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Barefoot In The Sand: Remembering the Waning Days of the Hopewell Community (1998) Bruce C. Gragg 77/123

OUR VISITS TO HOMERVILLE

We also made trips to Homerville after the Halls moved there.
However, our first trip there was in about 1943 or 44. Vera and I
were carried up to have our tonsils removed. Vera went through her
surgery just fine, I had a big problem. Actually I almost didn’t make
it. The war was in full throttle, and the converted house to hospital
was right next to a railroad with many trains going by and switching.
Moving the war material and troops. I was very excited with all the
steam engines. Our room was what once was the living room, I had a
ring side seat to all that train activity. When I heard a whistle I
would jump up to see the engines moving up and down the track,
switching cars. I soon learned how the whistle sounded if the train
was just passing through, of if it was just shifting cars around.
After surgery, we were given loads of ice cream, Vera could eat only
a little of hers. It didn't take me long to 'woof down' every bowl
(BIG) brought in, including Vera's. That part was over all too
quickly.

On one trip shortly before we moved to White Springs, Mama and I went
up there, I was driving now. I went to John's sawmill and saw him, he
asked me where had I been. My reply "Down in the Sticks." He said he
had seen the sticks and where we lived was not the sticks. Every time
we visited them we took fresh vegetables or field produce, what ever
variety was in season at the time. In the spring and summer there
would usually be a supply of hot pepper. They liked for us to take
Collards and Hot Peppers or any vegetables we had in the garden. John
would always kid mama about the pepper she had was not hot. One year
we got seeds to a very hot banana pepper. We took it to him, when
asked if it was hot mom's reply was "not very hot." Was he surprised
when he bit into one of them. His eyes lit up, maybe a puff of smoke
from his ears and nostrils as he reached for his tea glass and took a
"BIG GULP", "Christine you finally found some good hot pepper" was
his reply as soon as he got his voice back. We knew it was hot, Mama
and Vera had canned pickled peppers on a Saturday and Wednesday their
hands were still burning, even after using various methods of trying
to counter the effect. He did .really enjoy it about as much as he
enjoyed kidding mama about what we brought. All of course was in
light-hearted fun, we all liked to kid each other. If we had a good
supply of cured meat or sausage sometimes we would give them a
special treat and take them some.

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