When I was a little, little girl we had a neighbor named Kate Brown. And I LOVED her! She lived in a little house at the opposite end of our street. She told me once that she used to watch my Mama push me up and down our street when I was a baby and that’s how they met.
Kate could do anything. She was from Cowpens South Carolina and had that lovely Low Country accent. She would read me books and do ALL the voices. She sewed and she made me beautiful clothes for my baby dolls. She made my cheerleading uniforms, put me on floats in the annual Labor Day parade in my home town and taught at my elementary school. Many years later she would sew my bridesmaid dresses for my wedding.
I adored her, and still do. She still lives in that same house today. She could also recite lots of poems from memory.
This one was my favorite!
Little Orphant Annie
Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
Onc't they was a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
So when he went to bed at night, away up stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wasn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found was thist his pants an' roundabout--
An' the Gobble-uns'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever'one, an' all her blood an' kin;
An' onc't, when they was "company," an' ole folks was there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They was two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' little Orphant Annie says when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
You better mind yer parents, an' yer teachers fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
It used to scare the pee out of me!
Happy Halloween y'all,
Paige
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Thank you! He lived close to me here in Indiana. I have several of his books. This brought me memories as well!
Blessings
Thank you! He lived close to me here in Indiana. I have several of his books. This brought me memories as well!
Blessings