FOLLOW-UP ON MISSISSIPPI

I received an email from MA about yesterday’s blog. She was bemoaning the fact that she had missed out on some fun by staying in town with Juanice (pronounced Wa-neese with the accent on the second syllable) instead of out in the country with us. When she was younger, she actually did stay out there and slept at Uncle Sidney’s across the pasture from us. She said that she and our cousin Hilda slept on a quilt on the hard floor.

On Saturdays Uncle Sidney paid MA and Hilda a nickel each to clean out the little church in preparation for the Sunday services. She wrote, “We used to walk barefoot on the dirt road, open the church, sweep it out, open windows and try to get all the wasps out, and dust the benches.” They thought it was fun and were glad to get the money to spend.

However, she also had some very interesting experiences by staying in town. One day when they were teenagers, she and Juanice were walking down the dirt road into town (about 2 blocks from their house) and they saw some boys they knew. They decided to follow them and see what they were up to. The boys were not aware that they were being followed and when they came to a swimming hole, they stripped down to their birthday suits and jumped in. Still not knowing they had an audience, they continued to get out and jump back in over and over. The girls, who “saw EVERTHING,” became embarrassed and “ran like crazy” but not before the boys spotted them. MA said that night they went to church and all the guys were there. She was too embarrassed even to speak to them.

So sliding down a haystack seems pretty mild and boring when compared to watching nude boys swim. I believe that BJ and I missed out on a few events ourselves by staying on the farm!!