Judy's "Cousin Mickey and the Hen House"

I don't know why I like Judy's article so much. Perhaps because Cousin Mickey lived down the highway in an area of Middle Tennessee that I know so well and love so much. Or because it's a hilarious twist to the old story of city kids experiencing life and adventure on a farm during vacation.

Perhaps it's because of the warmth her words bring when she describes Grandma Cherry's attic and sleeping under a dozen quilts in a house that had no running water. Or Uncle Brooks' General Store stocked with penny candy and Wax Bottles.

Or, maybe it's just all the memories of a less stressful time for those of us who are old enough to remember but are now dependent on iPods, computers and texting to get through the day. Told with warmth and wit and loaded with pictures.

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Cousin Mickey contacted me on Face Book the other day and suddenly a host of childhood memories flooded in. Mickey lived in Estill Springs, my Mom's home town, in middle Tennessee, between Winchester and Tullahoma, just so you know. Jimmy and I were big time city cousins who loved to visit from Birmingham.

We had modern things in Birmingham, like TV, way before they did and stuff, but Mickey had things we had never seen up close, in Estill Springs, like salt licks in the pasture. Well, we'd never been in a pasture before either. Mickey explained about the fun of licking the cows' salt lick, right in the middle where their tongues had worn it down. Jimmy didn't try it, but I did.

Mickey lived across the road from Grandma Cherry, whose house was the big old one she raised her 5 kids in. Mickey had indoor plumbing and a regular kitchen and all at home, but she didn't have anything like that when we were little. We couldn't believe it. She had a big old coal fired cookstove in the kitchen. There was no running water inside the house. She got her water from her well, which tasted fresh and cool. However, no inside water meant we had to take baths in a big tin pan with water warmed on the stove, and, worse, we had to use an OUTHOUSE. I was astonished again every time I visited. . . .

Link HERE to read the rest of this very funny and charming recollection. Oh, I've flushed my comment section down the toilet, so you'll need to leave your comments at Two Seeds on a Blog.