Faith, Folklore, and Friends

It was all my Grandma's fault for up and dying right after she had paid to have the winter's coal delivered.   Everyone in the neighborhood heated their homes with wood, even the people we thought were rich.  It was what we had done since the first cabins were erected, and we didn't see any sense in changing as late as 1965. Wood was free and plentiful in those Tennessee hills, and almost everyone had a chainsaw by then. Grandma and Grandpa were getting on up in years, and it became difficult to lift the heavy firewood to put in the heater to heat their home. Someone they knew had a good pickup and a source of cheap coal, and with a little encouragement, they bought a used coal heater and had a winter's supply of coal delivered. Oh, it was so good!  They could get enough coal in a bucket to last for most days. Just a few pieces of the burning coal could  put out enough heat for them to stay comfortable.  No more piling enough firewood by the front door...

My friends and sisters, Jan and Ann, have birthdays the same week I do in January.  Every year, we have one lunch to celebrate them all. January was bad for us.  I had some oral surgery on January 5 that kept me moaning for most of the month.  Jan and Ann both had some health issues.  We postponed our lunch. We all got better, then Ann went on a wonderful trip to Florida, so we postponed the lunch again. We made dates for lunch and postponed it several more times, due to Mother Nature's confusion about North Alabama weather.  We reached the point where we were afraid to write it on our calendars, fearing another icy forecast. Finally, yesterday, we had our January lunch.  On March 12.  We had so much fun together, it was worth the wait.  Maybe we should do it in October this year. In addition to enjoying their company, I got this birthday present.  Jan is an artist and didn't know hummingbirds were my favorite, so it ...