LIFE AS IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

By Lamar Rogers

Friday, October the 5^th, 1877 here in Kentucky started out cool and crispy. I awoke early as usual. Sparky, our rooster made sure of that! I left Violet snuggled up in our cozy warm bed, put on my overalls and went into the kitchen and built a fire in the wood stove. I was already anticipating our hearty breakfast of fresh eggs, country ham and Fawnda’s hot biscuits and oh yes, sorghum molasses. Sandy and Fawnda made some fresh butter yesterday so the biscuits this morning will be especially tasty with all that butter and molasses! The fire in the fireplace in the living room has burned down so I put some more wood in to get it going again. These October nights can get a little cold but our log home nestled in between two ridges and overlooking a beautiful meadow with a running stream is very comfortable and adequate for our family of five.

Betsy, our jersey milk cow is already letting me know she’s ready for breakfast too. She and little Elise who was born last April, the bull and two steers make up our heard of cattle. I’ll be butchering one of the steers very soon now and Mr. Cavanaugh, the owner of the grocery store in town wants to buy the other one. Elise will make someone a good milk cow in about a year or so. Thirty-four chickens, five hogs and two horses round out our family of farm animals. Wade and Fawnda help with the feeding chores. Fawnda’s attention to the chores is being drawn away, though, by her boyfriend named John. John is the son of our preacher, Brother Cofield. And a fine preacher he is. Reba is his lovely wife.

As I walk out the back door, I’m reminded that my nice warm coat is still inside. It’s a little nippier than I thought! The sun has already brightened the sky but has a way to go before it shines down into our valley and touches our home with its’ warm embrace. I built the barn on a little terrace about five hundred feet from the creek that runs through our small forty-eight acre farm. Five and a half years ago, I was thankful for my foresight. The creek got pretty wild that year. Our home is a little higher up on another terrace that Violet and I used to sit on twenty-two years ago when I was courting her. It had a beautiful spot under a large maple tree that I think was planted there by the creator just for us! I think that may have been where she gave me my first kiss, or was it at the church picnic when we were playing hide and seek. I found her but she didn’t run. It could have been the night I ask her mother if she could ride back from camp meeting with me in the back of our wagon. We could make a small detour and drop her off at her house. Daddy and Mamma liked her and didn’t mind at all. I even think daddy paid more attention to the road ahead on those occasions. Shirlene was also interested in the opposite sex by then and thought it was funny to watch us sneak a kiss now and then. Anyway, those kisses sealed our destiny. I think it was an unspoken dream of both of us that this would someday be where we’d build our little nest and start a family of our own. We made sure that the maple tree remained a part of our lives when we built our home. It now shades the front porch and our three youngens have played in the swing that hangs from one of its’ branches for many years. Violet and I have sat in our porch swing and watched them, and their friends, for many hours while they made their own childhood memories.

The meadow in front of the house where the creek runs makes a beautiful setting over which the sun rises from beyond the ridge on the far side, sending it’s rays through the trees and many times, the mist that rises from the creek. Violet and I have watched the moon from this porch as it also rises among the trees in the distance. We sometimes go to the top of the ridge behind our house to a rock ledge where we can see it as it comes up on the horizon. Quite often, the owls will let us know they are also there in the treetops to watch this magical event!

I love the seasons. Fall brings it’s cool, refreshing breezes and the splendor of the trees adorned in green, red, yellow, purple and all colors in between. Then winter brings it’s own magical touch! Beautiful soft white snow that covers and makes even the unattractive beautiful! Trees that were naked become fully clothed in white that sparkles in the sun. Bathed in the light of a full moon, the night becomes almost as bright as day, perfect for a ride in our sleigh all snuggled up under a quilt or two with a beautiful girl like the one I married! Memories of times like that never fade. Then spring comes with it’s fresh new flowers and leaves and the songbirds and the return of warm weather.

I remember living in central Florida when I was a child. Daddy left Florida in March of 1848. I was eleven years old. He turned forty-three that year. Good memories they are! The tall pines and the sound of the wind blowing through their tops, the beautiful clear waters of the lakes and rivers and the cypress trees, the sound of the waters washing in upon the beaches. Yes, the ocean beaches! We would go over to see my aunt and uncle who lived near the ocean near Clearwater about once or twice a year. Traveling took about a day and a half from where we lived but I loved the excitement of adventure and the anticipation of what was there. Seeing the ocean and trying to imagine what was out there or what might be on the other side was too much for my young mind. I’ve wished many times since leaving, for some fried oysters or oyster stew or fried mullet with good ole swamp cabbage or mamma’s clam chowder. I have thought about taking the whole family and just moving back down there but I don’t know if they could take it or even if I’d be happy. We are happy here and have so many friends, Wade, Fawnda and Sandra especially. I don’t think Daddy and Mamma could ever accept it. They love the grand youngens! And what about all the precious memories Violet and I have made here. This is the home our three children were born in! And Violet and I have our special place up on the ridge behind our house among the rocks for picnics and other special moments!

Daddy, I think, felt that there was a lot more world to see. He had done quite well selling hides from the animals he’d caught. We left Tampa in March on a small ship that took us to New Orleans. We then boarded a steamboat that brought us up river to Louisville. There he bought a wagon and a couple of horses. Leaving Louisville, we headed south and stopped when mamma and daddy felt that they had found their dream. I don’t know what they were looking for but I had mixed feelings when we arrived here. It was a beautiful place! The hills, or were they mountains, were so big, cliffs that you could look down a hundred feet or more to a stream or into the treetops. It was so different from the flat lands I was accustomed to. And I didn’t know if I would find new friends here.

Our first house was small but adequate. Daddy was able to buy about 32 acres of good bottomland for a small farm and big garden. That was later increased in size as he made money from the wagons and buggies he built and cattle he raised and sold and the hides from the animals he caught.

The place I own today was part of his last purchase. He gave it to Violet and me before we married March the 12^th, 1856. He and I, with help from some of our friends, built this house which has been enlarged as the family has grown. As I walk the 348 steps to the barn, I think how our lives are so different than what might have been had daddy stayed in Florida.

The colors are just beginning to show on the sassafras and dogwood trees. The sycamore and hickory trees are loosing their leaves fast now. The buckeye trees are already naked. Two more weeks and the splendor of our fall season will be inspiring us on into the days of thanksgiving and gift giving.

After milking Betsy and feeding the livestock, I fetch a bucket of water from the spring and return to the much anticipated breakfast that is almost ready. The youngens are excited, this being the last day of school for the week. Weekends are exciting. We go to church on Sunday but the biggest event and the most exciting has to be "Uncle" Jim’s hoedown on Saturday night! Most of our small community and many from town turn out for this time of music and revelry and gossip and courting among the younger set. By about 3 o’clock, there is music in the air! Mandolins, guitars, fiddles, dulcimers and banjos begin to arrive.

The youngens are on their way to school. It takes them about twenty five minutes if they don’t linger at grandpa and grandma’s house. They are dropping off some fresh milk and butter. They, on occasion, will eat breakfast there. It’s a treat for both parties! On this especially refreshing and beautiful morning, Violet and I have decided to go for a walk around the farm.

The days of summer are behind us for this, another busy but very good year. The rains have been adequate for a good crop of corn and our garden was a good one. Jars of beans, tomatoes, beets, squash, corn and pickles in the pantry testify to that. We were able to share our potatoes and winter squash with some of our neighbors. Daddy’s garden was splendid as always. I don’t think he ever fails. He’d be so disappointed if he didn’t have "stuff" to give away, especially to Mrs. Blades, the school teacher. She lost her husband about fifteen years ago.

Mornings like this one is turning everyone’s attention away from the long days of work and to the pleasures of visiting and socializing with friends and neighbors. This must have happened to Nancy and Wayne, our very dear friends from a town a little under three and a half-hour’s ride from here. As we were putting our coats on, we heard the buggy pull up in front of the house. Since we hadn’t seen them in about five weeks, we were elated! This called for another pot of coffee! What greater pleasure is there than sitting in front of a warm fireplace on a frosty morning with a cup of coffee and dear friends! The walk could wait. Wayne and I put his horse in the stable with some fresh hay and a little corn while the ladies went inside.

About midmorning, the sun is caressing our front porch with its’ warm rays. I think Wayne already had in mind what he wanted for supper today. He had brought his and Nancy’s fishing poles! Daddy’s fishing pond almost never lets us down. Violet and Nancy packed a small lunch and we all grabbed our poles and set out on our mission. The walk to daddy’s pond would take us down the lane which angles off a little to the north from our house to the place we could cross the creek on some well placed rocks near a sycamore tree. We'd then be able to walk the road that leads to our small town if you go to the right. We went left. The road curves around to the right around a knoll. Daddy and mamma’s place is just around this knoll and up a beautiful, tree lined lane just off the main road. They have a grand view to the north and east, of the rolling hills which we feel must surely be God’s stomping grounds! Mrs. Blades’ school is just a little further up the road and also on the right.

Many people including school kids have walked this lane to Daddy’s house. Mamma’s pies and goodies have lured our kids as well as many of their friends to her kitchen! Mamma’s love has been a comfort to many in times of need. And Daddy, well, he never tires of telling his stories of that far off place called Florida, especially about the huge alligators and rattlesnakes. They have a couple of rooms in their house especially for guests who need a place to spend the night as they travel by. The income from this has helped them in their later years as they needed to get away from the hard work of making a living for themselves and us six kids.

After a short visit with mamma and daddy, we head down to the pond. We find our bait under some logs and leaves where daddy has thrown a lot of table scraps and manure. The action begins slowly. With-in an hour Nancy has landed a catfish and I, a fair sized bass. Violet catches a small bass and a bream. By two o-clock, the picnic lunch has been eaten and things aren’t looking so good for our supper and I’m already thinking of trying to kill some squirrels or a couple of chickens. Daddy has come down to "show us how it’s done" but the fish just aren’t interested in our humble offerings today.

The kids are out of school now and they see us as they pass. Nancy and Wayne love the kids and are very excited to see them coming. Hugs are exchanged! They have two boys and no girls. They claim our girls as their own! Wade’s attention is quickly turning to getting some bait to try his luck.. Well, maybe the excitement on shore has caught the fish’s attention. Wade pulls in a good-sized bass about five minutes after arriving! Now we all get excited! A renewed effort gets underway. Wayne finally catches a fish, a catfish. That one alone will feed two of us! By three-thirty, we’ve done it! We have enough to feed us all with maybe some to spare, but maybe not. We’re all looking forward to this meal!

We get back to the house and Wayne, Wade and I clean our fish. The girls are all preparing to cook our feast! We have taught Wayne and Nancy that it’s proper to eat grits and butter with fish. Some good slaw and hushpuppies round out the meal. A fine feast it is! Thanks Wayne for the suggestion!

The sun is behind the ridge now and will be setting shortly. We’ve decided to walk up there to see it set. I’ve placed a swing there just for this purpose. Wade and I do the chores and are ready to go. The path is pretty easy most of the way. We carry our kerosene lantern to see our way back. We have a growing moon that will help too. I have walked the path many times in the light of the moon. It’s a beautiful walk with moonlight shining through the trees. I was inspired on one of those occasions to write this little poem which I call:

This evening’s adventure was no less inspiring! The girls and Wade stayed at the house though. John has come to see Fawnda! John has brought his guitar and they love to sing. They often sing at church. Well, Wayne has brought his guitar too! John has a beautiful fire going in the fireplace by the time we get back. This will be a night to be remembered! First, Nancy has a surprise for the girls! She has made a quilt for each of them for their hope chest! I haven’t seen the girls so excited in a long time. While Violet and Nancy make fried apple pies, the guys are getting the instruments warmed up and everyone is getting their vocal cords in tune. Wade plays a banjo and does quite well at it. I think some of the songs must have been written just for occasions like this. Gospel songs with zest! We sang all we knew and then repeated some and we even made up some! As the evening wore on, we slowed down for some of the old songs of praise! Surely this must be a foretaste of heaven! One can’t plan a night like this. They just happen!

John’s horse must be wondering if she’s gonna get home tonight to her own stable! John leaves near midnight. I’m sure his parents will understand. I ask him to stay over but he didn’t come prepared. Besides, his parents don’t think it’s proper. I’m very fond of John. We find it easy to talk things over. He’s been away to college for a couple of years but is taking some time off to be with his family and Fawnda. I think he wants to marry Fawnda when she gets out of school. I’m quite sure he doesn’t want to stay here in these hills and farm though.

Saturday morning’s breakfast is no less spectacular than Friday’s. Wayne brought some fresh pork sausage seasoned to perfection. We are also able to have cool or cold milk now that the mornings are cold. I love it! I’ve finished milking and feeding and sit down with family and guest. It’s a time to relax, eat and talk. Having friends from "afar" adds much to the conversation. They live in a town and have access to a lot of news and talk that is going around. They open up the windows to a much bigger world to us here in our little and somewhat isolated community.

Sandy loves to paint pictures of the scenery around here. She takes off soon after breakfast to find her a special scene to paint. Daddy has framed one she painted of our mare with her colt. It’s hanging over the fireplace. She also painted a picture of John for Fawnda’s birthday in August. You can guess where it’s hanging!

Wayne wants to "help out a little" around the place so I’ve come up with a plan. I still have several acres of corn to gather so I hitch up Trigger to our wagon and we head to the corn patch. We can probably load it and get back for lunch by one o-clock and then unload it afterward. We want to be at Uncle Jim’s hoedown by at least four or five o-clock. Wade will dress a couple of chickens for our lunch and then help us unload the corn after lunch.

By four o’clock, we’re ready to go. Sandy and Fawnda are as pretty as can be in their pretty dresses. Violet and Nancy will turn a lot of heads too. Wade plays his banjo in one of the bands and is dressed for the occasion, dungarees, western shirt, boots, hat and a bandanna around his neck. Very sharp indeed! I think he’s trying to catch the eye of one of the square dancers who comes over occasionally with a group from a community nearby. She’s a beautiful blond haired girl.

Sandy who is eighteen now and finishing school next spring, has a couple of guys very interested in her. I believe she could be married tomorrow if she wanted to. The most excited I’ve seen her get over a boy, though, was about five months ago when a father and son stayed over at daddy’s house for a couple of nights. The father works for a newspaper in Louisville and was out looking for a story. (After all, Jesse James had been in these parts and robbed the bank in Columbia just five years ago!) Anyway, Marty, the son, caught Sandy’s eye. They got a chance to talk some and Sandy was carried away by all the things Marty talked about. He just seemed to know everything. What a big and wonderful world must be just beyond the ridges that surround us! Marty could take her to places she couldn’t even dream about! Well, we haven’t seen him since. Who knows if he is still thinking about her, if he’ll return someday to sweep her off her feet and to a land of bliss!

By the time we arrive at Uncle Jim’s place, a sizeable crowd has gathered and music is in the air. One of Sandy’s admirers is there to greet her. His father owns a clothing store in town. Friends whom we haven’t seen since last Saturday flock around to greet us all and are especially delighted to see Nancy and Wayne with us. Nancy and Wayne have made many friends here. They have warmed many hearts and souls with their music.

Groups tend to form around musicians and singers they like. There are probably a dozen or more such groups by now. Some gospel music singers, some playing foot stomping music and some family groups. There are three young sisters who always draw a crowd. They are very talented. Their parents back them up with guitar and bass guitar. We visit around a little and then head toward the big barn. The fiddlers are already going at it. A few dancers are putting on a good show by now!

There’s not much formality about the proceedings. The musicians play and the people respond as they feel. This goes on until people begin to leave as they feel it’s time to go. Church people will need to get up early for church next morning. People from a distance will usually stay with someone overnight so they may stay late if so moved. Young folks who don’t want the night to end may have to be hunted down to be hauled off by their parents. Some evenings are so much fun; nobody wants to leave, especially in the summer. Winter is another story. Not much goes on here because of the cold. People will visit in homes around fireplaces. There are three pianos in our small community that tends to draw sizable crowds to these homes. There is also one at our church and one at the school.

The evening ends and we all return home. It’s a beautiful ride in the pale moonlight. Sunday morning arrives and the milking and the feeding chores, breakfast, the ride to church, the special singing by Nancy and Wayne, the wonderful sermon by John’s dad and then the Sunday dinner! It’s a very beautiful day for our guest to travel home. Parting can be very sad when our hearts are bonded together in good times and fellowship as we’ve had in the past two and a half days. With a promise that we’ll spend the weekend with them just before Thanksgiving, Nancy and Wayne depart. Violet and I decide to take our walk around the farm.

While the sun is still shining in our valley, we head for the hay field. Our haystack makes a good place to lie in the sunshine and soak up its warmth and reflect on our good times. We talk about the youngens and how they’ve grown up so fast and will soon be leaving home to make one for themselves and their offspring. We wonder if they’ll marry someone who will really love and make them happy. We wonder if they’ll stay close enough for us to enjoy the grandkids. What if they decide to go far away and we seldom get to see them? They have so much to look forward to if they make the right decision in choosing their mates.

As the sun goes behind the ridge, we arise and walk over to the pumpkin patch. We have some beautiful large orange ones and also some smaller ones that make delicious pies. It’s just fun to grow them as well as to eat them and to share with the neighbors! It’s about time to get the winter squash in so I plan that task for the coming week. There’s about seven wagon loads of corn yet to be picked and hauled to the barn. It’s so nice to walk through the patch. It helps make the season.

A light wind is blowing and the night will be a cool one. We walk back toward the house on the main road on the east side of the creek. We see six deer grazing near the creek. The two younger ones are very playful. We hear turkeys in the distance. I know where they roost and Wade or I are expecting to get at least one for our Thanksgiving dinner. We leave the main road, cross over the bridge and begin the walk up the lane to our home. I’m reminded of the walks we often take along this lane in the spring. The daffodils along the way are one of the first signs of the reawakening and then the dogwood and redbud blossoms. But then the honeysuckle growing along the fence on each side bring forth their blossoms. The fragrance is heavenly! Right now though, this beautiful fall evening with its’ crispy coolness is making both of us walk close to each other. The sun has turned its’ duties over to the moon. The sun warms the body but the moon warms the heart and soul. We pause to embrace each other and gaze up at the moon. It will be full next weekend and we think we just might spend a night sleeping out under the stars if the weather is right.

As we near the house, I smell the smoke from the fire in the stove. Fawnda is probably fixing something for supper. Life here on the farm has been good for Violet and me and the youngens. I think about Florida and wonder what it would be like to live down there if I could start all over again?

The week after this coming week, daddy and I will be butchering a couple of hogs and he will get his smokehouse going to smoke the hams and sides. We’ll also butcher a hog for Mrs. Blades and smoke the hams for her. Mr. Merle, one of our elderly neighbors also wants daddy to smoke a couple of hams for him and his wife. This is also a grand time for us as we all enjoy the times together and the smell of the smoke from the smokehouse and the fires as we cook out the lard from the fat. The smells in the air during this season also include the smell from Carl Blades sorghum kettle. Our community is blessed to have this man among us! He supplies us all with sorghum molasses. The festivities around his place always include a biscuit, butter and molasses feast!

Another good weekend has passed and the kids are back in school again. Violet wants to join me in the corn patch today so here we go. We’re in the best years of our lives and having a great time! Daddy and mamma are doing very well for their age. Our youngens have so much to look forward to. Great things are on the horizon. We can’t see into the future but a visit to a big city like Louisville gives us some ideas. If only we could get a better and faster means of getting from one place to another. Maybe the railroads are the answer. A railroad to every community would open up a lot of new opportunities. We could go on weekend trips to the big cities or maybe it would be convenient for us to visit faraway places like Florida. I’d love to take my whole family down there to see the oceans they have only read about. Of course my relatives from the flatlands might also come to see us here in the hills of Kentucky. I know life in the large cities like New York or Tampa is much different but is it better? Maybe someday I will get to experience it. I have gone to Louisville with daddy a couple of times as he would go there to get some parts needed to build wagons and buggies. I saw some amazing things! Maybe one or all of our children will move to a big city. We don’t try to limit their dreams. Who knows what lies ahead for our grandchildren in this fast changing world? We at least hope they’ll be close enough for us to enjoy them as they grow up.

End of Story.

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