It was in the early sixties, and not long married, that I found myself living in a small town in South Carolina. Having lived in the north, much of my youth, I found the south different from what I was accustomed to. The weather was hot and dry, and I'm sure I had wondered, how man or beast could tolerate such extremes in temperatures. Somehow I survived, and actually came to love the south, it's people and their customs. Introduced to the ways of the southern folk, I learned many things those first years. I learned how to care for a home, how to cook a little, and a whole lot about motherhood. I also, learned "southern entertainment." I learned to fish with a cane pole and, found that earth worms were "yucky" and slippery. My children have heard some pretty interesting stories from those days. This one, a favorite of mine, I've told many times, over the years. While fishing one summer afternoon, my cousin and I shared the bank of a creek, with a large African American family. I suppose you might call it curiosity, but having listened to their tales of catching unusual fish and water critters at night, we continued to fish, long after dark, right along beside them. We watched as the men brought out lanterns for light, and made "oiled cloth torches," to keep mosquitoes away. As time passed, my cousin and I watched as an occasional catfish was caught,or an incredibly ugly long eel, would surface from the black water. It was then that the children in the family, as well as the adults, would laugh and scream. The women would share with us, recipes of how to prepare these water delicacies. Each time I recall this story, I remember it, as a fun time and how natural it all seemed. I suppose folks back then were just neighborly, and life seemed good somehow. Those were also days when fields were planted with cotton and probably life wasn't so good for everyone. Each time I hear that old song "Summertime," I always reflect back on that night fishing experience, so long ago. It was summertime, the living was easy....the fish and the eels were jumping and the cotton was ripe......hmmmmm........
