Things I have done.
Sat silently, eyes closed, listening to the silence
Walked near the creek listening to the peepers
Eaten frog legs once and regretted it
Eaten fried squirrel, gravy, and biscuits for breakfast
Crumbled cornbread into clabbered milk
Walked behind the tractor while setting tobacco looking for arrowheads
The time I drew water from the spring and ran from a snake
Piled extra comforters on me the nights the glass of water on the sill froze
Kept baby chicks in a box under the cook stove to keep them alive
Burying one of those chicks with tears in my eyes
Scoured the woods and fields looking for our little jersey cow Bossy
Then ran back for the blackberries ripe upon the hill
Taken many a bath in a big washtub in the kitchen
Fed wood into the cook stove, churned butter, made cottage cheese
Stayed home from school after a rain when the creek was high
Ridden in the back of the pickup truck on Saturdays going into town
Sat in the truck while my dad traded 2 chickens for a pair of shoes for me
I only lived a short time in Cynthiana, but they were carefree years. We returned to Covington and thereafter I was a city girl and loved the sounds of the city. The hustle and bustle of downtown Covington and Cincinnati were music to my teenage ears. I loved walking everywhere on sidewalks! The old houses, iron fences and gates, train whistles, Woolworth’s, the Roebling Suspension Bridge, the Ohio River, the school dances and sock hops, all made up my youthful experiences.
I wouldn’t be me, though, without those country moments and memories. They are just too good to forget.
