These used to be one of the favorite forms of punishment in the prison chain-gangs of the Deep South. Not that anybody would have used one on you (they used shotguns and whips back in those days) but you had to use a sling-blade for at least 12 hours a day in all sorts of summer weather to pay your debt to Southern society, back when going to prison meant you were probably going to die.
Continue reading
Suddenly, we all had access to things that otherwise we’d have had to drive all the way to Springfield, Missouri, 75 miles north, to buy. In those early days, the drive to Springfield was not an easy nor short one, and was a trek our family would plan for weeks in advance and just hope to get through without anyone vomiting in the car from travel sickness due to the winding roller-coaster two-lane highway that went there.
Continue reading
If you took a poll of gardeners, most of us would vote to let animals have part of the crop instead of getting rid of the animals through violence or subterfuge. Few gardeners have that option, however. In most areas, a garden is a small oasis of edible things during times of the year when food outside the garden is scarce.
Continue reading
