Southern Expression Really Old.

I don't besmirch or demean anyone because they live in a different whistle stop than I.

Last I checked the fasten seatbelt light has been turned off and we are free to roam the country.
 
During the school year in the 50’s we catch crawdads in the crick that ran through the playground. I can’t remember what we did with them but probably turned them loose.

In the spring my mother and I would go out in search of “poke greens”. Poke is a native plant in the south that grows by the road and can even be found in my yard. Poke is a very toxic plant that produces a toxic purple berry. If you pick poke early in the season then you can cook it 3 times, drain the water, rinse, put fresh water in and repeat 2 more times. This removes the toxins and leaves a tender and tasty plant much like spinach. You can cook it up with a slab of fatback and have a pretty tasty meal.

Speaking of fatback, either a chunk of fatback or smoked and peppered bacon cooked in a pot of pinto beans will make a great meal especially with cornbread made in a cast iron skillet.

I tried to give my son those kinds of memories and often wonder what kids today will talk about when they’re in their 70’s.
 
What has the world come to. I understand canned poke but “organically grown”. 😁

I never heard the term salet until I was an adult. It was always just poke. You’d pick and cook up a mess of poke. No point in gettin sophisticated.
 
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Back in the day, I was a favored Fishing Partner.
Probably because I had a worm ranching operation.
Yes, I raised worms.
So no reason to go digging around in and around barns for worms.
Bout two shovels, I had a can of worms.
Also had a Confederate Tombstone in my backyard , but that’s another thread!
 
back in the day, I was a favored Fishing Partner.
Probably because I had a worm ranching operation.
Yes, I raised worms.
So no reason to go digging around in and around barns for worms.
Bout two shovels, I had a can of worms.
Also had a Confederate Tombstone in my backyard , but that’s another thread!
We knew this old lady that raised worms in an old deep freezer .
 
To talk to a plowing mule........Gee & Haaa.............Gee means turn to the right...........Haaa means turn to the left........Ya tided the long harness straps in a knot and looped them over ya neck. So ya could turn loose of the plow stock with one hand and grab a rein. Plow stock handles were shaped like the grips on a dueling pistol.
 
We had lightning bugs we'd catch and release. Man at the mayfly swarms at fish camp around the light down in Florida. The mayflies we would sometimes fish with: no release. Then some local would ease through by the campfire dragging about an 8' rattlesnake on a small rope 'bout ten feet long.
 
When we moved to East Texas from Dallas, my wife went to work at the local feed store. She learned a whole new vocabulary. A man called wanting a 'pop gate'. She thought maybe it was one of those gates you nudge with the front bumper to open. She asked the manager, and he said, "Nope. He wants a PIPE gate. They're out back.

A woman called, asking "Ya got any canners?" My wife said, "Yes. We have one for $59.95 and one for $79.95." The woman said, "Them's kinda expensive for flars." She wanted Cannas, the flowers.

We listened to the local radio station's "Trading Post" program, and when we'd call about buying something, the instructions would include, "Well, you know where the old fire tower used to be? Go about 2 miles past that. Take a left at the old Clark place. If you get to the railroad track, turn around and come back about a mile."
 

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