Sugar Grove
By Paula Mitchell
The living room was a space for family events. At one time, this area was used in the family responsibility to carry out major duties for survival, such as caring for the sick and dying, and birthing. Hospitals were far away with passable roads existing when the weather was cooperating. Only a generation ago, most families had only one car.
The living room had no central heat so it was heated with fireplaces and later stoves that were placed in certain parts of the house. One stove served the kitchen where cooking took place, with a second stove heating the living room, making it the warmest room in the house. The fire in this area was maintained 24 hours a day.
Someone was always at home to tend to this fire in the living room. Taking a ride on a Sunday, or going to church meant that someone had to stay at home to make sure the fire would not go out. That someone would say, “I can’t leave the house by itself, because the fire might go out.” Even on the hottest day of the year, the stove was kept hot. Usually, a kettle of water would be kept on the stove in order for moisture to permeate the air.
So, what is a living room? It most certainly was a central location for the family life cycle — birth, healing, and death, access to family caregivers, and visits from friends and neighbors. This was a wonderful place for neighbors to come visit and chat awhile.
Some of life’s little instructions to make one’s day better include the following:
- Don’t take things that are not ones.
- Clean up one’s own mess.
- Don’t hurt people.
- Share everything.
- Be aware of wonder.
October! One has no idea where the time has gone. Yesterday was July, today is October. Things have been as peaceful as water in a spoon around this community. What little rain that fell during the weekend, gurgling down the downspouts, was joyfully received. Pastures are now taking on a new green look. The air has been devoid of humidity, and instead filled with “snap and crackle.”
Quotes for the week are as follows:
“Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.” — Maya Angleou
“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.” — Oscar Wilde
“Of course I talk to myself. I like a good speaker, and I appreciate an intelligent audience.” —Dorothy Parker
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another.” — Charles Dickens
“Never let success go to your head; never let failure get your heart.” — Beyonce
The porch is the best place to hear the “Talk of the Grove.”
Nathan Puffenbarger spent the weekend with Nancy and Robert Hodges of Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Clickety-clacks for the chin waggers are as follows:
- Sniffing rosemary boosts memory by 75 percent.
- The Appalachian Trail crosses 14 states,
- A group of flamingos are known as a “flamboyance.”
- O negative is the universal donor blood type.
- Tokyo, Japan, is the world’s most populated city.
Concerns are for Mike Adams, Charles Anderson, Alfred Armstrong, Joan Ashley, Roger Ashley, Mercedes Aumann, Dave Basagic, Allen Beachler, “Bo” Boggs, Larry Byers, Joyce Calhoun, Christy Sole, Marie Cole, Austin Conn, Stanley Dahmer, Kim Davis, Jennifer Errett, Isaac Eye, the Marie Eye family, Mary Eye, Carl Gant, David Gillispie, Patsy Green, JC Hammer, Sharon Harr, Steve and Armanda Heavner, Hannah Hedrick, Jack and Starr Hedrick, Chuck and Tracy Hiett, Jim Hiner, Evan Hise, Tim Hively, Edsel and Mary Ann Hogan, the Ben Homan family, Julia Homan, the family of Bill Hoover, Delbert Olin Hoover, Keith Hoover, Debbie Horst, Bob and Cynthia Hurry, Mike and Lisa Jamison, Linda Jones, Richard Judy, Marsha Keller, Tara Kelley, Ruth Kile, Ginger Kimble, Tom and Kim Kline, Tracie Knight, Laura Kropp, Melissa Lambert, Robert Lambert, Rex Landis, Donna Mallow, Roger and Skip Mallow, Audree Marsh, Anna Mauzy, Ed May, Gene and Joan McConnell, Gary McDonald, the Neil McLaughlin family, Rose Miller, Bruce Minor, Dottie Mitchell, Tom and Brandon Mitchell, the family of Thomas “Harvey” Jerry Mitchell, Barbara Moats, Gloria Moats, Jim Moats, Helen Nash, Aaron Nelson, Dwight Nelson, Ruth Nelson, Cheryle Paine, Terri Parker, Andy Pond, Janice Propst, Alda Propst, Mike Propst, Sheldon Propst, Eldon “Butch” Puffenbarger, Tom Rader, Willard Rader, Brandon Reel, Jason Rexrode, Jimmy Rexrode, Kevin Rexrode, Linda Fay Rexrode, Vesta Ruckman, Bernie Sasscer, Annie Simmons, Erin Simmons, Eva Simmons, Greg Simmons, Judy Simmons, Nelson Simmons, Tonya Simon, Robbie Sites, Mike Skiles, Ed and Carolyn Smith, Natalie Stephenson, Tina Stuben, Steve Stump, Carolyn Thomas, Riley Thompson, Linda and Larry Vandevander, the Sandra Vandevander family, Amy Vaus, Estelle and Don Wagner, Mary Louise Waldschlager, Mike Waybright, Rene White, Sherry Wilfong, Judy Williams, Patty Willis and Ann and Ed Wimer.
