Piddlin'

I think that should be the name of my blog, Piddlin'. Maybe, in honor of my southern roots, it should be "PureT Piddlin'". I like that. But, really, here it is at 12:15 and I'm sitting here, still in my gown and robe, messing around on this computer. Well, my time is my own I suppose. It's my party and I'll dance if I want to....another good name for a blog. I have not been totally glued to the 'puter. I completed the second stage of the pickle making process by dumping the lime water and making the vinegar and sugar mixture. The cucumber slices are now soaking in the vinegar mixture for three hours. Then they boil for 30 minutes and the jars are filled and sealed. That's the hard part. Doing this process makes me think about Mamaw Jordan and the times I "helped" her do her canning. I cannot really remember what it was she was canning but I recall it took all day and was a lot of work. It was pretty cool though to open that door to the hall closet and see all those jars, the fruit of her labors. They were so colorful....green, yellow, orange. Funny, that reminds me I had a dream a few weeks ago about their house up on Jordan street. It seems it was empty of furniture and for some reason I think I was going to buy it. Strange what things come into our minds as we sleep. I did spend some very happy times there. I recall catching so many horny toads....an almost extinct species now due to fire ants. And, wandering around that 70 acres of land.....feeding the chickens, walking in the garden, peeking thru the barn, picking dewberries, looking at Aunt Gertie's books in the bedroom closet. I grew up in the 50's which was a wonderful time to be a child or at least that's the way I remember it to be. We could ride our bicycles all over the neighborhood for blocks and blocks and not worry about any danger of kidnapping or harrassment. We walked to the 5and10 store instead of to the mall and stopped by the A&W Rootbeer stand on the way back for a float or whatever sounded good. We could spend the whole day at the public swimming pool for a quarter. I could spend all afternoon at the city library lfor free looking through what appeared to be milliions of books trying to decide which ones to take home to read. Cartoons only came on TV on Saturday mornings (that is if your family had a tv). Or, you could go to the Saturday morning matinee with cartoons, a feature film and popcorn and candy and it was all at the downtown theater, not some monster multi-screen cinema. I've heard it described as a time of innocense and that is exactly how it was.