Where I Was Raised

by Deanna Thompson

Raised on 900 acres in the head of a hollar. Wow, what a wonderful life. Indian burial grounds, caves with carvings on the walls, moss-covered rocks, fresh spring to drink from, copperheads and rattle snakes, lots of animals. We had horses which were used to go into the mountains and herd the other livestock in. We had goats and sheep to keep the mountains ate down. They were great bush hogs. Goats' milk was also very good for sick people and animals. There was one ram, and when I say ram I mean he had curled horns and he was mean. When you seen him coming in you stayed out of the way really. Getting hit by him once was enough.

We also had domestic hogs and razorback hogs. We built a pen across the creek for the razorback. Boy, they were mean. That way they had a constant supply of water. They were the ugliest animals I have ever seen. The regular hogs of course were used for eating. When we would kill hogs we would do three at a time. We had a little log smoke house and every part of the hog was used for something. We made sausage out of the tongue, brains, and some other parts. Believe it or not we even used the testicles, that was my grandfather's favorite part. The pork rinds were my favorite and of course the bacon and ham still is today.

Chickens, turkeys, guineas and pheasants were also on the farm. Once a month we would kill 10 chickens. We would ring their neck and them em under a bucket, put a rock on top so they didn't knock it over. When they were done flopping we would pluck the chickens. We kept all the underbelly feathers for mattress tops and pillows. They couldn't have lond ends because it would poke through the fabric. Throw the rest over the creek bank. Then we would scorch the bird. That means burn off the skin of the bird before you clean it. Then you would have to cut its head off, gut it, and cut it up, bag em and freeze em.

The cows were pretty much like the hogs. We would hang em in the smokehouse after they were gutted. The brains, heart, liver, and extras were once again used to make sausage. One thing that was different with hogs were we made hog hocks or pickled pigs feet.

Then there was the chores! Lots of em. I would get up when it was still dark out, eat breakfast, go to the barn, feed all the animals, put the horses on the run, let them out to the right pasture, go home, wash up, and get ready for the day of school. After school chores, garden work, homework, then on my horse I would go til it was bed time.

I loved sitting in the middle of the creek at the ol' swimming hole! It was a 3 to 4 ton rock in the middle of the creek with a big swimming hold at the bottom. We would run, belly-dive and go allt he way to the bottom in the pool of water! It was awesome. The rocks were so slick from the water running over them all the time. It is the best slip-n-slide ever!

My Mamma would say, "Baby, get the jugs and go get us some water." Sometimes she would mean from the spring and sometimes from the well out front. It was an old rock well that had a rope bucket and pulley. Awesome now that I think about the way I was raised.

I have hated milk for all my life. Like I said our cows grazed the mountainside. On the mountainside was wild onions. Guess what the milk tasted like? Have you ever had cereal and onion? Gross, let me tell ya. Needless to say I'm not fond of milk by any means.