Page 67 - barefoot-in-the-sand-remembering-the-waning-days-of-the-hopewell-community-(1998)-bruce-c-gragg

Barefoot In The Sand: Remembering the Waning Days of the Hopewell Community (1998) Bruce C. Gragg 63/123

“FUN” WITH SANDSPURS

Not all our time was spent fishing, we did a lot of chores not only
around the house but also in the field. Kids like Vera and me didn't
like to wear shoes in the summer time. There are two items that made
it smart to wear them, one the ground could get mighty hot where
there was not any shade, the other was we had two varieties of "sand
spurs" to contend. In the fields some of them would grow upright and
reach approximately 3 feet, the other one was a ground hugger. The
taller variety if cut before they developed a spur head made good
hay, it is considered to be a sweet grass. It could create a problem
if cut for hay after the heads had matured. Sandspurs are a member of
the grasses family, and have the "spurs" in stead of a normal seed
pod. The spurs are the seeds, with a nice protective shield
surrounding them. Those growing flat on the ground were the worst to
contend with, in hurry to run from one shady spot to another it was
not always possible in haste to spot them. That resulted in stepping
on them and having to stop on the hot sand and get them out of the
feet. The tall one had a spur head about 3-4 inches long, while the
flat ones were a little shorter. The barbs on each spur are somewhat
like a cactus, but had less "teeth" to hold them in than a cactus, so
they were easier to remove. In late summer or early fall often the
individual seeds with the barbs would fall onto the ground waiting
for the next unshod youngster to come along and step on it, the same
results. While they were still green and the spurs not yet hardened,
you pulled a spur head and got into a sandspur fight. Catch someone's
back to you and gently lay a head on their back and wait for them to
lean back on something and get a loud "Yeeeoooow." You had to wait,
for the coming revenge. However, when the spur matured and dried it
was no fun to contend with, the spur would stick in and take hold and
they could be difficult to remove. They have tiny barbs on their
shank like a cactus tine. The barbs are not as big or hold quiet as
tightly as those of a cactus, but they are still no fun to contend
with.

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