NEWS FROM THE HILLS
Our hills welcomed Spring as she officially made her entrance on a mild, misty morning. Afternoon brought blue skies, bright sunshine and happy hearts as we reveled in the first day of spring.
The grass is already greening, and Easter flowers wave their bright yellow flags in the sunshine. They bloomed bravely through last week’s snow, heralding spring’s approach.
Although the coltsfoot flowers are blooming, most of the wild flowers are biding their time. We looked in vain for the first violet, although I found one in January during the freak warm spell. Ground ivy, with its tiny purple flowers, spreads over the lawn and walkways.
Ground ivy is also called “gill-over-the-ground” and makes a tea used for coughs, colds, and congestion. I have made it, but the flavor is musky. I like other mints better.
We received another home remedy for boils or carbuncles from Judy Owens of St. Albans. She says her grandmother and mother would scrape soap from a bar, mix it with enough water to form a paste, put it on a piece of cloth covering the boil, and it would bring it to a head.
She added that you can also use wilted plantain leaves (we used that for a poultice, and also sassafras leaves pounded to a pulp.) Another remedy they used was the membrane of an eggshell. This was verified by Cousin Ray McCune of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who wrote, “My mother called the lining of an eggshell “skriffen.” She used it wet to spread on a boil, and when it dried it would shrink, and bring the boil to a head so it could be lanced.
“Striffen” really is a word. An unknown reader sent me a page from “Webster’s Third New International Dictionary” and it is listed as meaning “a thin skin, or a membrane.” So maybe Grandpa wasn’t so far out after all!
While we are on the subject of home remedies, Velma Brackenrich writes from Frankfort and says that it is still possible to purchase the black salve called “Ichthammol.” She gets it from Fritz’s Drug Store in Fairlea.
It seems that many folks remember and long for the sandwiches made at Ray’s Deli in Kanawha City. Mary Anne Koleske wonders if she can find the recipe for the “Kool Blue” sandwich which they made. It just so happens that Virginia Miller of Charleston sent us a copy of the original menu from Ray’s Deli.
The Kool Blue sandwich was described as “A unique taste sensation! Mouth-watering pastrami, tomatoes, onions, Swiss cheese and special homemade bleu cheese dressing, all grilled on light rye bread!” Makes me hungry just to read about it!
The old time dialect of last issue’s column has generated a lot of interest, and uncovered more of yesterday’s words and sayings. When Alan Exline was a youngster, he thought the old folks were saying, “Pawn my honor!” When he discovered it was “upon my honor” he said it gave the phrase a whole new meaning.
He went on to say that some of the words we used might seem crude now, but they are innocent when compared to today’s language. We used terms such as “dumb as a bank mule,” “weed monkey” and “wood’s colt.” I was in high school before I found out what weed monkey meant—and Carolyn Osborne enlightened me.
We were also enlightened (last week) to find out what the phrase “who laid the chunk” really meant. Dixie Love Jarvis said they used it to mean someone who was speedy or energetic, such as, “she was working like who laid the chunk.” (We also said, “making ninety miles an hour,” or “balling the jack.”)
Harry Lynn writes that his father, who came from Fairfield, VA, had a pronounced brogue. When they were out walking or hunting and came upon a large animal dropping, his father would say, “Sure laid a chunk, didn’t he?”
Along the same line, Marilene Bibb of Ansted reveals, “This may seem crude, but when someone in our family would pass gas so strong that it would curl the hair in your nose, one of them would say, “Who laid the chunk?”—as if something was lying on the floor.
Dixie Jarvis remembers some of the sayings her mother used. When a member of the opposite sex would try to “put the make on them” or “hit on them” she would say, “So-and-so tried to bear acquaintance!” Have you ever heard of a “ha’nty-bogus?” That sounds suspiciously like Cousin Evelyne or Aunt Addie.
Rosa Blake of Frametown uses the saying, “a knife so dull you could ride to the mill on it” and Sue Hinley says that “some people couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag.” We use a variation of that, “couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag.”
Frank Samples (Cousin Bobby) of Florida and thereabouts says his dad’s granny used to say, “If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like the devil!” That’s a little different from what we were taught. One of his co-workers commenting on a waitress at a local restaurant remarked, “She’s ugly enough to tree boogers!”
We’ve always heard, “She’s uglier than a mud fence!” or “Someone must have beat her with an ugly stick!”
We have a couple of requests this week, and hope someone can help. Ivan Crowder of Ripley is looking for a copy of the book “Bless Your Little Heart” by Marian R. Stoddard. It is a biography of Buddy Starcher, country radio star and early TV performer.
Nancy Hines of Webster Springs is searching for a recipe for “Applesauce Pie” like her mother and grandmother used to make.
Thanks to Barbara Workman of Cowen and June Jones of Charleston who sent copies of a recently requested poem.
The soft evening draws to a close, with the springtime sounds of grandchildren laughing as they run and play, and the plaintive chirping of the spring peepers. Some things never change, and these are soothing sounds I have heard all my lifetime.
I am thankful for a mighty God who never changes, and whose love is from everlasting to everlasting. In Nahum 1:7, it reads, “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in Him.”
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