It Happened At Belk Hudson

During my pre-teen years my family lived just a couple of blocks from the city block that housed an elementary school, the junior high, the recreation department, the local city gym - used by the Jr. High for PE, the rec department for basketball games, the high school for basketball games, AND was used as an auditorium for the entire community and the schools. The next blocks were the main downtown area, so the main part of town was not too far from our house. It was a simpler (and safer) time and at 11-13 I was allowed to walk and really just ramble all over our part of town. So was our dog, Pal. He was well known :)

On Saturday afternoon one of my friends ( five of us lived within two blocks of one another) and I would sometimes walk downtown ....... passing the elementary school ... a quick swing on the empty play grounds.... by the junior high.... up and down the granite steps of the old post office....... maybe stopping to watch the cokes fly by on the conveyor belt at the bottling plant across from the schools..... then into one of several drug stores on the surrounding corners to sit at the counter or in a booth to enjoy an ice cold coca cola. Maybe having a slaw dog if we wanted to splurge with our allowance so early in the week. Or catching the Saturday matinee and enjoying the movie, a coke and popcorn all for $.40 at the theater located in the block between two of the drug stores.

Just a normal Saturday afternoon in most small towns in America in the sixties I suppose................ But we did have entertainment that may not have been available in every small town. Well, maybe not any other small town. Maybe only in Atlanta or even New York City........... Well, maybe not any other town of any size. We had entertainment at our Belk Hudson store. I always loved going with my mom to Belk Hudson and being entertained while my mom shopped in the fabric department. The entrance off the main downtown street opened onto the floor that housed shoes, the men's department, hosiery, and cosmetics. The top floor housed women's wear, the children's department, and lingerie.

But, if you parked in the parking lot you actually entered what was considered the basement. The basement housed housewares and dry goods (fabric, etc)..... AND.... THE MYNAH BIRD. That's right.......... our Belk Hudson had a talking bird that lived in the store over the drink machine in a sitting area. Very entertaining. And very loud! He was a rude bird now that I think about it. He whistled at all the ladies and yelled out cat calls and insults. There were certain words and phrases that he would repeat. All the local children knew what to ask him to either get a response or just get him rilled.

Just normal life for those of us who grew up with him. I bet the ladies in housewares wanted to poison his bird seed by Saturday evening.

My Town!

I love my town. I have lived here for almost 29 years. I would say this is home.

We have the best Court House........................

We also have a great downtown.................... I love our downtown.
Here are some of my favorite places.......................


Cheese and Feed.........................the best camel rider around.....................


Styles Unlimited, where my friend Gloria cuts my hair..... that's all ...... just a cut! I know.....I'm cheap about that!


Some great shops that I frequent...........decked out for Christmas............


..........................and across Main Street.....this is a great new shop in a very old, wonderfully restored theater.



................our friend Sid's Antique store..................................



But here is one of our best treasures.................................


.......our Christmas lights, a long time Moultrie tradition........... I love our lights! We are known for this canopy of lights...


and our turtle pond..( photo is too poor to see. I'll try again later.) .....





and one other treasure that is part of one of my earliest memories.




I was raised in Douglas, but we visited the Atlanta Zoo often enough during my childhood that I knew Willie B, the GORILLA!; I knew my way around the monkey house; and I knew what to expect when the mommie elephants washed their little ones. (They liked to wash you too!) And..........I remembered visiting the elephant grave yard....... but only once. I often wondered about that grave yard and wondered why I only saw it once.





Then, when David and Nancy were getting married, I came to Moultrie for my bridesmaid's dress.............. and.......................... passing a little church......................................







I SAW IT! ................Do you see it the cemetery?.......




The elephant! ......................A six foot tall elephant. The one from my memory!

It is over the grave of a circus owner who died in 1950..........


....... Daddy had brought us to see the landmark when I was a very young girl and lived in Barney.

Now I pass this elephant almost every day. Many days several times. We live in the same town. We love our town!

A Dancing Family

This year at Thanksgiving Bennett had some new dance moves. Some of the family thought he had just inherited the family dance gene since he had some really funky moves but Laurie and I discovered that he indeed had some new dances. We later saw his entertaining mommie, who is actually a good dancer, doing the Roger Rabbit and him joining in with the same, well similar, moves. Then she moved on to the Cotton Eyed Joe which he also had obviously done before. They dance a lot in that house. And play the guitar and sing too!

We are just a dancing family! ..............Well, actually, we are NOT a dancing family. It is not that we are against dancing, it is just that most of us are not good at it. ( Sorry folks!)

When my nephew, Bradley, was about seven years old Jimmy bought a box a LP's at a yard sale in Douglas. Since Daddy had a stereo that worked, Bradley wanted to play some of the albums. We were all home that weekend for Daddy's birthday.... so, well of course.........when you have a house full of people and songs playing on a stereo you should have a dance. And we did. " Dance Party" was born. Bradley played the records and we all danced. And. We had a ball!.....Laughing and dancing the night away!!! There are pictures, but luckily I can not put my hands on them at the moment.

We need to have another " Dance Party" when Bradley graduates from high school in a few years. We'll invite all of his friends. Maybe he'll have a girlfriend and we'll invite her too. We'll see if she has enough intestinal fortitude to hang with a dancing family. Well, a non dance family having "Dance Party".

A Rabbit's Tale..... Or Rabbit, it taste a lot like.......

One Saturday when I was a very young girl, pre-school age anyway, (Of course I did not go to school until I was 6 years old!) Daddy decided to cook a rabbit. I don't know why I am so sure it was a Saturday, but in my mind it was. I also don't know if Daddy had ever eaten rabbit but I am pretty sure he had never cooked one. A friend had told him some special delicious way to prepare rabbit (per a conversation with my mom years later) so Daddy shot and cleaned the rabbit. As he started the process my mom decided to bake a chocolate cake for dessert. Hummmm.....Yellow cake with chocolate icing...........My most favorite cake.

I don't actually know how he prepared the rabbit but in my mind he boiled it on the stove. You know, Fatal Attraction style. It seems that it cooked for a very long time and it was still not tender........ so, finally.......... we just ate the cake......CAKE FOR SUPPER! It was a high point in my life.

Now any time I hear someone mention eating anything wild my mouth just waters because I always think: chocolate cake. As you can image, I have had some major disappointments in my life waiting for cake. Apparently not everyone has chocolate cake with their wild game.

Giving Thanks

Recently, I revisited an emotion I experienced in June 2001. That day I had taken Daddy to Douglas for his first trip home since mid March. He had been in and out of the hospital all spring and we did not know if he would ever return home. Soon after arriving, Daddy was out back surveying - checking on his trees, rootings, and roses. I caught sight of him out the kitchen window and I could not hold back the tears nor the gratitude. " Thank you, God!" I prayed.

Last week I caught sight of my friend Carol Ann as she rounded a corner of a gift shop and again the emotions dripped from my eyes and down my cheeks. And once again I could only say, " Thank you, God!" While CA was in the hospital with a blood clot in her kidney that came from a newly discovered hole in her heart I longed for her to be able to get out and play. CA, I'm so thankful to have you out and about!

The season of Thanksgiving does always remind me to be thankful, but I know holidays are difficult for those whose hearts are broken. Let's remember to prayer for them even more these holiday weeks and prayer that they will be comforted by the One who said He would not leave us comfortless.

I must include this letter that I wrote the first Christmas without my mother, even though I know most of you have read it. Then tomorrow, back to tales of how I shamed the entire family last week. I know you will enjoy that.

December 2000

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your prayers this year. Your prayers have sustained my family and me. We have felt a very special comfort every time we really needed it and did again on Thanksgiving this year.

We were looking forward to the holiday but not the Holiday itself. We planned the traditional feast to include anything that anyone would miss if it were not included. Laurie awaited the pumpkin pie and Leslie the deviled eggs. Daddy and Karen's boys snapped fresh, tender green beans picked out one at a time from the grocer bin and Daddy cooked the turkey. David picked up and picked out pecans from our farm for the pie he brought, while Mark made an acorn squash souffle'. Karen and I cooked the dressing as well as casseroles galore. Lynn, weak from chemo, sat in the kitchen and visited.

We gathered and ate, and laughed, and talked. The turkey was perfect and each dish was cherished by someone. It was a nice, quiet and peaceful meal. We were content to be together but each with our own special memories of past Thanksgiving Days.

The next morning I awoke with an attitude of thanksgiving. Immediately, my mind was filled with the picture of a beautiful bird's nest densely lined with small white feathers. The nest held a family of chirping baby birds. I knew instantly that this was my family being protected and nurtured in that nest, and that the soft down of your prayers lined the nest, prepared my God's own hands.

Thank you for softening our nest. Your prayers are heard. They do make a difference. My prayer for you and your family this Holiday season is that you may be housed in God's nest, built by His love, and filled with His peace.

Love,
June