I was just thinking about the syrup that was common during my childhood. The sugar cane would be cut and hauled to a place where the stalks would be fed into a vertical set of steel cylinders that would be rotating by means of a mule walking in a circle. The juice would be squeezed out into cooking vats. A person would tend the vats and be knowledgable of when the juice had been cooked enough and the syrup then put into gallon buckets. I loved as a kid to take a cold biscuit and poke a hole in it and pour syrup into the hole. This was a good way to ease the hunger pangs.

Our meals consisted mostly of vegetables during the summer months. In the fall, hog killing time provided meat for the table. The hams and other parts would be put in a smoke house to be cured. We ate lots of potatoes especially sweet potatoes. When potatoes were dug up we would put them in piles and cover with dirt so they would not freeze in the winter. My favorite food was blackeyed peas. My mom said i would cry in the mornings if i had no peas for breakfast. We also grew peanuts. During the growing season for peanuts before they were dried, we ate boiled peanuts. They are really good boiled in salt water. They are still popular in Miss. and Alabama. Sweet potatoes is still one of my favorite foods. I love them fixed any way and especially in a pie. There are two local restaurants near my home now where you can get sweet potato fries instead of regular fries.

Since we had no monthly income things could be hectic in case of sickness or other emergencies. My mom relied on home remedies to take care of the family. I have taken turpentine and sugar for stomachaches, had coal oil poured on cuts, asafetida bags worn around the neck to ward off diseases, sulphur and grease for the itch and on and on.

All these things may sound as being exaggerate but they are true. There were times when i only had one pair of overalls and would have to stay in a room until they were washed and dried. But i believe i was fortunate and blessed by experiencing these things at an early age. As i mentioned earlier we were very poor but i don't suppose we knew it because we were not alone.