Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Pa Davis

James Kelly Davis loved dogs, especially white spitz. In this 1945 photo, he is holding a couple of white spitz puppies in front of the old Bean homeplace in Peaceful Valley. The little girl on the porch is his granddaughter, Brenda Pennington. Another granddaughter, Jo Ann Pennington, shared some memories of Pa Davis with me earlier this year.

Pa slept in a nightgown every night, usually made out of bleached fertilizer sacks. Each night he would wrap his head up in a special scarf, covering his ears. The scarf was like a night cap but scarf-like.

Pa Davis had to have biscuits with every meal, never cornbread. Ma made her biscuits each morning with lard and buttermilk, and leftovers went into the "warming cabinet" or were kept on the table under a cloth until supper time. When he ate, Pa would take a biscuit and put part of it under his plate in order to make his plate slant downward. The Davis dining table always had Dixie Queen maple syrup. Ham, bacon and sausage - all cured at home - were commonly found too but bacon was called "side meat" not bacon.

For New Year's Eve, Pa always got a stick of dynamite. He would stay up until midnight, put the stick of dynamite in an iron pipe and light it. Aunt Jo said she usually could be found under the bed at midnight with her ears covered.

Pa did not cuss at all. Neither did Ma. They loved their grandchildren and enjoyed having them visit. Sunday was family time, and their children and grandchildren would come by after church for visiting and a family meal.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for telling us what "side meat" is! I do recall both grandmother's cooking and serving side meat, but since I was mostly a vegeterian as a child, I had no idea if it were beef or pork. You know if you don't eat meat, you ignore it. . . however, I did eat fried chicken and both grandmothers fried their chicken in lard while my mother used Crisco and I have to admit that the grandmother's fried chicken "smelled" with more pungency and the drippings certainly made a more flavorful gravy because of the drippings (those crisp chunks of the flour coating that dropped off the meat while cooking).

That imaginary state line that separates our heritage comes back home through that Evans and Robinson binding, does it not? bettye

Ma Jean said...

Loved your blog today of Pa. Makes me want to pat his bald head like I use to do. He was always sitting in his chair between the door and fireplace when I walked in. I always rubbed his head as I patted it. He would grab my hand, grin and say,"Hey Scoots"

Anonymous said...

nice puppies...

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Anonymous said...

The two dogs are looking good .,,.,.,.,.


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