CHRISTMAS RABBIT HUNT

The guest writer for this posting is my sister, Barbara Ledford Wright.  Her story, "Christmas Rabbit Hunt," appeared in WAITING WITH SANTA, a poetry and prose anthology.  Tom Davis with Old Mountain Press published this collection of 54 authors.  For information, www.OldMountainPress.com.


I knew it was Christmas when Johnny and Grayson Ramey made their annual appearance.

"Can we hunt fur awhile?" asked Johnny with tobacco stained teeth. " I have some young dogs I want to run."

"Sure," Daddy reluctantly replied and stroked Oscar's side. The bloodhound's bristles stood like needles and he made a low growl. I snapped the rope on his collar.

"Let him run, too," said Grayson.

"No", said Daddy. " If he smells a deer, and takes off, we'll have a hard time getting him home."

The Ramey boys gazed at Oscar.

Johnny backed his mud-splattered pickup beside our house like he owned the property. He opened the tailgate, and seven baying beagles shot out like cannon balls.

The pack tore toward the pine thickets. Brush and briars crisscrossed along the fencerow where the vegetation had taken over the field.

The Ramey boys stomped behind wearing orange vests and canvas britches. They carried shotguns longer than our broom.

After much hullabaloo, and gun shots, many rabbits were bagged. The beagles tore through our yard like ping pong balls. The Ramey brothers gathered the beasts by the arm loads, and tossed them into the crate on the truck.

Johnny cranked the old rattle trap, and waved his arm out the window. From the smile on his face, I reckoned they would have rabbit for Christmas dinner.

I turned Oscar loose, and the dog rushed about the lawn sniffing, spraying the bushes and barking. He had reclaimed his turf!

And so it was, every Christmas when I was growing up in my old mountain home; the Ramey brothers rabbit hunted on my daddy's land. It wasn't officially Christmas until their annual homage.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I gaze out my window at the Blue Ridge Mountains unfurling like royal ribbons.  Feather clouds dance through periwinkle skies and a wedge of geese resounds like a pow wow.

Oak leaves ride the wind like canoes.  Poplar trees overlook a cornfield.  Corn shocks rattle their fingers in the wind.  Soon Hub Cheeks will bring his combine and cut the silage.

A celery-colored hill peeks above Hyatt Mill Creek.  Black and white cattle huddle beneath a persimmon tree.

I recall Mama used to gather persimmons each fall and make preserves.  The bitter-sweet jelly tasted delicious on hot, buttered biscuits.

Something moves.  My friend, Nancy Simpson, says that to detect something moving is like another sense.  We have five senses:  sight, taste, feeling, hearing, and smelling. To sense something moving is almost another sense.

I do sense something moving.  I ease the curtains back for a better view.  Three deer glide over a split-rail fence then bound into the woods.  I wonder if they will escape the hunters this year.

Each evening same time, around dusk, five wild turkeys march up our neighbor's driveway.  The fowls strut in a straight line, cross Swaims Road, then disappear into the pine thicket with a gobble. At Thanksgiving these birds need to tone it down and hide.

At Thanksgiving, we need to count our blessings.  It's a time for recalling long ago falls of family fun and laughter.  It reminds us of good times and God's many blessings.

I hope all my blogger friends have a very Happy Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for my blogger friends and enjoy visiting your wonderful sites.

NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE FESTIVAL

 

The Native American Heritage Festival was held at the Cherokee Homestead Exhibit in Hayesville, NC on October 19.  The festival featured artists demonstrating basket weaving with river cane, wood carving, beading, pottery, and stickball demonstrations.  Julie Reed and family served Cherokee food including frybread with a variety of toppings. 

 

A Cherokee corncrib is featured at the Cherokee Homestead Exhibit.

 

Students from Hayesville Elementary School take a tour of the Cherokee winter house.

 

 

A Cherokee summer house is included at the Cherokee Homestead Exhibit.

 

 

Ms. Sandy Nicolette explains the Cherokee game of stickball.

 

 

You'll find Cherokee masks at the Cherokee Homestead Exhibit.

 

 

You may purchase wooden masks, beads, and baskets at this booth.

 

 

This Cherokee lady makes beautiful beads.

 

 

Amanda Swimmer (on the right) is 91 and does pottery.  She's shaping a turtle in this photo.  Her granddaughter helps her with the artwork.

 

 

Tony Walkingstick (Mr. Carl Moses' adopted son), makes Cherokee jewelry, brooms, and tommy hawks. 

 

 

Diamond Brown is an entertaining Cherokee storyteller and educator who founded "Touch the Earth with Native People" which has been presented throughout the United States.

 

Dan Hollifield, a Clay County resident, played his own hand-made flute at the Native American Heritage Festival.  He's a member of the Cherokee Nation and belongs to the bird clan.

 

An art show was also held in the Clay County Old Jail Museum during the Native American Heritage Festival.  The work of regional artists included jewelry, baskets, paintings, wooden art, gourd art and fabric art.

 

This event was sponsored by the Clay County Communities and Revitalization Association and the Clay County Historical and Arts Council.

 

You may visit the Cherokee Homestead in Hayesville, NC. 

For information, call:  828-389-3045.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VETERAN'S DAY EXHIBIT

 Uncle George Lee served in WWII.  He received a Purple Heart for serving his country.  Fellow veterans named the George Lee American Legion in honor of him.

The Hayesville, NC Centennial Display has featured an exhibit on veterans.  I thank Ms. Sandy Zimmerman, chairperson of the Centennial Committee, for allowing me to photograph this display.  This historical exhibit is open on Friday and Saturday, 9:00AM-4:00PM on the Hayesville Townsquare.

MAGIC SEASON

MAGIC SEASON



Autumn sprinkling gold dust,

magic slips into the mountains.

A wedge of honking geese

cuts through cobalt skies.



Golden rod nod their heads,

breath of fall on my cheek.

The air smells like apples,

autumn sprinkling gold dust.



Star-studded asters hug

the banks of Hyatt Mill Creek.

A doe and twin fawns appear,

magic slips into the mountains.



Corn shocks rattle their fingers,

a pumpkin pie baking.

Maple burns like Moses’ bush,

a wedge of honking geese.



Light spins a kaleidoscope

through the patchwork of trees.

Thousands of monarch butterflies

cutting through cobalt skies.

--Brenda Kay Ledford

TRACTOR PARADE

A tractor parade was held in the mountain town of Hayesville, NC on Saturday, September 28.  More than 50 tractors putt-putt-putted around the square on this splendid fall day.  The Clay County Tractor Club sponsored this fun-filled event that honored farmers and agriculture.

This is Ronnie Smith, a farmer who lives on Downings Creek.  He formed the Clay County Tractor Club in memory of his son, Dwight, who was run over by a tractor and killed many years ago in Clay County, NC.

This huge machine is a combine that farmers use to cut corn.  Hub Cheeks owns this John Deere.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Wendell and Eula Mae Moore brought their produce to the Farmer's Market in Hayesville, NC last Saturday.  They loaded their pickup with a fall harvest.  The old-fashioned butternut squash grabbed my attention.

Wendell said they had never raised butternut squash until their son, Phillip, suggested they plant it.  The crop thrieved on their farm in Tusquittee.  They made a wise decision.  Wendell said they sold 50 butternut squash on th townsquare.  I bought some before they sold out.

I recall when I was a child, my mama made butternut squash pies from scratch.  Back then she baked on a woodstove in a hot kitchen.  I can still taste that delicious dessert.  Here's Mama's favorite squash pie recipe:

SQUASH PIE

1 cup squash, cooked and mashed
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 T. self-rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell

Mix squash, nutmeg, cinnamon, flour and sugar.  Add eggs and milk; mix thoroughly.
Pour into pie shell.

Bake at 350 degrees 40-50 minutes or until done. 
Yield:  6 servings

I didn't realize how much time it would take to make a squash pie from scratch.  Fortunately, Mama supervised each step of the baking.  Now I know how hard the old-time mountain women worked to prepare food for their families.

If you should decide to use this recipe, you might need to bake the pie longer than the time indicated in the recipe.  I had a hard time getting the pie done.  Sometimes I think maybe it's the weather that makes the difference or the temp. of your oven.  You will need to judge for yourself when the pie looks firm and done.

The pie tasted good with vanilla ice cream.  You could also put Cool Whip on each slice of pie.  Some folks just like the pie plain.  Anyway you like to serve it, I sure hope you will enjoy this fall recipe.