Food preparation and regional food said a great deal more about a culture at one time than it does today. The reason - all kinds of foods are more prevalent. Who, in this part of the world, 40 years ago, had heard of arugula or kale? The diet of most rural areas in the South and in other parts of the world were indicative of what was most plentiful, what could be grown in an area or let's face it, the marvelous manner in which it could be prepared. If I had to choose between a pot of well-prepared collard greens or mustard greens against a kale salad, guess which one I am going to choose? The point is, people used what they had; they canned it, they cooked and prepared it, and most of it was grown in the area where one lived.
So many of our regional food ways, though, like so many practices which, at one time were commonplace, will soon be a thing of the past.
Not too many years ago, I found a packet of letters written to my father, the late Wade Bullard, by his mother, my paternal grandmother, the late Mary Joyner Bullard, while Daddy was serving in the United States Army in Korea. They were tied, very carefully with packing twine, which is a strong string. I won't even attempt to describe tobacco twine to most people. It was used to string flue-cured tobacco. Some people know what I am referring to.
The letters were tied with that, and they were arranged in chronological order according to date.
What did they contain? They read rather like a daily journal of what was happening in the family, what was happening on the farms, who visited, what someone had cooked for a special meal, news about the weather, and in each one, she never failed to say, “I miss you, I love you and I am praying for you. Love, Mama.”
She never missed one day writing to him the entire time he was in the United States Army. That was for a period of a little over two years. That is dedication, and more than dedication, love.
I think of local news; the news of the past, and I have looked at past issues of the Jasper News and some of the Suwannee Democrat. The access to news was much more limited several decades ago and if a person was fortunate enough to have a subscription to the local paper, they lived for the news printed in it each week.
Headlines, obituaries, news of marriages, parties, civic events, and these were described in detail down to the "nth" degree.
In today's world, we are all so accustomed to texting or sending e-mails, tweeting (which, by the way, I don't know how to do) or skyping where you can sit in front of your computer screen and talk with someone else face to face. To coin the lyrics of a once popular jingle for Virginia Slim Cigarettes - "We've come a long way baby," in some ways. You know, though, I go back to those letters and the history contained in them. At the time of the writing, they didn't realize they were writing history at all, but they were. The history of an area, the history of a region, the history of who lived and died.
I want to thank each reader and subscriber of the now Riverbend News. I would encourage each of you to subscribe to the paper and gift a subscription to someone. We need an area newspaper. I don't care how much you can pull off the internet, nothing takes the place of local news in a local newspaper. I do thank Emerald Greene Parsons, Monja Slater and all the dedicated staff at Riverbend News for stepping out on faith and giving our area a marvelous gift.
During this season of love and light, know that kindness, encouragement, sharing a favorite recipe and anything that brings cheer is so very important. We need it now, maybe, more than we've ever needed it before.
As I close this week I am reminded of some of the lyrics of a favorite Christmas song:
"In the bleak midwinter,
What then can I give Him?
Poor as I am,
If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb,
If I were a soldier,
I would do my part,
Yet, what can I give Him?
Give Him my heart."
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! Thank you all for the blessing of your encouragement through the years. I wish to thank the staff of the Jasper Public Library in Jasper and the community of Jasper, for all your kindness to me working part-time at the library for the past nearly four years. I am transferring home, down to White Springs to the White Springs Public Library and will be working there part-time in the future. Again, thank you Becky, Janice, Ging and Donna. I appreciate you and have enjoyed working with you.
From the Eight Mile Still on the Woodpecker Route north of White Springs, wishing you a day filled with joy, peace and above all, lots of love and laughter.