Blind Pig & The Acorn

Spiders

Everyone's afraid of something-when I was growing up it was spiders for me. I couldn't stand them. Almost every time I saw one I'd take off running and screaming.

During late summer giant spiders would build their webs in the eaves of Pap and Granny's house-they especially seemed to like the corners. I dreaded walking by the webs when I was sent to the clothesline by Granny. On more than one occasion I'd feel the string of the clothespin bag on my back and swear it was a spider-I carried on so-usually somebody came out to see what in the world was going on.

As you can see from this photo-Chatter inherited my fear. This time of the year-it's hard to hike without walking through spiderwebs-Chatter makes sure she isn't in front but sometimes that isn't enough to calm her fears.

The same kind of big spiders that wove their webs in the corners of Pap's house-now weave around my house. 

Folks around here call them writing spiders. An old wives tales says the person's name the spider 'writes' will soon die. Another one advises you should never speak someone's name near a writing spider-cause you might give them the idea for their next web and hasten the person's passing.

Appalachia is full of folklore about spiders-and their webs. Like:

• If you wish to thrive leave spiders alive
• If you get too close to a spider-and it counts your teeth-you'll die (seems whoever came up with this one was afraid of spiders too)
• If you see a spider on your clothes it means good luck (maybe I shouldn't have run from all those spiders as a kid)
• You should go around a spider's web-cause if you tear it down you'll for sure have bad luck
• Spider webs will stop bleeding if applied to a wound
• Eat a wadded up spider web to relieve asthma
• Stuff a spider web down into a cavity to ease a tooth ache

Soon after I had the girls I overcame my fear of spiders. The Deer Hunter and Pap built our house while I was pregnant with the girls-we moved into the house 3 days before I had them in the month September. As soon as cold weather arrived-all the bugs and spiders that had taken up residence inside the walls, cracks, and crevices began to come out. Each morning I'd awaken to a new group of intruders to do away with. One day I saw the biggest spider I had ever seen in the top of our closet-too frightened to do anything about it I called Pap to come kill it-by the time he got up here it was gone. For days I worried about that stupid big spider getting on me or my baby girls-but I determined I'd never be to scared to take care of a spider by myself again.

What about you-scared of spiders?

Tipper 

p.s. Be sure to drop back by tomorrow for a fantastic guest post by Don Casada-I promise you'll enjoy it.

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Thunder And Lightning

 
We've been having thunderstorms of the evening for the last few days. Today's was a good one. Usually the worst storms seem to hit the lower section of our county-and frequently we miss out on the worst aspects of thunder storms. A little after 1:00 I started hearing thunder-by the time I needed to leave to pick up the girls-I could tell Murphy was getting a real storm-it was barely sprinkling at my house. By the time I pulled onto the main highway the rain started in heavy and soon turned to hail. This storm was mostly made up of heavy rain and unbelievable lightning-everywhere I looked I could see it parting the sky.

As I drove into Murphy, the rain eased up-but the lightning kept up it's frantic pace. As I pulled around the back of the school to take my usual place in the parent pick up line-I see 2 people dumping trash in the dumpster behind the school. I'm thinking who is crazy enough to be out in this storm? As I got closer I was horrified to see one of them was my daughter! I rolled down the window and shouted for them to get back in the school! Turns out they were trying to do a good deed and help someone who wasn't feeling well-so it was hard for me to be mad about that-but Chatter did get a speech on the dangers of lightning on the ride home. After I settled down a bit-I thought to myself-I sound like Granny. The thought reminded me of a post I did the year I first started blogging-it fit my frantic storm filled afternoon so well-I thought I'd share it with you again:

Lightning Strikes and Granny

When my brothers and I were growing up, Granny had all kinds of admonitions about storms, specifically about lightning.

According to Granny you can't take a shower, talk on the phone or run water when it is lightning. You also can't flush the potty or stand by a window.

And, at all costs, Granny said you should have shoes on-real shoes-even in the house-because if you don't it will draw lightning.

Granny had so many warnings about lightning that my younger brother and I started making up our own. Like-don't stand on one foot and open the frig it will attract lightning.

Or don't cross your right arm over your left arm while crossing your left leg over your right leg because it will attract lightning (obnoxious I know).

Silly or not Granny lives by her "lightning rules" and if you happen to be with her in a storm she'll make sure you do too.

I was trying to think of folklore relating to thunderstorms-all I came up with was:

~Thunder-is the noise God makes as he rearranges his furniture

~If it's raining when the Sun is shinning-it means the Devil is beating his wife.

Got any old wives tales about storms? Did anyone ever admonition you about lightning the way Granny did us?

Tipper 

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And Send You A Joyful May

May 1 was the Annual May Day Celebration held at the John C. Campbell Folk School-it was the 3rd time the Blind Pig family has been able to participate in the festivities.

This year was similar to years past-except with a few minor changes-all for the good.

Instead of dancing-Chatter played with the musicians.

The dancers wove their way across the school grounds in parade fashion-with the music leading the way to the May Pole.

The best change from the last 2 years-we actually had the celebration outside and the dancers got to dance around the real May Pole-instead of the Human May Pole we used last year. (see the pretty spider web they wove)

By far the most interesting change-was the addition of The Green Man to the participants. He danced along the peripheral of the parade route and the edge of the May Pole circle.

The legend of The Green Man hails from the British Isles. With his greenery (usually oak leaves) he represents the power of nature. The Green Man was thought to have power to bring rain-to ensure the meadows and gardens grew ripe with green and were bountiful through the growing season.

I hope your May Day was a special as ours.

My song is done and I must be gone, I can no longer stay; God bless you all, both great and small And send you a joyful May. (1952 J. Ritchie)

Tipper

p.s. Drop back by tomorrow-it's time for the Spread the Love Giveaway for April-and I've got some details to share about the excitement May holds for the Blind Pig & the Acorn and it's readers-thats YOU!

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Garden Folklore From Appalachia

A comment left by B. Ruth got me to thinking about all the old folklore I've heard about the garden and about the outdoors in general.

• Never plant vegetables that sound alike together. Think potato and tomato. (Pap told me that one)
• Never say thank you if someone shares their flowers or plant cuttings with you-if you do they will die. (I've heard this one my whole life-and man is it hard not to automatically say thank you when someone gives you plants)
• If you find a horse shoe-you should hang it in the nearest tree for good luck. (It's not as common to find horse shoes now-as it once was. I have found a few in the big garden-but I hung them on my porch instead of a tree)
• Finding a 4 leaf clover is good luck. (My sister-n-law can walk outside and find a 4 leaf clover instantly-I don't think I've found more than 2 in my whole life)
• To keep crows from bothering your garden, kill one and hang it nearby.

• Trees that bloom twice in one year will have a bad crop. (Pap says he's seen June apples bloom twice more than once)
• If you spit in your hands when cutting wood-you'll have good luck. (Pap said-the spit just helps you hold on better. Holding on to the ax always = good luck)
• Don't plant your garden until the oak leaves are the size of mouse ears. (from B. Ruth)
• Always plant your potatoes on Good Friday.
• Plant your greenbeans on Good Friday.
• Anything planted on the first day of Spring will live.
• Bury nails around the roots of Hydrangea to make the blooms blue.

These last few are courtesy of Scott Nicholson: 

• Grass won't grow where human blood has been spilled.
• Flowers which bloom out of season are evil. (I'm not sure why-but this one is my favorite)
• Dreaming of thorns is bad luck.
• Tomatoes should be planted on Memorial Day.
• It's good luck to steal herbs. (what?) 
• A snowy winter portends a good year for crops. (most of the US should do well this year)
• After planting a hill of beans, press the soil with your foot for good luck. (Pap always does this-who knew it was lucky-I always liked seeing his bootprints on top of all the mounds-somehow it seemed like the bootprints symbolized a job well done)
• Planting peppers when your mad, makes the peppers grow hotter.
• If 2 people's hoes hit together, they will work in the same field next year.

Makes me wonder who started the sayings and why. Have you heard any of these before? Do you have any to add?

Tipper

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How Cold Is It At Your House?

When I got up this morning-it was 8 degrees. After I dropped the girls off at school, the radio informed me over 2/3rds of the US is experiencing below average temperatures-and the forecast is for the freezing weather to continue over the coming week.

Before the weather channel and radio announcers came along, folks had a variety of signs they watched to indicate when cold weather was coming. Things like:

• If the corn shucks are thicker than usual-it'll be a bad winter.
• If animals grow a thicker coat than usual it'll be a bad winter.
• There are all sorts of sayings about woolly worms-some seem to contradict each other. Granny swears if she sees a solid white one it'll be a bad winter. She seen one the summer before the big blizzard of 93.
• If squirrels gather more nuts than usual-it'll be a bad winter. I don't know how many nuts they gathered-but I know I've seen more squirrels this year than ever before. We seen so many cross the road in front of us-I finally told the girls I thought squirrels were taking over the world.
• If snow lies on the ground for 3 days you can expect more snow within the week. Since we don't get much snow-some of you will have to say whether or not that one is true.
• If there is a bumper crop of mast (berries, nuts) it will be a bad winter.

I've heard all those saying since I was a kid, but I learned a new weather indicator this year. Pap told me about it first, then I read about it in Marshall McClung's book.

Old timers said you could tell how cold it was by the leaves of a laurel (rhododendron to most folks). See the photo above was taken last summer by me-notice the leaves-all straight and relaxed.

I took this photo yesterday-see the leaves-how they are rolled up? The tighter the leaf is rolled the colder it is. It was 26 degrees when I took the photo above. Neat uh?

Hope you'll leave me a comment and tell me how cold it was at your house this morning.

Tipper

p.s. I wrote about cold sayings this time last year you can see them here.

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The Belled Buzzards

Ever hear stories about a buzzard that flew around wearing a bell? Here's an old newspaper article detailing one such instance:

My first introduction to the belled buzzards was from Gary Carden's book Belled Buzzards, Hucksters, and Grieving Specters: Appalachian Tales: Strange, True & Legendary. Since I first read about them-I've discovered belled buzzards have been seen in several states-Virgina, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

Most of the sightings or 'hearings' caused folks to believe the belled buzzards foretold death. One legend even tells the story of a belled buzzard harassing a man after he killed his wife-to the point of the man turning himself in for her murder. 

As I was researching the subject I found this explanation from Arkansas:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rkinfolks/stories/evafosterverdun.html 

The link details a correspondence between folks discussing the phenomenon of the belled buzzards seen in Arkansas. The lady tells of her brothers bringing home a couple of buzzards to keep as pets. Their mother nixed the idea and made them let the buzzards go. Before turning them loose the boys tied bells on their necks. Makes me wonder if all the other belled buzzard sightings were the result of would be pets gone awry.

Have you ever heard of the belled buzzard? I imagine it would be an eerie sound to hear one as it flew over the house.

Tipper

p.s. Check back tomorrow for the last Spooky October entry-it's one of my favorites-cause it happened not to far from where I live-and it will for sure give you chills.
 

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Bottle Trees

Ever seen a bottle tree? Usually the bottles are stuck on the branches of the tree.

This one near my house-has some bottles on branches-and some hanging from branches.

The history of bottle trees can be traced back centuries. The thought is-at night when spirits are roaming the countryside they get sucked into the bottles and can't get out. Once morning arrives-and the sun begins to shine-the heat kills the bad spirit stuck in the bottle. I've seen a few bottle trees around my area-but believe they are more common farther south. To see some amazing bottle trees click here.
 

As my Spooky October continues-more folks are joining in. Here is a great link for you to check out:

Harbor Hon tells the scary history of a statue called Black Aggie

Hope you'll leave me a comment and tell me if you've ever seen a bottle tree-or maybe you have one?

Tipper

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Spooky October 2

This entry for Blind Pig & The Acorn's Spooky October comes from David Templeton.

Elizabeth’s Song

When Kasie and I were first married, we lived in a house that was built on land long owned by the Fish family of Lawrence County.  The deeds and abstracts, and local lore, led us back over two centuries of the Fish family.  Their graveyards were very close to our house, one in back, just up on a hillside a few yards from our back door; the other graveyard was across the road.  Elizabeth Fish, daughter of the first land grant owner, was buried across the road and her mother and her daddy were buried up the hill.  These graves go back into the late 1700s and early 1800s.

 Elizabeth, as a young girl and fair maiden, loved to sing and it is said that she could be heard a way down into the valley below, singing haunting love songs that would hopefully be heard by Willie, a boy who lived across the valley; a boy for whom her love went unrequited.  

 Elizabeth also loved her horse and loved to ride about the hillsides singing her love songs.
 One summer evening at dusk Elizabeth was out riding and singing and she saw the boy coming through the fields toward her, as if coming to court her.  Excitedly, Elizabeth spurred her horse to carry her to meet the boy.  Riding under the spreading limbs of a great oak tree, Elizabeth was dashed from her saddle by a low hanging limb and her neck and back were broken in the fall from the horse.

 She died there, never making it to the boy whom she believed had come to love her.
 Now, lo these centuries later, legend says that she can be seen in the mist that is often seen there at dusk; there in the low place where the great tree once stood. 

 When the land was broken up and sold as smaller parcels, we bought the land on which the tree had stood and built a house there.  We knew the old ghost stories about Elizabeth and it added a certain romance to our place.  Our mischievous daughter, older of two, would kid and scare her little sister with yarns about Elizabeth’s ghost.  We all made up so many stories about Elizabeth that she became a part of our lore and accepted as real.

 There was one thing that we didn’t talk about though, didn’t tell one another until years later, after the kids had grown up and left home and after we had moved away: We had all heard singing; faint, very, very faint and woeful singing.  We had all heard it and never spoke of it.  We had heard it about the house, inside, and out along the hillside where the oak tree had stood, and about the roadside across from where the graveyard lay, and mostly we had all heard Elizabeth singing when we saw the mist.  Each of us said later that we had looked about for the source of the sounds and never seemed to come close.
 But, we were embarrassed to say we heard her because we had all made such fun of the tales and the tingling and the teasing of each other about Elizabeth and knew we would not be taken seriously. 

 We are no longer there.

 Now Elizabeth can sing without derision, as we are long since gone.  And we hope she has since found her Willie, come across the field to love her. And when we gather at Thanksgiving, we often talk about Elizabeth as if we had known her.  We each believe we have.

Kinda neat-my first 2 submissions for Spooky October had a musical facet to them. Don't forget-you're more than welcome to play along too. Write a scary post-a funny scary post or just a post about Halloween-grab the photo at the top and link back to me-or email me at tipper@blindpigandtheacorn.com and I'll send you the picture if that is easier.
 

I enjoyed Elizabeth's Song-and I hope you did too.

Tipper

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The Devil's Tramping Ground

Near Siler City, NC is a large circle that measures 40 feet across. No vegetation of any kind grows within the circle. Early white settlers who came to the area thought the circle was used for Indian Ceremonies. Somewhere along the way the story of the Devil's Tramping Ground was born.

Legend tells the circle was made by none other than Lucifer himself. Each night the Devil paces the circle while he plots evil deeds to spread across the land. If an object is placed within the circle it is mysteriously moved by morning. Local hunters say their hounds refuse to go near the circle-as do horse owners. The area seems to be void of any animal life-even birds refuse to fly above the circle.

Appalachia is full of scary stories about ghosts, witches, painters, hainted houses, etc., yet religion is woven so tightly through the history and culture of Appalachia-that the Devil plays a significant role in the fear factor too. When I was growing up-I was much more afraid of the Devil getting me than a ghost or a monster.

One time-a childhood friend of mine decided she'd heard enough about the Devil and wanted to see what he really looked like. Her and a cousin decided they'd just dig him up-after digging a while they unearthed something they took for his hair. Once they hit hair their bravery left them pretty quick. As kids will do-they decided to fix the mess they'd made-I mean how could they face their southern Baptist parents after digging the Devil out. They found some old concrete mixed it with water and poured it in the hole, all the while hoping fervently that it would hold him tight. 

What were you most afraid of as a child?

Tipper

p.s. The photo was provided by Old Rebel you can see some of his other photos here-or learn more about him here.

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What To Do For A Toothache

Ever have a toothache? In my opinion, a toothache is one of the most aggravating and painful problems to have. Lucky for folks today relief is usually just a phone call away.

Back in the day-things were a little different. Dentists weren't plentiful, it was hard to get into town to see one, and even if you could-you might not have the money needed to pay the bill. As with most ailments-there are tons of old medicinal remedies for toothaches in Appalachia-I've even tried a few myself.

A few years ago, I had a severe toothache. I kept taking pain medication and putting off going to the Dentist. One night when the the pain was pretty bad, Pap told me to take peroxide and swish it around in my mouth-then take a toothbrush and dip it in the peroxide and brush the tooth as hard as I could-all around it. Well desperate as I was-I did what Pap said. Honestly-for about 15-20 minutes I thought I was going to pass out from the pain-it was almost unbearable-but after about 25 minutes it eased off and actually quit hurting.

Appalachian Toothache Remedies:

• hold liquor in the mouth for several minutes-then swallow
• chew ragweed leaves
• put cinnamon oil on the tooth
• put clove oil on the tooth (I tried this one-couldn't really tell that it helped)
• put persimmon juice on the tooth
• place a piece of cloth soaked in kerosene on the tooth
• hold a warm bag of ashes, salt, or water on the cheek (I've tried this with a hot water bottle-it seemed to help a little)
• if the cavity is deep in the tooth-the hole can be stuffed with soda, spider webs, aspirin, alum-that was burned, cow manure, or salt

Now for the really crazy ones:

• take a splinter/piece of a tree that has been struck by lightning and pick the cavity
• get up before sunrise each morning and say a Bible verse for 3 days
• make a hole in a tree trunk a little higher than the toothache sufferers head-cut a piece of their hair and place it in the hole and plug up the hole

Prevention tips:

• carry a hog's head bone in your pocket
• always put your left shoe on first
• wear nutmeg around your neck
• always cut your fingernails on Friday
• never cut your fingernails on Friday

Ever tried any home remedies for a toothache?

Drop back by in the next few days to read about tooth pulling-it'll make you cringe-or in Pap's case pass out.

Tipper

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