Granny's House

Last night I was hungry, being late I decided I wanted a Bacon sandwich. Knowing it would kill my stomach, I tried to talk myself out of it. As I stood over the hot castiron skillet, inhaling the aroma of the sizzling bacon in the skillet, I couldn't help but think back to the time my Granny taught me to cook bacon. We were in Blackburn at her house; being a small town, it was quiet, and of course, we had the doors and windows open to get the fresh air in the place. The castiron skillet was on the castiron wood cookstove, and I was barefoot as I always was at Granny's. The skillet was good and hot, and we cut the bacon in half and then added it to the skillet. Granny was standing beside me, and she was telling me to be careful not to touch the stove or the skillet as I would burn myself. I used a fork to turn the bacon as it browned and was waiting for it to finish cooking. I took the bacon out of the skillet and set it on a plate and turned another plate over the top of it to keep it warm. I grabbed some fresh eggs out of the egg basket on the counter and cracked a couple into the hot bacon grease. Granny told me to use the spatula and flip grease over the top of the eggs to help cook the yolk a little, but not to much. My Grandpa liked his eggs a little runny, and this was his breakfast we were cooking. I took them out of the skillet carefully and set them on the plate with the bacon. I carried the plate over and set it on the table and made sure Grandpa had a fresh hot cup of coffee to drink with his breakfast. He came in from doing his chores. Grandpa worked hard to keep the horses and the chickens and the pigs and the cattle fed. Granny always had a big garden beside the house and always had fresh vegetables. Blackburn is a tiny town with many open fields and plenty of room for kids to run and play. My sister Cindy and My cousins, and I always stayed with Granny during the summer to spend time together and get to play together as we all lived in different areas. 

Granny taught all of us to cook and garden and how to appreciate the Sun and the Rain, worship the soil that gives life. Proving that if you take care of something, it will take care of you as well. Summer's were the perfect time to run around barefoot and swim in the natural spring on their land. Then We would all pile on Granny's big soft bed { which was just a variety of mattresses stacked on top of one another. There were probably ten mattresses stacked there.} But lying on her bed, it always smelled like clean line-dried linen, and it was like sleeping on clouds. There was a huge window that the bed was up against, and it was always open, The other wall held a smaller bed, and there was a window there also, and the air would come in the open windows and keep the room nice and cool. Granny would leave the door open and the screen door shut. Back then, nobody locked their doors; most doors didn't even have locks on them. If you had to use the bathroom, you had to go out back, grab the stick wack the side of the outhouse, and make sure there were no snakes or spiders hiding in there. Of a night when it was dark outside, it was really dark there. That was a long walk to the outhouse. We usually would go in pairs, so we were not alone; it made it seem less scary. Granny would make everything from scratch, and she worked from sunup to sundown. My Granny was a four foot, five-inch little Indian lady. She was round and soft and gave the best hugs. She had rings on all her fingers, and she went barefoot like us kids except on Sunday. Sundays, we walked to the little town church, and we sat and listened to the preacher. We dressed in good clothes and wore our shoes. We put a few cents in the basket when it came around, and then we walked home, got changed into play clothes, and Granny would cook a big lunch for us kids and anyone else that was there. We would walk to the pastures and watch Grandpa work the horses and feed the variety of animals they had. We learned to love and care for animals and to respect all life, not just human life. I don't see my cousin's a lot anymore because We all live in different areas still, and We all have kids and jobs, and there never seems to be time for all of us to get together. But I have beautiful memories and lessons that I will carry with me for a lifetime and pass on to my kids. I still cook in castiron every day. I try to make everything from scratch, and I respect the life that is around me. I love to cook bacon, and I still remember the first time Granny taught me to cook, and I often dream about those summers and all the fun we had, the lessons we learned, and I miss my Granny dearly. Alzheimer's and Dementia took her in her eighties, but she died at Ninety three. My cousins and I stay connected on Facebook, and we often talk or share memories of those times. I will never be able to fry bacon without hearing my Granny telling me to be careful because the stove and the skillet will be hot. She taught me how to do popcorn in a castiron skillet with a spoon of bacon grease, Best Popcorn ever. or how to fry potatoes in real butter in a hot castiron skillet. My memories will live on in my kids and hopefully one day their kids.