Blount and Beyond Online Magazine - Magazine - Page 68
Down Home with Gail
By Gail Hatcher
Come take a late spring walk with me. Every season has something different to watch. On a late spring walk,
early in the morning as the last of spring is showing their colors the orange and yellows are peeping through.
The lazy lizards are sitting on the rocks that are warmed by the sun. You can hear the whippoorwills calling
their mating call and the hoot owls hooting from deep in a hollow tree. You may get to see the water of the dew,
on a flower leaf, as it goes running to the ground.
The butterflies can be seen skipping from one flower bloom to another. The barnyard chickens scratching the
ground for a fat little worm to come tumbling out of the earth for the chicken to have for a meal. Spring is a
wonderful time go out and find an old log or stump to sit on as you watch nature.
Watch the new little wild bunny rabbits hopping around with their mother. Not far away, you hear the cry of an
eagle as it soars around the sky. You might see a hawk flying down to catch its prey in its claws and flies away
with a fish for its supper. This is the time of year to watch everything come to life. So, find a log and sit back,
and enjoy the rest of spring because the hot sticky days of summer will be here in a few weeks. Next month we
will take a summer walk.
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Superstitions and Adages As Recalled by Linda Mary Hatcher
Woodpeckers are a sign of wealth, good luck, happiness, and healing. If you hear, or see a woodpecker
pecking on a tree near your house clap your hands three times, make a wish, and ask him for his
message. He is a sign that a gift is coming your way.
Lay an axe beneath your bed when you are feeling bad. The axe will cut the pain.
If the first person to visit your home on New Year9s Day is a female all you chickens will be hens. If a
male visits first they will all be roosters.
Never turn your calendar before the next month begins if you do you will have bad luck.
If a bird gets into you house someone in the family is going to die.
If a bird builds a nest in your hair you will be plagued with headaches the rest of your life.
Never carry a sharp instrument into your house unless you take it out the same door, you will get cut on
it.
If a rooster crows at midnight something bad will happen.
Some people believe that Whippoorwill9s calling brings bad luck. To shut them up wring a dish rag.
Breaking a mirror will bring seven years bad luck.
If a black cat crosses the road in front of you, make an X or you will have seven years of bad luck.
A crowing hen will bring bad luck.
Don9t put your socks on wrong side out or wear two different colors of socks if you do you will have
bad luck.
A hen egg with any kind of markings on it is a sign of bad luck.
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