Dear Mothers of the Hearth,
Oh, I had a jolly time last evening. I had John and Christine and Romeo Paul, age 4, over for supper. As I was preparing for supper, the neighbor children came over with a measuring cup asking to borrow a cup of flour. "Something smells good." Cole, age 13, and his sister Abby, 6, visit a bit and look around to see if I have changed anything since they were here last. I told them that was chili they smelled and cornbread and homemade popcorn. I made a pot of coffee, too, and we also had iced tea with fresh mint in it from my garden.
I still had Baby Olivia when the kids all got here for supper. Oh, we had so much fun! My table is so big, it takes up the whole dining room. So Christine was sitting by the side door so she has to do everything on that side of the table and I am on the side by the kitchen. So while I am running back and forth from the kitchen, then Christine is in charge of letting the cat in and out and answering the phone. Olivia, 9 weeks old, had slept earlier as I got everything on the table but she woke up when everyone came. So I hold her -- it's just what I think I should do. So I run about with baby in my arms. It seems right! But then her Daddy came and picked her up and then we all settled to talk and eat leisurely and enjoy each other's company.
We talked about the old "Laugh-In" show that we watched when the kids were little. I love to imitate Lily Tomlin as I pretend to be an old time telephone operator. "RING A DING A DINGA . . . RING A DING A DINGA. NUMBER PLEEEEEASE????" Then Johnny taught Romeo some things that James Cagney used to say, like "You dirty rat, you killed my brother." I don't like that but Romeo is such a ham and says it out of the corner of his mouth and I can't help but laugh. Then Johnny started imitating W.C. Fields and I did, too. "Anyone who hates kids and hates dogs can't be all bad." And then May West. "When I am good I am very very good and when I am bad I am better." Well, when Jim was gone in the old days, the kids and I would sit and watch old movies and eat homemade popcorn and drink the off brand of Kool-Aid and laugh our heads off. The JOY of the Lord was our strength. It takes a lot of faith to laugh in hard times like those were. Oh, but we covered a lot of comedy last night as we visited over supper.
Christine is John's audience. She is so crazy about him. John quit his job as they are moving in a week back to Missouri. Christine says she loves it as she gets to see him more. Oh, I praise God that Johnny has a wonderful family like he has. Christine is one of the cutest girls you could ever see. And Johnny thinks the world of her.
Finally we went into the living room and watched TV with Romeo. I got out dessert, Brownies. Romeo loves the Hidden Camera shows and tries to do the stunts on there. It's like Romeo has springs on his feet -- he just flies through the air. Johnny does tricks with him and keeps me and Christine laughing our heads off. All of my little girls here are calm so it's a treat for me to see Romeo being a real boy. I had 4 boys and I am used to the wrestling and yelling and running and jumping in the house.
As John's family got ready to leave, I told them, "Always keep your Joy. We need it in times like these. It is our strength." And this is part of faith. Those who can laugh and have a sense of humor will find a lot of strength in it. Laughter is the highest form of faith.
Depression Era
Ya know I read a lot of articles on the Great Depression era. Those old timers had a lot to say about survival.
The stock market crash came in October of 1929. It was pretty much world wide. In Kansas and other states called the flat lands, they had Dust Storms. The dirt would fly in the house and coat everything. The Mothers had to wash the dishes of the dirt before each meal. The farmers had cut out all the trees and wildlife to plant crops to sell. Before the Depression hit, there was a lot of profit in farming and the farmers got greedy. And so when there wasn't any rain for 3 years, nothing held the dust down.
The families had to do without rain for 3 years. The ranchers had to sell their cattle and horses as they couldn't water them. The housewives couldn't water their gardens. Many of the men were out of work and then the women couldn't provide, either, with no rain on their gardens. Some lived on dried beans and weeds. But by faith they made it. Some of the families lost their homes and had to move into old abandoned chicken coops in the country. Many families went back to the land when they lost their homes and jobs. Only to have it not rain for 3 years. This era was called the "Dirty Thirties."
In other parts of the country, it did rain some and the farmers were the only ones making it. All they had was food and livestock. So cartoonists portrayed them as fat naked farmers. Because all they could afford was food and no clothes. But the ingenious Mothers of Faith made clothes out of feed sacks. The Mothers would get together and trade feed sacks so they would have enough of one kind of print for a whole dress. They used the old burlap bags that potatoes came in for towels and dish rags. I have a quilt my grandma made with an advertisement for chicken feed on the inside layer. You couldn't see it when Grandma made it but, as it is older and thinner now, you can see she had a feed sack in the inner layer. To make a bed sheet, the mothers would bleach the feed sacks and then sew the squares together. They used the feed sacks to make all of their linens and curtains, etc. They used the Sears "Wish Book" or catalog for toilet paper.
The Gay 90s was a time of great prosperity -- all looked well as if there would be a chicken in every pot. And when the Crash came in 1929, it was a shock to the country. But ya know the Mothers made do. And about once a week on Saturday night, the neighbors and friends would all gather at someone's house who still had a house. And they would take all the furniture out of the living room and put it on the porch. And they would roll back the carpet to dance. And some of the men would come and bring their guitars and fiddles and play music. And the families would forget their cares and woes and dance til midnight. The women would bring all kinds of food for a late Saturday Supper. All the mothers tried to outdo the other Mother. Whose biscuits were the lightest and who was the best pie maker? The Mothers did their best to make what they could with the ingredients they had. The men would hunt and fish and the wife would bring fried fish or squirrel.
As I write, I can see them singing and dancing. I see the candles flicker and the shadows of dancing couples upon the wall. I can smell the meat dishes and the apple pies and biscuits. Oh, the anointing is flowing with Joy and gladness. I can hear the Mothers' shoes as they clop upon the old wooden floors as they dance and sing to the music of long ago. Someone is playing the spoons -- maybe Grandmother -- and I hear the fiddle music. It is joyful as Papa plays and longs to play all night or until the Depression era has ended. The folks sang in the midst of many trials ... they danced in the cabins of long ago. They made do. They lived it out with courage and that was about all they had to sustain them until better times came.
A Cloud of Witnesses
Well, I have Baby Maya Grace, age one year, this morning so I best get to caring for her. I feel such a flow to write. I do wonder if I saw, as I wrote Part 2, the great cloud of witnesses, telling me that if the Mothers during the Depression era made it, I will, too. Huh? Think so?
Love,
Connie
