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Aunt Vic
I
could not have been more than 5 or 6 when Aunt Vic passed away. Aunt Vic wasn't
really any kin but everyone in the neighborhood called her Aunt. What I remember
most was that she was the older lady in the neighborhood that all the younger
women went to when they needed a home remedy. This was back when doctors still
made house calls and knew you by your first name. Her remedies probably saved us
many a trip into town for a visit to the doctor and him a trip or two out
to the edge of town. She lived down close to the railroad tracks which was near
the creek. Now one afternoon my mother and I walked down the road to Aunt Vic's
house. As we passed Myrt Faison we could Aunt Vic setting on her porch. Getting
closer we could see she was eating something and of course she offered us some.
Well we sat down and got us a leg of chicken and just as I started to bite
into mind I heard Aunt Vic say something about the boys getting the frogs at the
creek the night before. Now I heard this just in time to save me from biting
into that leg that wasn't chicken. Them things are for hopping and not eating.
After that Aunt Vic would always greet me with a smile and "Want some frog legs
son". I don't know who has had more fun from that, Her picking at me or me
remembering her smile when she would ask me.
Posted by ESO on Friday November 04, 2005 at
04:09PM
The Ole Swimming Hole
This story has been told a thousands times if it has been told once
by kids of every generation that have lived near the water, except for maybe the
kids of this
latest generation that are more interested in games on a computer screen than playing
outdoors.
It was a summer day in the late 1950's, probably July and several of us
Mercer kids were down at the railroad bridge on Burnt Mill Creek, the
trestle was
between Forest Hills Drive and Mercer Avenue. We had become bored with playing and decided to
build a swimming hole. At that location the creek was only about a foot or two
deep so this would require building a dam across the creek. We went just past
the deepest part and spent most of that afternoon carrying rocks and logs to the
creek. Once the dam was finished it didn't take long for the water to back up
and make a nice swimming hole about 5 or 6 feet deep. Tried and wet and now
we needed something else to entertain us, so we left the creek and went to play on
mosquito vines until dark.
The following day a couple of us headed back to the creek for
a swim at our swimming hole. As we were walking down the railroad tracks we
could hear voices coming from the creek so we got off the tracks went and through
the woods. Sneaking closer to the creek bank we could see some of the boys from
Delgado playing in our swimming hole and they had left their cloths on the bank
for a morning of skinny dipping. Now
they were in our swimming hole without our permission so we made our way across
the railroad trestle without being seen and grabbed their clothes and made sure
they saw us headed for Forest Hills Drive with them. When we got to Forest Hills
Drive we dropped the clothes and kept running. Don't know if they ever got the
clothes, but they never came back to our swimming hole.
Updated by ESO on Friday November 29, 2005 at 5:43PM
Mr. Johnny
Mr. Johnny lived two house south of us on Mercer Avenue back
in the 1950s. His children were grown by the time we moved into the
neighborhood. His name was Johnny Sanders, but all I ever knew him by was Mr.
Johnny. He was the type of neighbor that everyone should be, a good friend and
always ready to help when needed. He was a carpenter by trade, back when it was
a craft and everything was done by hand, no power tools.
The picture is of his family in the front room of their
house on Mercer (left to right: Mr. Johnny, John Jr., Wife Estelle, Carl and
Louise). The best I can remember it had 3 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, den and
bath. They also had a 2 car garage and small shop out back and behind it
was his garden. That garage always held a fascination to me. I would spend hours
playing in it.
Sometime in the late 50s he built a house way out in the
country near the NC Highway Patrol station on Market Street. After he moved we
would still go visit from time to time, but we could always see him on Saturday
mornings when he would come by to empty the slop bucket. For those of you that
don't know what a slop bucket is or is for I'll tell you. Setting on the ground
at the back steps of the house we had a 5 gallon can with a lid. After each meal
we would put the scraps in the bucket. Mr. Johnny would collect all the scraps
once a week and feed his hogs with them the following week. I know that is a far
cry from the way we raise hogs today, but believe me the meat was a lot better
back then.
Updated by ESO on Thursday December 15, 2005 at 9:10PM
Springs of Water
On of the things that always amazed me growing up were the
natural spring of water that seemed to be everywhere in our area, but in reality
I only remember two of these springs. On was near the railroad tracks about 50
yards from the creek. It was back in the woods and came up out of the ground
from under a cypress tree and emptied into a small pond / hole next to the tree
then overflowed and ran in a small stream to the creek right next to the
railroad. The hole beside the tree was about 4 foot across and probably 8
or 10 feet deep. You could see an old 55 gallon drum at the bottom. From the
shape and looks of the hole it was probably a well at one time.
The other was behind a house on Wayne drive about 75 yards
from the same creek and it also came out from under a cypress tree and flowed
into the creek. The last time I saw it the people that lived in the house had
damned the stream up and made a small pond in the backyard. As far as I know it
is still there.
New by ESO on Thursday December 24, 2005 at 11:12 AM
Delgado Cemetery
I think the first time I remember anything about Delgado Cemetery was when I was
at Forest Hills School around 1956 or 57. I was in the first or second grade and
during recess I noticed a path in the woods and at the other end of the
path I saw an old fence. Of course being a kid I could not leave this new
mystery unsolved so I looked around to make sure no one was watching and quickly
ducked into the woods and followed the path. Sure enough at the other end of the
path was an old fence and on the other side was some tombstones. Even back then
the cemetery was mostly overgrown and just right for the exploring of a young
boy who had just read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Just imagine all the adventure
this graveyard could hold.
The above picture was taken in January of 2006 and shows county contractors
cleaning the cemetery. It is a great improvement over the first time I saw it.
All the graves were covered in bushes and underbrush and day light could hardly
break through the foliage.
New by ESO on Thursday January 19, 2006 at 11:19 AM
