The Writings of an Old Virginia Country Boy
by
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At the beginning of the twentieth century in the valley of Virginia, life was a lot different than today. All farms had a flock of chickens, several milk cows, and four or five fat hogs that were butchered every year during cold weather. Farms had fields of corn which were cut in late summer and made into shock. Between the corn shocks the farmer planted a grain, usually wheat. Men came from North Carolina and Tennessee to pick the apples for three cents a bushel. The apple pickers would bed down in one of the farm buildings and return home at the end of the apple season. Jim and Kitty were born at this time on adjoining farms in the valley. Their families attended the same church, and children of both families attended the same school. They were childhood sweethearts from the beginning. Kitty was born beautiful and with an infectious smile. As she grew older and became aware of the power she had over men, she took advantage of every opportunity. Jim, on the other hand, was nice looking but not handsome. He was a good, kind man and never had a harsh word to say about anyone and was always willing to lend a helping hand. In their early twenties, Jim and Kitty married. Their marriage went well for a while, until Jim found Kitty in the arms of another man. She never missed an opportunity to have a fling if she thought no one else was the wiser. Jim's pleas were never taken seriously. There was the iceman, carpenter, and a dozen others over the years. Kitty's wandering ways ate on poor Jim's mind. One day after more than twenty years of marriage, Jim for the first time did not come home from work at the usual time. At ten o'clock in the evening, Jim still had not come home. At midnight Kitty called her neighbors thinking or sure that something must have happened to Jim for he did not come home. They looked everywhere for Jim. Finally, someone asked if anyone had looked in the house nearby under construction. So two of the neighbors took a five-cell flashlight and went looking for Jim. As they approached the house under construction-now with a roof on it but the sides still open-they saw a movement. As they got closer, they shined the light on the movement to discover that poor Jim's body was swinging in the wind tied to a rafter. At Jim's funeral service the family minister Reverend Hall said that God does not want the annihilation of the wicked and that Jesus has conquered death and assured us of every lasting life. Several months after Jim's death, neighbors noted a change in Kitty's behavior. She no longer showed an active interest in men. She came to realize what a jewel she had had in Jim. She missed him terribly--only to realize it was too late. In the barnyard behind her house she gathered stalks of nightshade plants and pods from the gypsum weed--both plants have been used since early times to commit suicide. She then took the took she used to tenderize meat and beat both plants to a pulp. She put the pulp in her dishpan and added a quart of hot water and let it steep overnight. In the morning she drank as much as she could. Late the next day a neighbor came by Jim's and Kitty's house to borrow a cup of sugar. As the neighbor walked up the steps she heard the dog on the inside of the screen door making an awful chill sounding noise. She yelled out, "Kitty." As she opened the screen door, she saw Kitty lying on the floor dead. At Kitty's funeral service, Reverend Hall, like at Jim's service, performed a beautiful eulogy. His last words were, "Only the heart knows why."
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The Writings of an Old Virginia Country Boy
About the Author
The Author of The Writings of an Old Virginia Farm Boy is an old Virginia country boy: he was born and grew up in the country...he picked apples, hoed and shocked corn, slopped and butchered hogs, milked cows, threshed grain, gathered eggs, and trampled through the fields and streams with a homemade fishing pole and a Sears Roebuck single shot .22 rifle...from preteens until Uncle Sam called during World War II. After basic training, during which he could not understand why the soldiers were always complaining when all they had to do was walk, while back on the farm her was used to grubbing with a mattock or swinging an ax, he was shipped to England during the war. This nineteen-year-old Sargent was responsible for coordinating with U.S. Army commanders and British officials in moving U. S. troops and vehicles out of a designated area by road and rail in southern England. After retiring from the military in 1965 and having seen Europe, country life and country ways called. A 340-acre beef cattle farm was the answer. Today, after having lived for seventy-five years on this old planet and after having been to six continents and more than fifty countries, the lure of Virginia country life, country people, and country ways are as strong as ever.