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The Rural Voice, 1989-01, Page 41mosquitoes and when they became unbearable, Mamaw would light her citronella candles. The lemony scent wafted on the night air, and got rid of the pests. We sat still, almost holding our breath, just at dusk. We strained to hear the mournful whip -poor -will's call. Mamaw insisted that if you listened hard enough, he said, "Whip - poor -will! Whip -poor -will! If you don't, I will!" As darkness descended we would watch for the first lightning bugs — fireflies to northerners. One at a time, like tiny flying candles, they would appear in the grass. Having begged to be allowed to catch a few, we always had a jar handy, with holes punched in the lid. After adding a few long blades of grass to the jars, we were allowed two or three bugs each, and we peeked through cupped fingers at the blinking yellow -green lights in our hands. The jar was taken upstairs and placed in the window -sill close to the bed. We fell asleep watching the blink -blink -blink of our own particular lightning bugs. The rule was, how- ever, that the bugs had to be let go first thing next morning, out in the tall grass, down low to the ground. To my knowledge, not one of us ten grand- children ever killed a lightning bug. The altemative to whip -poor -wills and lightning bugs was The Ghost Story. Two older cousins (boys, of course) were very skilled at weaving tales of terror for us younger cousins (girls, of course). As the stories neared chilling climaxes, we huddled closer together on the cement step of the porch. The beards of Spanish moss swinging from the magnolia trees took bizarre shapes... At night, we younger members of the family were sent to bed first. How peaceful it was to lie listening to the adults' lazy conversation drift in through the window to the accompan- iment of a cricket chorus. Mamaw encouraged all her grand- children to read, and she and Pop had bookcases full of Harvard Classics, adventure stories, and Life magazines. After all, reading is an activity people share in silence. She had her favorite indoor chair next to the south window where she could tilt her book to catch the light from outside. Only after it was quite dark would the electric lights be tumed on, and Mamaw would kind of sigh to herself, as if the artificiality of electric light was an intrusion. I recapture the utter peace those times only when the hydro is off. The old house is still standing and my grandfather still lives there. At 89, he moves slower, takes his time to do things his way, and gets along all right. His sense of humor sees him through the days when one of the family isn't there visiting. He has a "genuine shrunken head" named "M.T." hanging by his chair to keep his company, and old M.T. "never argues or talks back." At the end of a visit I had with Pop a few years ago, I asked him if he had any messages for anyone back home. He thought for a moment and then grinned and drawled, "Tell 'em I said 'hey!' (that's hello in Southern) if anybody's speaking to me. If they're not speaking to me, tell 'em to go to hell." Pop cherishes silence, not only by necessity (Mamaw died in 1970), but by choice. The roots of an old tree have grown under the house and have heaved the living -room floor tiles up a bit. The wood siding has faded with the passing years. In my life, there have been many changes, one of which is the fact that the old house is now 1,500 miles away. But if I close my eyes and clear my mind, turn off the radio and the lights, the memories return as clearly as if they happened yesterday — yesterday, and the sounds of silence.0 1989 FARM EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST 0 Snowblowers -0 Dump wagons & trailers • •. Zero grazers ,` Cattle feeders -O` Cattle handling equipment 6: Gates ty Scales Bale forks Woodsplitters Blades .5: Bale thrower racks ;C. Flat racks V Check the quality and value at Hagedorn's where equipment is made with care and pride rAN Hagedorn N. E. HAGEDORN & SONS LIMITED Paisley, Ont. 519-353-5642 JANUARY 1989 39 , li I ......____„,_ h lu111 . i :li r�. „2„, 1 ,....,... 1989 FARM EQUIPMENT CHECKLIST 0 Snowblowers -0 Dump wagons & trailers • •. Zero grazers ,` Cattle feeders -O` Cattle handling equipment 6: Gates ty Scales Bale forks Woodsplitters Blades .5: Bale thrower racks ;C. Flat racks V Check the quality and value at Hagedorn's where equipment is made with care and pride rAN Hagedorn N. E. HAGEDORN & SONS LIMITED Paisley, Ont. 519-353-5642 JANUARY 1989 39