with Mary Lynn Lambert
Chris Hatch has health issues and is waiting for testing. Please remember him in your prayers.
Remember it is election time for Silerton councilmen. If anyone is interested in serving, pick up your petition at the Election Commissioner’s office beginning June 22.
A big shout out to Carolyn (Chandler) Vales for sharing some memories that a lot of us can relate to.
She entitled her memory, “Choppin’ Cotton.” She writes, “It was a long time ago. But, old as I am, on these hot summer days, the memory of how I spent my summers long ago comes back to me. No, it was not lying on the beach in Florida or swimming in the pool. When I was a kid, we spent our summers chopping cotton. We had to get up as the sun was rising on the horizon, eat breakfast and get dressed. Then we headed for the cotton patch. We hoed the long rows of cotton from dawn to dusk in the blazing hot sun, only stopping for lunch and an occasional cool drink of water that was waiting for us in a gallon jug resting under the inviting shade tree at the end of the cotton row. We kids prayed for rain a lot in those days.
Some of our friends, whose Dad’s profession was not cotton farmer, chopped for us to make extra money. They did not get rich though. As I remember, the going rate for a day of chopping cotton was about $3 a day. That is a lot more than we made. Daddy would say, ‘You eat, don’t you?’ So that was the end of that. It was very hard work, but, as I reminisce, I realize it was a pretty good life. We had fun walking and talking with our friends and siblings as we went up and down those rows of cotton. Many friendships were developed during those summers of long ago and still exist to the day. Also, we got plenty of sunshine and exercise. We learned what real work was all about. Most of all, we learned to contribute and work together as a family.”
Last week, as my grandchildren and I sat around the pool, I shared some of these same thoughts with them. I will be forwarding this article to them to help them understand just how different it is today versus my childhood.
If you enjoyed reading Carolyn’s memories, please call and share some of your news, thoughts or memories so we can stay connected.
