by Dean Rea
Howdy, neighbor. Come over some evenin’ and we’ll set ya fur uh spell.
Course we ain’t got no radio to entertain you ‘cause we ain’t got no ‘lectricity. They ain’t run no line down here yet. Still readin’ by coal oil lamps and heatin’ by a wood stove. Makes it a bit chilly on a winter’s eve, but we can warm things up with some of Uncle Ed’s shine.
The last batch was a bit bitter, but it could put hair on your chest. Grandma took a swig last Saturday evenin’ and got outa her deathbed and danced a jig while Uncle Ed sawed away on his fiddle.
Or we could serve you with a cup of sassafras tea and a slice of mom’s homemade bread slathered with Aunt Mae’s gooseberry jelly. It’s a bit tart though.
Don’t you come over ‘til we milk the cows and slop the hogs. We’ll tell about our plans to shivaree Jake and Sally, who eloped last Saturday. They had been courtin’ fur at least five years. I suppose Sally got tired uv waitin’ and put ‘er foot down. They’re both way past their prime and probably won’t have no kids, but Jake sure knows how to raise hogs. Got at least a hundred or so.
Well, you’re always welcome to visit us down here. Jest pull the latch string and set yourself fur uh spell.
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Dean Rea, 83, is a retired journalist-educator who lives in Eugene, Ore. As a hobby journalist, he prints a letterpress journal, Oregun, and edits an on-line journal, Author’s Bazaar, at:
http://authors-bazaar.comCopyright Dean Rea, 2012
Published in his letterpress-printed journal, "Oregun," No. 70, June 2012
Thanks, Dean, for a bringing a small part of the Ozarks to us. Great piece!
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