We may go full circle - DodgeBoard.com

jeezeweeze · #1 (**permalink**) 03-22-2008, 10:45 AM

> BY COLLEEN B. HUBERT
>
>
>
> IN THAT LONG AGO TIME WHEN THINGS WERE SAVED,
> WHEN ROADS WERE GRAVELED AND BARRELS WERE STAVED,
> WHEN WORN-OUT CLOTHING WAS USED AS RAGS,
> AND THERE WERE NO PLASTIC WRAP OR BAGS,
> AND THE WELL AND THE PUMP WERE WAY OUT BACK,
> A VERSITILE ITEM, WAS THE FLOUR SACK.
>
> PILLSBURY'S BEST, MOTHER'S AND GOLD MEDAL, TOO
> STAMPED THEIR NAMES PROUDLY IN PURPLE AND BLUE.
>
>
>
> THE STRING SEWN ON TOP WAS PULLED AND KEPT;
> THE FLOUR EMPTIED AND SPILLS WERE SWEPT.
> THE BAG WAS FOLDED AND STORED IN A SACK
> THAT DURABLE, PRACTICAL FLOUR SACK.
>
> THE SACK COULD BE FILLED WITH FEATHERS AND DOWN,
> FOR A PILLOW, OR T'WOULD MAKE A NICE SLEEPING GOWN.
> IT COULD CARRY A BOOK AND BE A SCHOOL BAG,
> OR BECOME A MAIL SACK SLUNG OVER A NAG.
> IT MADE A VERY CONVENIENT PACK,
> THAT ADAPTABLE, COTTON FLOUR SACK.
>
> BLEACHED AND SEWN, IT WAS DUTIFULLY WORN
> AS BIBS, DIAPERS, OR KERCHIEF ADORNED.
> IT WAS MADE INTO SKIRTS, BLOUSES AND SLIPS.
> AND MOM BRAIDED RUGS FROM ONE HUNDRED STRIPS
> SHE MADE RUFFLED CURTAINS FOR THE HOUSE OR SHACK,
> FROM THAT HUMBLE BUT TREASURED FLOUR SACK!
>
> AS A STRAINER FOR MILK OR APPLE JUICE,
> TO WAVE MEN IN, IT WAS A VERY GOOD USE,
> AS A SLING FOR A SPRAINED WRIST OR A BREAK,
> TO HELP MOTHER ROLL UP A JELLY CAKE,
> AS A WINDOW SHADE OR TO STUFF A CRACK,
> WE USED A STURDY, COMMON FLOUR SACK!
>
> AS DISH TOWELS, EMBROIDERED OR NOT,
> THEY COVERED UP DOUGH, HELPED PASS PANS SO HOT,
> TIED UP DISHES FOR NEIGHBORS IN NEED,
> AND FOR MEN OUT IN THE FIELD TO SEED.
> THEY DRIED DISHES FROM PAN, NOT RACK
> THAT ABSORBENT, HANDY FLOUR SACK!
>
> WE POLISHED AND CLEANED STOVE AND TABLE,
> SCOURED AND SCRUBBED FROM CELLAR TO GABLE,
> WE DUSTED THE BUREAU AND OAK BED POST,
> MADE COSTUMES FOR OCTOBER (A SCARY GHOST)
> AND A PARACHUTE FOR A CAT NAMED JACK.
> FROM THAT LOWLY, USEFUL OLD FLOUR SACK!
>
> SO NOW MY FRIENDS, WHEN THEY ASK YOU
> AS CURIOUS YOUNGSTERS OFTEN DO,
> 'BEFORE PLASTIC WRAP, ELMERS GLUE
> AND PAPER TOWELS, WHAT DID YOU DO?'
> TELL THEM LOUDLY AND WITH PRIDE DON'T LACK,
> 'GRANDMOTHER HAD THAT WONDERFUL FLOUR SACK!'
>
>
>
> Most all these girls' dresses were made from flour sacks...

K C Muffin · #2 (**permalink**) 03-22-2008, 10:57 AM

Good find, Weezie! I remember my mom making everything from flour sacks. Now I can't even imagine ever USING that much flour!! I think I have it so hard with my schedule in my phone and having every minute spoken for. When I think about it, Mom had it harder - she may not have worked outside the home, but scheduling her daily tasks would definitely be harder, because it's hard to schedule a little one's tantrum or dirty diaper. I guess I just need to buck up!!

jeezeweeze · #3 (**permalink**) 03-22-2008, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K C Muffin

Good find, Weezie! I remember my mom making everything from flour sacks. Now I can't even imagine ever USING that much flour!! I think I have it so hard with my schedule in my phone and having every minute spoken for. When I think about it, Mom had it harder - she may not have worked outside the home, but scheduling her daily tasks would definitely be harder, because it's hard to schedule a little one's tantrum or dirty diaper. I guess I just need to buck up!!

When I think of my mother-in-law....a poor sharecropper in Arkansas...I am ashamed of myself..... she worked the fields and took care of 5 kids, lived in a tin roof shack... no plumbing...hauled water from a creek.. washed and ironed all the clothes.. canned garden produce, killed hogs in winter... I could go on and on....It was an honor to have known her..and Father-in-law...She also lived to 93, him 96.......... I loved those people.... I miss them.

jeezeweeze · #4 (**permalink**) 03-22-2008, 11:21 AM

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.

I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avant garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. Not me..no beach thank God....LOL
They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important
things..

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and
understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!

MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A RAINBOW OF SMILES ON YOUR FACE AND IN YOUR HEART FOREVER AND EVER!

FRIENDS FOREVER!