The 25th Annual Dublin Peanut Festival has come and gone. Organizers confirmed it is likely to be the last. Why? Same crew year after year and they are growing older. The committee will continue with other activities, ex. oyster roast-fish fry and pageant. Proceeds are shared with worthy non-profits countywide who serve others.
Fall arrives next Friday!
My mind wonders back to yesteryear, when we pulled peanuts, stacked them in the field to dry before being transported to market.
Cotton was picked by hand, corn was harvested and loaded on a wagon pulled by a mule or horse and stored in a pack house, few tractors, none at our house…..back-breaking work. Tobacco was king, took a neighborhood swapping labor at harvest time. Helped me to decide that was not my preferred career. Today, a few really good farmers tend the crops and help feed and clothe us all. No regrets or competition from this corner of the world.
Oh yes, we ate from the garden, killed hogs when it ‘turned cold’ and shared with our neighbors, stored mostly in a ‘smokehouse’, and a chicken was on our endangered list. Fried chicken every Sunday after church. Chicken and pork that was enjoyed at our house was raised at home.
Flour, lard, caster oil (?), Camel cigarettes (dad’s favorites) and a peck of neck-bones in a brown paper bag, and a 3# bag of rice were examples of what was ‘store bought’ and brought home in a orange onion bag or a green cabbage ‘see-thru’ web-type, easy to handle bag, in a mule and wagon or later in a ’35 model Ford.
Those were good days, but none I care to repeat. Actually, fall and spring are my favorite times of the year.
Didn’t mean to get off on this type conversation, but those were my ‘thoughts’ earlier today. But, it is fall of the year, harvest time, revival time, leaves begin to turn shortly and we need to cut some wood to help keep us warm.
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. Albert Camus
Autumn’s the mellow time. William Allingham
It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring, who reaps a harvest in Autumn. B.C. Forbes
robert g hester
rgh4612@gmail.com
910-876-2322
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