Thursday, August 6, 2009

FAMILY – FINDING JOY IN UNEXPECTED PLACES

It was from this home that I have my first recollection of joining Mother and my sisters in picking cotton. Across the dirt road from the home was the cotton field spread out as far as little eyes could see. Big eyes could see more clearly and distinctly, keeping an eye on the task at hand but also checking back at the house where children might be at work or play – mostly the latter. Early in the mornings we would suit up in our bonnets and sling over our shoulder our little cotton picking bags Grandma had made for us and cross the road into the field for the day of work. A sheet would be spread on the ground between the rows to catch our pickings and we would frequently return to it to empty our little bags. We would pick and empty – pick and empty; that's how our day would go. When little hands and feet grew tired we sisters would refresh ourselves by sitting on the sheet and making beautiful hair-dos, tightly winding cotton boles around a stick to form lovely white curls, arranging them into head shapes and laying them out on the sheet for all to see. At the end of the day the sheet would be gathered up and taken to the scales back at the tenant farmer's house for weighing in. Each day's pickings were tallied and credited to Mother's account to pay the rent and provide for our needs. FAMILY – CONSIDER IT ALL JOY

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I well remember the fields brown and dried with ripe cotton plants - and the snow white bolls of cotton that dotted the fields.
I also remember visiting the Cotton Gin and holding my ears as the noise of the machines separating the seeds from the cotton was deafening.
Thank you for this post - and for the memory. I never picked cotton to help with the family, but my dad and his brothers and sisters did.

Jacquelyn Stager said...

Everytime I read your post I'm still thinking you've GOT to write this story in book form. Your compilation of blog posts is your starting point. Can any of your kids help you find a publisher or perhaps co-author with you? I know it seems overwhelming, but maybe with some help? You not only have a book here, but a movie as well. I'm going to be praying something might happen to get this going! Keep writing!