didn't have an instrument just got to sing along with the playing of the instruments. We really had a lot of fun doing this whenever we got together.
We also would play table games like Monopoly, Caroms, Checkers, Chinese Checkers, Parcheesi, and Scrabble.
We also had some party games we liked to play and the one we will tell you about today was; Meeting The King and the Queen. Anyone that was there that had never met the King and the Queen was fair game for us to blind fold them so that they could meet the King and the Queen.
Our mother would sit in one chair and we would have the person that was blind-folded to bend over and bow before the King and the Queen. We would have them shake the Kings hand and then kiss the Queens hand. (before we would take the blind-fold off, we would have my dad cross his leg and put his bare foot up where they would think that they had kissed the foot instead.) Whenever we would take the blindfold off the person would think that they had kissed the foot and they would be wiping their mouth to get the taste of the foot off. Then they would get to watch as the next person did was blind-folded and went through the process again and then see there reaction.
Some days we would play six or seven games like this and we would have so much fun at these get-togethers.
The Uninvited Guest
One weekend my parents were out of town and we were left behind with my oldest sister in charge of the four younger siblings. This was a job that she enjoyed very much, maybe too much. She liked being the boss over all of us.
We had invited some of our friends to come over and we would all ride to one of Miss Bessie's Gospel Meetings that was going to be on Friday evening. We decided to go in two cars, one of the cars was our VW bus and the other was Sherry's mothers car. Their were six in each car and we all went to the meeting on Friday evening.
On the way back we were almost at the turnoff of the Braselton Road and the Winder Road when we heard a gun shot and a ping against the metal of the car. Both cars stopped and pulled to the shoulder of the road and we all got out and checked the cars for damage. On the left rear of our VW bus there was a bullet hole beside the wheel opening. When we saw that we all jumped back into our cars and sped off into the night to go to the Police Department in Jefferson. We told them where we had been and that we were on our way home and we were just fixing to turn onto the Winder Road to come to Jefferson when we heard the shot and had gotten out to see what had happened. They took down our information and said that they would check it out and call us the next day.
We made it home around nine thirty and we decided to have a singing party and everyone that had an instrument to play set together and they played and we sang every song we knew until about midnight. We were all tired and decided to go to bed. Everyone had gone to bed when we heard someone climbing up the rose trellis just outside of my parents bedroom where several were sleeping. Then they heard them walking on the roof over my parents bedroom and then to the upstairs window. The took off the screen and slid out the glass in the jalous windows and then crawled into our attic. By this time we were all up and scared to death that someone was in our attic. We pushed a large chester drawers up against the attic door and my oldest sister called the police. She didn't want to talk to loud for whoever to hear her as she talked to the police. As she talked to the dispatcher on the phone trying to give him the information he would tell her to speak up he couldn't hear her. Her reply back to him was that she couldn't talk any louder because she didn't want the person who had broken in to hear that she was talking to the police. After several tries he finally understood the address and said someone would be right out.
By the time the police had gotten there the person had climbed out the other window on the other side of the attic and jumped to the ground and fled into the night. The police had gone upstairs into the attic and saw where the window glass had been removed at both windows and the ground below the second window their was a set of shoe prints where the person had landed when they jumped out of the second window to the ground.
They took down all of the information and made a report and said that they were cruise the neighborhood for a suspicious person and get with our parents when they got back in town on Monday.
Everyone tried to go back to bed and sleep but everyone came back into the living room and one by one we all fell asleep there.
Of the person had tried to come down the stairs they would have been surprised at the gang that was waiting at the door with their guitars raised in the air just ready to hit them over the head.
The next morning we had the windows repaired and secured so that they wouldn't open and we called our parents and let them in on our exciting evening. They said that they would be leaving soon and would be back home later in the evening.
I remember the comfort that I felt just knowing that my dad would be there that evening and all would be ok again.
Palmer Waters
We had invited some of our friends to come over and we would all ride to one of Miss Bessie's Gospel Meetings that was going to be on Friday evening. We decided to go in two cars, one of the cars was our VW bus and the other was Sherry's mothers car. Their were six in each car and we all went to the meeting on Friday evening.
On the way back we were almost at the turnoff of the Braselton Road and the Winder Road when we heard a gun shot and a ping against the metal of the car. Both cars stopped and pulled to the shoulder of the road and we all got out and checked the cars for damage. On the left rear of our VW bus there was a bullet hole beside the wheel opening. When we saw that we all jumped back into our cars and sped off into the night to go to the Police Department in Jefferson. We told them where we had been and that we were on our way home and we were just fixing to turn onto the Winder Road to come to Jefferson when we heard the shot and had gotten out to see what had happened. They took down our information and said that they would check it out and call us the next day.
We made it home around nine thirty and we decided to have a singing party and everyone that had an instrument to play set together and they played and we sang every song we knew until about midnight. We were all tired and decided to go to bed. Everyone had gone to bed when we heard someone climbing up the rose trellis just outside of my parents bedroom where several were sleeping. Then they heard them walking on the roof over my parents bedroom and then to the upstairs window. The took off the screen and slid out the glass in the jalous windows and then crawled into our attic. By this time we were all up and scared to death that someone was in our attic. We pushed a large chester drawers up against the attic door and my oldest sister called the police. She didn't want to talk to loud for whoever to hear her as she talked to the police. As she talked to the dispatcher on the phone trying to give him the information he would tell her to speak up he couldn't hear her. Her reply back to him was that she couldn't talk any louder because she didn't want the person who had broken in to hear that she was talking to the police. After several tries he finally understood the address and said someone would be right out.
By the time the police had gotten there the person had climbed out the other window on the other side of the attic and jumped to the ground and fled into the night. The police had gone upstairs into the attic and saw where the window glass had been removed at both windows and the ground below the second window their was a set of shoe prints where the person had landed when they jumped out of the second window to the ground.
They took down all of the information and made a report and said that they were cruise the neighborhood for a suspicious person and get with our parents when they got back in town on Monday.
Everyone tried to go back to bed and sleep but everyone came back into the living room and one by one we all fell asleep there.
Of the person had tried to come down the stairs they would have been surprised at the gang that was waiting at the door with their guitars raised in the air just ready to hit them over the head.
The next morning we had the windows repaired and secured so that they wouldn't open and we called our parents and let them in on our exciting evening. They said that they would be leaving soon and would be back home later in the evening.
I remember the comfort that I felt just knowing that my dad would be there that evening and all would be ok again.
Palmer Waters
Friday, August 1, 2014
The Trellis
When I was born we lived on the south side of town. After I was born, my parents purchased a lot to build a house in the north side of town. after my first birthday, we moved into the new house.
All that was on this lot was the new house and the yard was a blank canvas that we worked together on to make this new house become a home.
Just out the back door we had a large porch that in the plans it was supposed to be a carport but my parents had never had a carport but they had always had a large porch on their previous houses so this is what this area became. In the summer in Georgia, a porch without a roof is unbearable without a roof covering it. The latest thin out in the mid fifties was aluminum. People were buying aluminum awnings to cover their windows from the sun that made the interiors a little more cooler and they were adding aluminum roofs to porches to make them cooler. I remember the color of ours covering our back porch. It was red with white stripe panels on the edge. This sure made it cooler when sitting outside during the summer.
One day mom said we are going to build a trellis on both sides of the drive way to separate the view from the front yard to the backyard. I didn't know what a trellis was, but I knew that I would soon find out. We all got into the car and made a trip to Homer to the Garrison's lumber yard that was just off of the town square. My mother went into the office and told Mr. Garrison what she wanted to build and he said sure let me get the material that you will need to build it. It wasn't long before a large bundle of wood was tied to the top of our station wagon and we were headed back home. When we got home the wood was unloaded from the top of the car and put in a pole close to where the trellis was going to be built. My mother had purchased the day before a post hole digger for digging holes to put the six post into the ground to support the trellis that was going to be built there. Mother showed my older siblings how to use the post hole digger by digging two of the holes herself. She must have found the softer area to dig because it took my brother a whole lot longer to dig the other four holes. (If you have never used a post hole digger before you are in for a treat. You have to apply a lot of downward pressure to dig into the ground and then you pull the handles apart to lift out the dirt. Don't get in to big of a hurry and pull the handles apart to fast because you will pinch your fingers every time.)
That afternoon the local Hardware Store(Christian Brothers Hardware) brought a load of sand and some bags of concrete and a wheel barrow. We learned how to mix sand and concrete mix to make concrete to hold our post steady in the ground. It was fun at first but after a while it got tiring but we had a job to finish setting our post.
The next morning after breakfast we went outside and played for most of the morning. Mom came out and we started to build our trellis. We laid the boards out on the ground in squares and then nailed them together and then we nailed between the post boards top and bottom that we were going to nail our trellis to. Once this was finished we all agreed that it sure made a difference in separating the front and back yards. We thought that we were finally finished, but we had forgotten that it hadn't been painted yet. As my sister (Susan) and I were younger and we just got to watch as the others built the trellis we got the job of painting the trellis. I don't know who got more paint, us or the trellis but we finally finished it before supper.
The next day mom told us that we were going out to our place in the country and we were going to dig up several small trees to plant in the yard in front of both trellis's. We got several small dogwoods and several maple trees and brought them back home and planted one dogwood on the narrow side of the drive-way and two on the other side by the house. We already had a flower bed where we had put the trellis but this made it look more complete.
All that was on this lot was the new house and the yard was a blank canvas that we worked together on to make this new house become a home.
Just out the back door we had a large porch that in the plans it was supposed to be a carport but my parents had never had a carport but they had always had a large porch on their previous houses so this is what this area became. In the summer in Georgia, a porch without a roof is unbearable without a roof covering it. The latest thin out in the mid fifties was aluminum. People were buying aluminum awnings to cover their windows from the sun that made the interiors a little more cooler and they were adding aluminum roofs to porches to make them cooler. I remember the color of ours covering our back porch. It was red with white stripe panels on the edge. This sure made it cooler when sitting outside during the summer.
One day mom said we are going to build a trellis on both sides of the drive way to separate the view from the front yard to the backyard. I didn't know what a trellis was, but I knew that I would soon find out. We all got into the car and made a trip to Homer to the Garrison's lumber yard that was just off of the town square. My mother went into the office and told Mr. Garrison what she wanted to build and he said sure let me get the material that you will need to build it. It wasn't long before a large bundle of wood was tied to the top of our station wagon and we were headed back home. When we got home the wood was unloaded from the top of the car and put in a pole close to where the trellis was going to be built. My mother had purchased the day before a post hole digger for digging holes to put the six post into the ground to support the trellis that was going to be built there. Mother showed my older siblings how to use the post hole digger by digging two of the holes herself. She must have found the softer area to dig because it took my brother a whole lot longer to dig the other four holes. (If you have never used a post hole digger before you are in for a treat. You have to apply a lot of downward pressure to dig into the ground and then you pull the handles apart to lift out the dirt. Don't get in to big of a hurry and pull the handles apart to fast because you will pinch your fingers every time.)
That afternoon the local Hardware Store(Christian Brothers Hardware) brought a load of sand and some bags of concrete and a wheel barrow. We learned how to mix sand and concrete mix to make concrete to hold our post steady in the ground. It was fun at first but after a while it got tiring but we had a job to finish setting our post.
The next morning after breakfast we went outside and played for most of the morning. Mom came out and we started to build our trellis. We laid the boards out on the ground in squares and then nailed them together and then we nailed between the post boards top and bottom that we were going to nail our trellis to. Once this was finished we all agreed that it sure made a difference in separating the front and back yards. We thought that we were finally finished, but we had forgotten that it hadn't been painted yet. As my sister (Susan) and I were younger and we just got to watch as the others built the trellis we got the job of painting the trellis. I don't know who got more paint, us or the trellis but we finally finished it before supper.
The next day mom told us that we were going out to our place in the country and we were going to dig up several small trees to plant in the yard in front of both trellis's. We got several small dogwoods and several maple trees and brought them back home and planted one dogwood on the narrow side of the drive-way and two on the other side by the house. We already had a flower bed where we had put the trellis but this made it look more complete.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Full Service Gas Stations
It really hasn't been that long ago when we had full service gas stations. As you pulled up to the fuel tanks the bell would ring(from bell hose running across drive in front of pumps) to let the attendant know that he had a customer.
The attendant would come out and ask you how much gas did you need and then he would open your gas tank and get the amount of gas that you needed. He would also check your oil, and water in the radiator as well as the air in your tires and clean your windshield. Everything was full service and done with a smile.
You and your family could use extra clean restrooms and get a map for the road ahead. The cold drinks were ice cold in the drink boxes and if you were lucky some even had some ice in them.
If you needed and oil change or service work there was a mechanic on duty to serve your needs.
Maybe you needed a set of tires or maybe just a flat tire fixed they could do that as well.
I remember when we would pull in with our VW Bus and tell the attendant that we wanted 8 cents of gas and would he check the water in the radiator. Some that didn't know that the VW was an air-cooled engine instead of a water-cooled engine couldn't find the radiator and we would just laugh and say we must have lost it, as they finished checking our oil, water, tires and washing our windshield.
The attendant said I'll give you a push so you can coast to the red light and not burn up all 8 cents of your gas.
Oh, I forgot to say that gas then was 25 to 27 cents a gallon and the car would hold a whole $5.00 of gas.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Looking For A Job
My oldest sister turned sixteen and my dad thought that it would be good for her if she were to work for someone other than with him at the store so she could get some experience working for other people.
So she got ready to go and talk to some people that were hiring in our area and my mother took her for her interviews. She stayed in the car while Lucy went in to see about a job.
Each time after being there she would come out and get in the car and mother would ask her how the interview went and did she get the job. She told her it went well and that they said that they would give her a call later.
Several days went by and my dad was down at the bank and he ran into the man at the bank where she had had an interview. My dad asked the man how the interview went and he told my dad that he didn't think that my sister wanted a job. My dad said why do you say this.
Well, after I told her what we were looking for I asked her did she have any questions and she said yes. He said what questions do you have. Well how much do you pay?, How long do I have to work before I get a raise?, What are the hours I have to work?, How long do I get off for lunch?. I long do I have to work before I get a vacation? She never asked anything about the work, so I didn't think she wanted a job.
So when she went on her next interview she got the job on the spot.
Palmer Waters
So she got ready to go and talk to some people that were hiring in our area and my mother took her for her interviews. She stayed in the car while Lucy went in to see about a job.
Each time after being there she would come out and get in the car and mother would ask her how the interview went and did she get the job. She told her it went well and that they said that they would give her a call later.
Several days went by and my dad was down at the bank and he ran into the man at the bank where she had had an interview. My dad asked the man how the interview went and he told my dad that he didn't think that my sister wanted a job. My dad said why do you say this.
Well, after I told her what we were looking for I asked her did she have any questions and she said yes. He said what questions do you have. Well how much do you pay?, How long do I have to work before I get a raise?, What are the hours I have to work?, How long do I get off for lunch?. I long do I have to work before I get a vacation? She never asked anything about the work, so I didn't think she wanted a job.
So when she went on her next interview she got the job on the spot.
Palmer Waters
My Big Sis
If you've ever had an older sibling you will know what I am talking about but if you didn't just look what you missed.
Mother didn't leave us alone very much we either went with her or dad, or they were there when we were at home.
On the rare occasions when mother wasn't there my big sister was left in charge. And boy howdy did she like to be in charge and take charge she would.
I remember one time we were left in her care and I guess we probably did get rowdy as we were playing because most times we did.
She threatened us with time out and this wasn't enough punishment for us. She made us sit in the corner for thirty minutes and then she whipped us. We told her mom punished us if we misbehaved but never like this.
Finally we must have drawn her last straw because she got the help of my second oldest sister (Juanita) and tied my hands one to one leg of the piano and the other hand to the other leg, then she took my brother (Oliver) and tied one of his hands to one sofa leg and the other hand to the other sofa leg. then she tied our legs together and told us now try and get loose.
It didn't take long before Oliver realized that he could lift up the sofa and slide the knot down the leg and off and then the other leg. Then he got busy on our legs and he untied my hands and we escaped outside where we gladly stayed until our mother came home.
Palmer Waters
Mother didn't leave us alone very much we either went with her or dad, or they were there when we were at home.
On the rare occasions when mother wasn't there my big sister was left in charge. And boy howdy did she like to be in charge and take charge she would.
I remember one time we were left in her care and I guess we probably did get rowdy as we were playing because most times we did.
She threatened us with time out and this wasn't enough punishment for us. She made us sit in the corner for thirty minutes and then she whipped us. We told her mom punished us if we misbehaved but never like this.
Finally we must have drawn her last straw because she got the help of my second oldest sister (Juanita) and tied my hands one to one leg of the piano and the other hand to the other leg, then she took my brother (Oliver) and tied one of his hands to one sofa leg and the other hand to the other sofa leg. then she tied our legs together and told us now try and get loose.
It didn't take long before Oliver realized that he could lift up the sofa and slide the knot down the leg and off and then the other leg. Then he got busy on our legs and he untied my hands and we escaped outside where we gladly stayed until our mother came home.
Palmer Waters
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