Tecumseh news: April 18 , 2018

Our weather is unstable, and in my case, it makes me remember the good old days with my father, who was very protective of his family and kept us safe in our deep cellar whenever we were threatened with storms. Our faithful kerosene lantern provided light in the dark of night as we would head out the back porch and walk the 15 feet or so to get to the cellar door.
Daddy was born and raised in Marshfield in Webster County, where his family homesteaded after moving from Tennessee. He and his family survived a terrible storm that blew away nearly the whole town of Marshfield while he was growing up there. Their home was destroyed, but they survived, and I imagine they were in a cellar, although I’m not sure about that. Evidently they had taken some kind of precautions, whatever that may have been.
Having experienced the storm that destroyed most of Marshfield, whenever there was thunder and lightning and storms threatened, Daddy took us to the cellar. We had no radio, no electricity, no radar systems to warn us, but Daddy would go out on the porch and watch the clouds. He was kind of an authority in determining what the storm clouds looked like. As long as Daddy was alive, whenever storms came up, we went to our deep cellar.
My grandfather Ebrite, a medical doctor, had dug the cellar with my uncles. I think there were 8-10 steps going into it, so it was deep! We had shelves in there with our canned goods as we had no freezers or other modern ways to preserve food. In the fall, we would gather our apples and put them in a storage bin in the cellar. So when we were huddling there in the cellar in the middle of the night, hiding from a storm, I could eat apples. I still remember how good and crispy they were! My mother died when I was 13, and my sisters were older and had married or were living away from home. So in the later years, Daddy and I lived alone, and when a storm was coming, the two of us would go to the cellar. What vivid memories!
I ask for prayers for my great-nephew in Springfield, Tyler Aronis, my sister Edith’s grandson. He is 21 and has two jobs. In the early hours of the morning, his car ran off the side of the road, and he had a head injury and had to have surgery in Mercy Hospital. He’s out of danger now and on the road to recovery. Thank the Lord for that!
I read that a remedy for pests invading your yard and garden is to dust and scatter crushed and dried cayenne pepper in and around the area. This should discourage their visits, which are annoying. And if you have moles that are presenting a problem, put unwrapped chewing gum in their holes, and supposedly they will choke as they eat it. Poor moles! What a way to go.
As we correspond, Sylvia Carson, a former resident here, and I mention that the golden age is not what it’s cut out to be. She hopes to get here with her daughter Teresa to visit before long.
I notice my gooseberry vines are fixing to bloom, and that reminds me of the late Harry Davidson, who enjoyed a gooseberry cobbler that his wife cooked for him using my berries.
My son Marlyn Pitcock and his granddaughter Makayla came to visit me last Thursday, and Marlyn also brought lunch. He asked if I had the fixings – mayo, pickles and relish – and he brought bread, lunchmeat and cheese. We shared a most enjoyable meal.
My daughter Karen Davis and granddaughter Dana Taylor drove me to Mountain Home Monday for my foot-doctor appointment. We also had lunch together. I had a sore toe from having it pressed by some shoes I wore. So now I wear sandals. That works well – until the snow flies again.
Despite the cold snap, I still have a yard full of blooming shrubs – red, yellow and white blooms, and some purple iris mixed in too. Oh, and some beautiful red tulips. I’m thankful they can withstand the colder temperatures we’ve had recently.     
I read a column in the Douglas County Herald where the writer said there’s a place for everything and everything belongs in its place. As you might say, this reflects the obsessive-compulsive way of those who run the world efficiently and get things done. The downside is that when you do anything of any complexity, the stuff you do requires a lot of tools and supplies, so you need to keep them handy!
 

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