Articles in this month's "Our State" magazine are about Southern Summers and they triggered an often told story in my family. The articles are about Spanish Moss (which doesn't hang from our trees in Charlotte, NC, but in Charleston, SC you'll see plenty), Tomato Sandwiches, Hammocks, Mason Jars and Lightenin' Bugs. In my family, you can't think of a Mason Jar (or empty mayo jar...don't forget the holes in the lid!) or a Lightenin' Bug and not remember the story of my dad and uncle in their firefly catching days...
image: that's uncle Raymond on the left and daddy on the right
...a dynamic duo in black socks and knobby knees...the youngest of 5 siblings...
bless Nanny Payne's heart!
... ok, stop me if you've heard it...
We all remember chasing lightenin' bugs. I think all little girls were told they were Tinker Bells and all little boys squished their tails and rubbed the light on their faces to scare the girls... My cousin Becky and I were always the fancy ones that squished and rubbed it on our nails! Glowing in the dark was big back then. (Don't ask what Becky and I did to frogs!) However, the best lightenin' bug story I've ever heard was about my dad and his brother, Raymond. The way I heard it was one summer afternoon before going to the local "cinema," they caught a jar fullllll of lightenin' bugs and off they went. When the lights went down, they slipped into the balcony and opened their jar and left it sitting on the balcony floor while returning downstairs to watch the film. You can imagine what happened about halfway through the movie! Hahahaha! Not sure if any of this is really true to the letter, but it's how it's told and retold and now, it's there for you to accidentally tell your kids about and sneak off to a summer movie with a hidden mason jar. Good Luck! Lemmeno how it goes!
More trouble! My mom (right) and her twin sister, Sandy (left)
Now, it wouldn't be fair if I didn't throw in a little childhood story about my Mom and her twin sister too. Not that these stories are even remotely related, but I have a powder room with the walls covered in pictures like these and when I went to get the picture of Daddy and Raymond, I couldn't resist this one of Mom and Sandy... Let's just say, to keep it short, that this is a rare shot of Sandy with her dress on right side front... Rumor has it that by the time my grandmother got around to taking pictures of these two, Sandy was usually already dirty so they'd just turn her dress around... PRICELESS! I hope ~ PrettyStuff ~ has the twin gene! Hahahaha She does look just like my mom!
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My mom gave HandyHusband this magazine last year for his birthday,
but we've all enjoyed this gift. There are only a few magazines in
our house that every member reads...this is one of them!
...speaking of fireflies...
I read this book on the beach last year and it was great!
Can we sneak this into the theater?
Wondering if it will freeze it in a popcicle?
He doesn't mention fireflies, but he mentions all the other
S'uthern Suggestions!
(This video my not show up in email subscriptions. Visit the blog to hear Michael Reno Harrell's "Southern Suggestions!")
