My golden retriever Kayleigh died in 1995. I had just broken up with my old boyfriend and we were still on fairly friendly terms. We decided to spread her ashes on the equinoxes and solstices in places she loved, one of which was the farm.
We spread her ashes at the farm a few days before Christmas. My grandfather watched the proceedings somewhat bemusedly, I'm not sure whether he thought we were silly or was touched that we considred his place special; probably a little of both. He loved Kayleigh - everyone did; she was a beautiful animal inside and out. Her coat was darker than a regular golden's; somewhere in-between golden retriever and Irish setter. In fact, people regularly asked if she was an Irish setter.
So we went out to the car to get the ashes out and walk across the road. There's a certain point in the winter after the leaves are gone when you can see the water from grandaddy's house. It's not that far away and the light glints off it during the winter sometimes. I was looking at it and noticed a group of dogs coming our way. A big black dog, a smaller beagle-ish kind of dog and and the a sort of collie-ish mix dog. They came from the direction of the water and made a beeline toward us at the house. They were very friendly and seemed excited, leaping and dancing around us.
They followed us across the road and we went all around scattering bits of ashes. The stakes for Sam and Nedra's new house had been laid, but construction hadn't started. We sprinkled the ashes where their house was going to be, figuring that as pure and full of love as Kayleigh was her spirit would help bless their house even further. The dogs were with us the entire time.
We finished our duty, said our prayers and began walking back to grandaddy's. The dogs went on their way.
When we got back, we were talking about how nice it was for those dogs to come escort us as we honored Kayleigh one final time, and wondered where they lived. We figured Grandaddy would have seen them around and know who they belonged to.
He looked straight at me and said, "I've never seen those dogs before."
So were they just dogs who sensed something going on and wanted to be a part of it? Perhaps but the thing that always struck me about them was their utter joy. It's like they were elemental expressions of Kayleigh's loving and joyous spirit. Maybe they were guides for her on the final leg of her journey or sourcs of solace for us, or both.
The important thing is, they were there. And they affirmed my lifelong belief that there is something magical about that place.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
The Shed
By the early to mid 70s, when my memory starts to kick in, Mr. Hood was gone and the original farmland farther east in the bend had been sold. My grandfather bought the land where his house is, and my uncle bought the land "across the road" where the original house was. Though the farm was no longer a big commercial enterprise, my grandfather continuted to grow corn, okra, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, peas, bell peppers, turnips, watermelons, cantaloupe and more. Surrounding the farmhouse on threee sides was a peach orchard, with a few apple and plum trees thrown in to boot.
The Shed, as I posted earlier, came about in the 1950s, I think, when someone suggested my grandfather sell the things he was growing. I honestly don't know if it started out life in the configuration I knew, or was reconstructed from original parts that served a different purpose.
It was a three-sided structure set a couple of car lengths back from the road between two massive oak trees that must've been 100 years old when the thing was built. Looking at it from the road, the right-hand side was solid planks, the back was open about halfway down, but filled in with wire and planked the rest of the way down. The left-hand side was open with a high shelf and wire above it. The front was copmletely open and, in my day, filled with a metal display counter - flat on the front but with an internal shelf that was turned to the inside. Baskets of peaches, tomatoes, and other goodies were stacked on it. I think it came from Mr. Hood's store. It's still with us - under the tractor shed - and will be holding food during the reception.
The floor was soft, powdery dirt. The roof was tin.
My history with the shed, obviously, goes back to the beginning of my life. My grandfather enjoyed telling about how one day, as a toddler, I was sitting out there with him and some other cronies and decided to "wash my hair" with the dirt. Clearly that must've served as a sort of self-baptism indoctrinating me into the place, and the place into me.
As I grew older, when folks came to the shed during the afternoon on the Sundays or weekdays we happened to be down there, I was allowed to go ring up a sale.
During my first year in college, my parents began making noises about me possibly finding a job when I came home for the summer. I resisted, as about the only job I was likely to get would have involved a fast-food resaurant and the polyester uniforms they sported during those days. I wasn't about to go that route. Thankfully, my grandfather came to the rescue and offered me a job as his shop girl.
I worked Monday-Friday, roughly eight hour days, 8-3 or so. I sold corn, tomatoes, green beans, peas, apples, peppers, plums, cucumbers, okra and, of course, those magic peaches. There is no better smell than the shed on a warm afternoon full to bursting with juicy redskin peaches.
And of course, no better taste than a warm peach right off the tree.
I have to confess, I get sniffly now in the grocery store when I walk past a particularly fragrant peach display.
Without a doubt, that was my favorite job ever. I loved being at the farm; I loved being outdoors all day. I loved the people, and thank God for the experience with them. I realize, that growing up as I did I was highly unlikely to be a snob, but I also know that because as a sorority girl who just completed her first year of college, I could have been obnoxious in the "i know everything" sense. I never doubted that my grandfather (both of them, actually) though not college educated was a very intelligent man. But it would have been easy to dismiss some of the other folks I came across down there, but spending just a few minutes talking to these men - most of whom who wore overalls every day and likely never finished high school, instilled me with a deep sense of respect for what the did know - not what they didn't. They knew the land, knew the animals, knew how the very planet worked. And no stint at college could ever teach me that. And I was, frankly, awed by them. Especially my grandfather.
The Shed, as I posted earlier, came about in the 1950s, I think, when someone suggested my grandfather sell the things he was growing. I honestly don't know if it started out life in the configuration I knew, or was reconstructed from original parts that served a different purpose.
It was a three-sided structure set a couple of car lengths back from the road between two massive oak trees that must've been 100 years old when the thing was built. Looking at it from the road, the right-hand side was solid planks, the back was open about halfway down, but filled in with wire and planked the rest of the way down. The left-hand side was open with a high shelf and wire above it. The front was copmletely open and, in my day, filled with a metal display counter - flat on the front but with an internal shelf that was turned to the inside. Baskets of peaches, tomatoes, and other goodies were stacked on it. I think it came from Mr. Hood's store. It's still with us - under the tractor shed - and will be holding food during the reception.
The floor was soft, powdery dirt. The roof was tin.
My history with the shed, obviously, goes back to the beginning of my life. My grandfather enjoyed telling about how one day, as a toddler, I was sitting out there with him and some other cronies and decided to "wash my hair" with the dirt. Clearly that must've served as a sort of self-baptism indoctrinating me into the place, and the place into me.
As I grew older, when folks came to the shed during the afternoon on the Sundays or weekdays we happened to be down there, I was allowed to go ring up a sale.
During my first year in college, my parents began making noises about me possibly finding a job when I came home for the summer. I resisted, as about the only job I was likely to get would have involved a fast-food resaurant and the polyester uniforms they sported during those days. I wasn't about to go that route. Thankfully, my grandfather came to the rescue and offered me a job as his shop girl.
I worked Monday-Friday, roughly eight hour days, 8-3 or so. I sold corn, tomatoes, green beans, peas, apples, peppers, plums, cucumbers, okra and, of course, those magic peaches. There is no better smell than the shed on a warm afternoon full to bursting with juicy redskin peaches.
And of course, no better taste than a warm peach right off the tree.
I have to confess, I get sniffly now in the grocery store when I walk past a particularly fragrant peach display.
Without a doubt, that was my favorite job ever. I loved being at the farm; I loved being outdoors all day. I loved the people, and thank God for the experience with them. I realize, that growing up as I did I was highly unlikely to be a snob, but I also know that because as a sorority girl who just completed her first year of college, I could have been obnoxious in the "i know everything" sense. I never doubted that my grandfather (both of them, actually) though not college educated was a very intelligent man. But it would have been easy to dismiss some of the other folks I came across down there, but spending just a few minutes talking to these men - most of whom who wore overalls every day and likely never finished high school, instilled me with a deep sense of respect for what the did know - not what they didn't. They knew the land, knew the animals, knew how the very planet worked. And no stint at college could ever teach me that. And I was, frankly, awed by them. Especially my grandfather.
Mr. Hood's Legacy
In the early 1940s, Guy Hood was a major landowner in Riddles Bend with a large commercial farming operation. He had a feed store in downtown Gadsden as well, but whether that was open at the time or came long later I'm not sure. At any rate, he was looking for a farm manager in the early 40s.
My grandfather, Sam Wilson, was, I believe, working with the County Agent's office in neighboring Calhoun County. Mr. Hood got wind of him, offered him the job and Sam, his wife Lois, their daughter Mae Ann and son Sam Jr. moved to Riddles Bend in rural Etowah County. My mother, Kay, and aunts Joyce and Judy came along after the move. I don't know the exact connection between Mr. Hood and Grandaddy, so if someone who does reads this, I'd love for you to tell me!
My grandparents grew up in a little place called Angel Station. (My great-grandmother - my grandmother's mother - was an Angel. Which makes me what - an eighth angel? Hee!) Any wedding guests who went to Jacksonville State and got there by turning off Hwy. 431 have driven past Angel Grove Baptist Church, which many members of my family still attend. Turn right on a road just past the church and you'll go past the old Wilson homeplace, and the newer house where my great aunt Frances - we celebrated her 90th birthday in February - her son Joel and daugter-in-law Doris live and farm today. A bit further down the main highway is a white house on a hill surrounded by the carcasses of many different types of vehicles and farm equipment. That belongs to my grandmother's brother, my great uncle Henry Wynn, who also recently turned 90.
But I digress. My grandparents moved to the farm and lived in a house that Mr. Hood and his wife, Ada Lee, had lived in when they first came ot the area some 20 years before. She was from South Carolina and had been a schoolteacher; I'm not sure what his background was. Interesting, that for a man who has two roads named after him (one in the Bend and a major four-lane in downtown Gadsden) I know the least about "Mr. Guy."
In those days the house was on the opposite side of the road from where my grandparents' house is now. When my mother was little, that side of the road was home to turkeys. The "new" house was built in the 1950s.
In the 40s, however, the old house was at the center of a collection of buildings, most of which are no longer around. There was a garage, a two-story seedhouse, a couple of chicken houses and probably a lot of other stuff I've forgotten. The well house, a shed that once housed pigs and, of course, the tractor shed where the reception will be, are all still there. You'll all be thankful to know that the outhouse my mother and her family used for the first 10 or so years of her life, is gone as well!
My grandfather, Sam Wilson, was, I believe, working with the County Agent's office in neighboring Calhoun County. Mr. Hood got wind of him, offered him the job and Sam, his wife Lois, their daughter Mae Ann and son Sam Jr. moved to Riddles Bend in rural Etowah County. My mother, Kay, and aunts Joyce and Judy came along after the move. I don't know the exact connection between Mr. Hood and Grandaddy, so if someone who does reads this, I'd love for you to tell me!
My grandparents grew up in a little place called Angel Station. (My great-grandmother - my grandmother's mother - was an Angel. Which makes me what - an eighth angel? Hee!) Any wedding guests who went to Jacksonville State and got there by turning off Hwy. 431 have driven past Angel Grove Baptist Church, which many members of my family still attend. Turn right on a road just past the church and you'll go past the old Wilson homeplace, and the newer house where my great aunt Frances - we celebrated her 90th birthday in February - her son Joel and daugter-in-law Doris live and farm today. A bit further down the main highway is a white house on a hill surrounded by the carcasses of many different types of vehicles and farm equipment. That belongs to my grandmother's brother, my great uncle Henry Wynn, who also recently turned 90.
But I digress. My grandparents moved to the farm and lived in a house that Mr. Hood and his wife, Ada Lee, had lived in when they first came ot the area some 20 years before. She was from South Carolina and had been a schoolteacher; I'm not sure what his background was. Interesting, that for a man who has two roads named after him (one in the Bend and a major four-lane in downtown Gadsden) I know the least about "Mr. Guy."
In those days the house was on the opposite side of the road from where my grandparents' house is now. When my mother was little, that side of the road was home to turkeys. The "new" house was built in the 1950s.
In the 40s, however, the old house was at the center of a collection of buildings, most of which are no longer around. There was a garage, a two-story seedhouse, a couple of chicken houses and probably a lot of other stuff I've forgotten. The well house, a shed that once housed pigs and, of course, the tractor shed where the reception will be, are all still there. You'll all be thankful to know that the outhouse my mother and her family used for the first 10 or so years of her life, is gone as well!
In those days the dam on the Coosa near Ohatchee - Henry Neely Dam - had yet to be built and the river was much lower. The eastern edge of the bend is a high bluff now, but must have seemed like a mountain in those days. I'm told that in the fertile river bottoms corn rows a mile long were not uncommon. They grew strawberries there, too. Further back from the river was the main orchard - covering a section of low, rolling hills, and a dairy barn.
In his travels through the newly turned earth, my grandfather amassed quite a collection of arrowheads. My aunt Joyce mounted some of the most impressive ones in shadowboxes; you can see them in the master bedroom.
At some point in the 1950s, someone suggested that Grandaddy sell some of the peaches and other produce he grew on his land. A shed was erected directly across the (then dirt) road from his house under two towering oak trees, and for the next 30-plus years Riddles Bend became a destination for those willing to drive out of their way for fresh produce and peaches the size of softballs (after 20 years living in Georgia, I have NEVER had a peach as good as those).
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Is this a real farm?
Yes and no. It was much more of what you'd think of a "real farm" in the 1940s, '50s and '60s with acres of corn, strawberries and other crops, dairy cows and, of course peach orchards.
These days, my uncle Sam -- who is a retired Alabama Power exec and his wife, Nedra, a dietitian who worked with UAB and helped launch Cooking Light - farm mostly for fun (and to keep the family in tomatoes). They also grew the pumpkins you'll see at the wedding.
There aren't any animals other than the dogs - Maizy and Millie - and some moles in the front yard. And the beautiful hawks who circle in the sky, an occasional water bird flying from one side of the bend to the other. And, late at night, the coyotes.
These days, my uncle Sam -- who is a retired Alabama Power exec and his wife, Nedra, a dietitian who worked with UAB and helped launch Cooking Light - farm mostly for fun (and to keep the family in tomatoes). They also grew the pumpkins you'll see at the wedding.
There aren't any animals other than the dogs - Maizy and Millie - and some moles in the front yard. And the beautiful hawks who circle in the sky, an occasional water bird flying from one side of the bend to the other. And, late at night, the coyotes.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Directions to the Farm from Birmingham and Points West Via I-20
The Short Version
I-20 West to exit 168, Talladega/Lincoln North (left hand turn at top of exit) onto Alabama Hwy. 77
26 miles to U.S. Hwy 411 (South) left hand turn onto 411
Approximately 6 miles to Riddles Bend Road
Left onto Riddles Bend Road Right at first fork onto Babe Jackson Drive
DO NOT CROSS CREEK / ENTER ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Right at second fork First left onto Guy Hood Road Follow signs for parking.
The Scenic Version
- Make Your Way to I-20 Eastbound.
- Pass through the metro area, the 'burbs, the exurbs and the country.
- Drive through Birmingham, should your journey require it.
- Most of you coming from this direction already know whether you want to take the Birmingham bypass or not.
- Take exit 168, Talladega/Lincoln. Take a left onto Hwy. 77 North at the top of the ramp.
- Proceed 26 miles to Gadsden. Noteworthy places along the route:
...Ohatchee, about 15 miles up the road. It is a HUGE speed trap.
...The Coosa River and its backwaters - they make for a lovely drive
...Southside, another speed trap.
...The old Southside bridge - it's green metal and one lane now, but it used to be TWO.
- Turn left (there will be a turn lane) onto U.S. Hwy. 411 South about a mile after you cross the Southside bridge.
...There will be a Walgreen to your right, a Shell to your left and an Exxon across from it.
- Travel approximately 6 miles to Riddles Bend Road. Turn Left onto Riddles Bend Road so the creek is on your right. With luck, we will have remembered to put up signs!
...If you cross Canoe Creek into St. Clair County, you've gone too far.
- Take a right at the first fork onto Babe Jackson Drive
...The fire station will be directly in the center of the fork; the church off to your left.
- Take a right at the second fork.
...There will be a beautiful beige house in the center of the fork.
- Take the first left onto Guy Hood Road.
...You will see the reception site (tractor shed) on the right; the wedding site (small white house) on the left.
...Parking will be on the left, on the other side of the white house.
I-20 West to exit 168, Talladega/Lincoln North (left hand turn at top of exit) onto Alabama Hwy. 77
26 miles to U.S. Hwy 411 (South) left hand turn onto 411
Approximately 6 miles to Riddles Bend Road
Left onto Riddles Bend Road Right at first fork onto Babe Jackson Drive
DO NOT CROSS CREEK / ENTER ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Right at second fork First left onto Guy Hood Road Follow signs for parking.
The Scenic Version
- Make Your Way to I-20 Eastbound.
- Pass through the metro area, the 'burbs, the exurbs and the country.
- Drive through Birmingham, should your journey require it.
- Most of you coming from this direction already know whether you want to take the Birmingham bypass or not.
- Take exit 168, Talladega/Lincoln. Take a left onto Hwy. 77 North at the top of the ramp.
- Proceed 26 miles to Gadsden. Noteworthy places along the route:
...Ohatchee, about 15 miles up the road. It is a HUGE speed trap.
...The Coosa River and its backwaters - they make for a lovely drive
...Southside, another speed trap.
...The old Southside bridge - it's green metal and one lane now, but it used to be TWO.
- Turn left (there will be a turn lane) onto U.S. Hwy. 411 South about a mile after you cross the Southside bridge.
...There will be a Walgreen to your right, a Shell to your left and an Exxon across from it.
- Travel approximately 6 miles to Riddles Bend Road. Turn Left onto Riddles Bend Road so the creek is on your right. With luck, we will have remembered to put up signs!
...If you cross Canoe Creek into St. Clair County, you've gone too far.
- Take a right at the first fork onto Babe Jackson Drive
...The fire station will be directly in the center of the fork; the church off to your left.
- Take a right at the second fork.
...There will be a beautiful beige house in the center of the fork.
- Take the first left onto Guy Hood Road.
...You will see the reception site (tractor shed) on the right; the wedding site (small white house) on the left.
...Parking will be on the left, on the other side of the white house.
Directions To The Farm From Atlanta and Environs Via I-20
The Short Version
I-20 West to exit 168, Talladega/Lincoln
North (right hand turn at top of exit) onto Alabama Hwy. 77
26 miles to U.S. Hwy 411
(South) left hand turn onto 411
Approximately 6 miles to Riddles Bend Road
Left onto Riddles Bend Road
Right at first fork into Babe Jackson Drive
Right at second fork
First left onto Guy Hood Road
Follow signs for parking.
The Scenic Version
- Make Your Way to I-20 Westbound.
- Pass through the metro area, the 'burbs, the exurbs and the country.
- Cross the state line (you will not need a passport - that is just an urban legend).
If you're in need of a pit stop, the Alabama Welcome Station is clean and safe.
- Pass through lovely Anniston, Alabama. Exit 188 is an excellent place if your pit stop requires not just a pit, but food and drink as well. You'll find more than enough fast food and gas stations at this exit and the next.
- Be sure to notice Alabama's highest peak, Mount Cheaha, to your left.
- Around mile marker 170 or so, you will spot the Talladega Superspeedway to your left. Be glad the wedding isn't a week earlier, or you would be in bumper to bumper traffic right now.
- Take exit 168, Talladega/Lincoln. Take a right onto Hwy. 77 North at the top of the ramp.
- Proceed 26 miles to Gadsden. Noteworthy places along the route:
...Ohatchee, about 15 miles up the road. It is a HUGE speed trap.
...The Coosa River and its backwaters - they make for a lovely drive
...Southside, another speed trap.
...The old Southside bridge - it's green metal and one lane now, but it used to be TWO.
- Turn left (there will be a turn lane) onto U.S. Hwy. 411 South, about a mile after you cross the Southside bridge.
...There will be a Walgreen to your right, a Shell to your left and an Exxon across from it.
- Travel approximately 6 miles to Riddles Bend Road.
...Turn Left onto Riddles Bend Road so the creek is on your right. With luck, we will have remembered to put up signs!
...If you cross Canoe Creek into St. Clair County, you've gone too far.
- Take a right at the first fork onto Babe Jackson Drive
...The fire station will be directly in the center of the fork; the church off to your left.
- Take a right at the second fork.
...There will be a beautiful beige house in the center of the fork.
- Take the first left onto Guy Hood Road.
...You will see the reception site (tractor shed) on the right; the wedding site (small white house) on the left.
...Parking will be ahead on the other side of the white house.
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