| Good Old Days |
| *Scratch* The year was 1973.My daughter was so excited,she was going to her grandma's for the weekend.They had planned on a trip to the nearby zoo. My Mama said I think while she is here we will bake some cookies. They will be a delicious treat. We can even put some into the picnic basket to take along. She told my daughter they would make the cookies from scratch and to get the ingredients out of the cupboard. My daughter exclaimed,"Grandma, I found everything you asked me too but I can't find the scratch anywhere". *Kinklings* CLICK ON KINKLINGS My mama told me a story about me when I was small. She would make dozens and dozens of kinklings, a form of a donut that is popular in the area I am from. She would spend hours getting the dough just right. She would make sure the oil was very hot and one by one she would drop the dough into the bubbly inferno. After they cooled, my job was to roll them in confectioner sugar. When dinner was over that evening we proceeded to enjoy our kinklings. They tasted very peculiar. I had mistakenly rolled them in flour instead of the sweet confectioner sugar. My dad said it was alright because he loved to make a hole in his plain ones and fill them up with King syrup. My mama was not very amused after all her hard work. *Always Tell the Truth* My dad would always bring a brown paper bag home with him from the store. He would come in and immediately sit the bag on top of the refrigerator. My sisters and I knew there was lots of different penny candies just waiting for us. There was a rule, no candy until after dinner. Of course, rules are made to be broken and I was always the one to break them. I was eight or nine at the time and to short to reach the top. Dad had went to his chair and turned the television on. I slowly and quietly moved a chair to the front of the fridge. In just moments my mouth would be filled with sweet and creamy caramels. The ones with the white crèmes in the middle. Ymmm,success as I gingerly rubbed my filled tummy. Later, after dinner he reaches up and gets the bag. To my utter shock he starts counting the pieces. He said"mama, looks like some candy is missing here"One by one he asks each of us"Did you eat any candy?" Of course I was the one, they were innocent. He asks me straightout"Did you eat any candy?" I look him straight in the eye smiling and remark"Of course not daddy, they must have short changed you at the store". He sit there looking very upset and had a worried look come over his face. Then he said "Well, I hate to say this, but some of that candy, the ones with the white crème center had something in them that makes kids very sick, they could even die" I immediately fell to my knees and said"Daddy, take me the hospital, I feel very sick and think I am dying. I then INSISTED and said "I am dying, I know I am" No candy for me that night and none for weeks to come. Lesson learned. *Hooking School* On some cold, bitter, snow days I just hated the thought of walking out that long lane to catch the school bus. I started figuring out ways to make my mama think I was sick. She always said if you are running a fever you can spend the day at home with me. If not, you can get your little self out the door and on to school. My first attempt with the thermometer worked. I would put it over the gas burner and watch the temperature go up. It did this very fast so I had to be really be careful. Sure enough my mama says "My goodness, I had no idea you had such a fever, back to bed right now" I loved those days, she would bring me hot tea and cinnamon toast and ice towels to lower my self induced fever. The last time it didn't work. I held it over the burner too long and POP it went; those little mercury balls were rolling all over the stove. Needless to say I went to school that day. *Kitty-Banks* Another time I was trying to rob the kitty-bank on top a very high cupboard. I thought the easiest way to accomplish this feat would be to stand on the edge of the lower shelf. This was not a good idea. The entire cupboard came crashing down on top of me. Glasses were broken~the kitty-bank, change everywhere. Mama was so worried that it had injured my head that she kept me home from school. Success. |
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| CLICK THE PENNY |
| CLICK ABOVE BABY BOOMERS |
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| Family Reunions at Gambrill Mountain Overlook |
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| Me and my Older Sister in Washington DC 1960 |
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| Our Swimming Hole |
| Written by "zimba" Cynthia Martz © 2003 |
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