Family Folk Lore

When I taught school, I really enjoyed sharing stories from American Folk Lore. I would always start out our lessons with the question to the students: "Would you like to hear a true story?" I would then proceed to share a fun story that had it's roots in the vocal sharing of stories that had been passed from generation to generation. It is in that spirit that I would like to share this.

Grandma and Grandpa didn't always agree. As any couple has differences, so did they. As a matter of fact, they never did agree about the actual date that Aunt Ruth was born. Grandpa insisted that is was one day, but Grandma insisted that it was a different day and that she should know because she was there when Ruth was born.

Grandma Dunn had a garden that extended from the western porch of their house to the property line. It included a wide variety of vegetables including rutabagas, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, radishes, spinach, corn, beans, rhubarb, current bushes, and more. A garden of that size needed constant care. Plants had to be watered and weeded and thinned.

One day, Grandpa was working in the garden with one of his grandchildren. Grandma came to the porch door and shouted, "Sim, oh Sim!". Grandpa continued working with his head down. She called again, "Sim, oh Sim!" The grandchild anxiously looked at his grandfather who worked on without reacting. A third time, grandma beckoned, "Sim, oh Sim".

The child could bear the suspense no more. He turned to Grandpa and asked, "Don't you hear that?"

"No," replied Grandpa, "and neither do you."