grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Thrill Hill in the Delta

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Thrill Hill in the Delta

As we approached Thrill Hill, we braced our legs against each other and firmly planted our bare feet in the bed of the Chevy. Gripping the side, the truck felt hot against my cramped knuckles.

“Faster, faster!” we giggled.

Although Uncle Woody drove with his windows down, he couldn’t hear through the wind.

There was no reason for such a steep hill to exist in the asphalt. Jutting up in the flat Delta, it was the only hill in a county surrounded by miles of cotton and soybean fields. I was certain it must have been an Indian burial mound. No one ever confirmed my suspicion.

I counted telephone poles stringing along the ditch bank and anticipated the sensation without watching the road ahead.

Uncle Woody’s truck rattled louder the closer we got.

Side by side we perched inside a windstorm of whipping hair and teary eyes.

As the truck soared over the top, we sailed airborne. My stomach flip-flopped with a falling sensation as the truck bounced on the other side.

“Do it again, Uncle Woody!” we begged.

We did it again.

And again.

riding in the back of a chevy

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Blueberry Hill – Fats Domino

 

Aunt Rena’s Store

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Beyond the cotton field and over the steep ditch, we could see Aunt Rena’s store from my cousin Lesa’s front yard. On summer afternoons, we walked over for a visit. Aunt Lavern (Lesa’s momma) watched us from their carport to make sure we didn’t get run over on the highway by the big trucks hauling grain. We never did.

Even though Aunt Rena was always busy piddling around the store, she seemed happy to see us and greeted us with big hugs and glasses of sweet tea served in Mason jars. Since her store was dimly lit and crammed packed with stuff, it was our favorite place to play hide-and-go-seek. The creaky wooden floors and musty air that sometimes made us sneeze, added an extra challenge to our game. 

I liked to hide behind the large cardboard boxes shoved underneath the dry good shelves. 

One day I peeked inside and discovered the boxes were filled with scraps of fabric—different colors and patterns—all folded and stacked in little squares.

Six whole boxes!

“Aunt Rena, what are you planning to do with all this fabric?” I held up a stack of cotton pieces.

“I’m not sure yet,” she said.

I thought she might use the cloth for quilts and blankets. Or maybe she was just a collector of things that were too good to throw away. I never really knew for sure. I never saw any customers in the store either.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Quilt - Aunt Rena's Store

Aunt Rena and Aunt Virgie made this quilt for me as a wedding gift…

“Memory is the diary we all carry about with us.”
― Oscar Wilde

 

Those Barbie Dream House Years

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Vintage Barbie Dream House - Christmas Memories
Those Barbie Dream House years were melt-in-your-mouth easy. Santa didn’t have to spend one moment pondering what to get my sister and me for Christmas. As long as he dropped Barbie and a few of her latest accouterments down our chimney—a shimmery ball gown, a groovy convertible or a hip Malibu Ken to ride along on her adventures—we were set for the year, and Santa was free to fly to someone else’s rooftop.

A few days after Christmas when Momma began to count the seconds until school started back, we loaded up our new Barbie things and headed over to Little River to visit our cousin Lesa and her new Christmas Barbies.

Yes, our Barbies were cousins too…

For hours we played in the living room around Lesa’s Christmas tree while Momma and Aunt Lavern camped out in the kitchen guzzling Folgers and inhaling banana pudding or whatever pie still sat on the countertop after all the Johnsons had feasted. (Aunt Lavern made the BEST banana pudding, the best everything for that matter…)Do you girls want some pie? Aunt Lavern called out.

No, we’re too busy, Barbie’s getting married!

December was always the month for Barbie weddings (mainly because Lesa hadn’t yet chopped off all her new Barbie’s hair…)

As Barbie walked down the aisle with a Ken she barely knew, Momma and Aunt Lavern lamented the details of their next diet which would start January 2, right after black-eyed pea and cornbread day.January was always the month for dieting.


6 more sleeps…

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, Fred Astaire

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!