Saturday, April 2, 2011

Boogers and Books

Hey, Y'all,
(Tawkin' in East Tennessee-speak today) Didja ever think about Boogers? Ewwwww, you say? Well, now they is all kinds of boogers. The first time I ever heard of boogers was when my Ant Daisy was stayin' with us when we uz livin' in Possum Valley. They was two kinds that she mentioned regular to us. When we would be pickin' the boogers out of our nose, she would ask, "Are ye cleanin' the halls? Are ye  'spectin' comp'ney?" Our Ant Daisy had all kinds of sayin's, don't che know? And then there was the other kind uh boogers that make noises durin' the night er day, even. We had a loft in the little cabin that we lived in down there in Possum Valley, where my bruthers slept, and our Ant Daisy would say right before the boys went up to go tuh bed, "I hear old Raw Hide n' Bloody Bones (the Devil) up there and he's waitin' for ye boys." She loved to skeer us. She thought that was really funny. She was my mom's sister, and quite often, she'd come and "stay" with us, when she was down on her luck (out a work, havin' problems with her husband at the time, etc.) I don't know at the number a times we took her in. She certainly brought her own kind of entertainment with her. We would be outside n' she'd look up and see a buzzard flyin' overhead and say, "Looky thare, they're a comin' after ya." 

Now, about the boogers, my mom could tell us some awful skeery stories about them, too, and about ghosts n' all kinds of spooky stuff. We grew up on them stories, cause we delighted in bein' skeered. We'd sit around the fireplace at night with the wind a whistlin' outside and mama would tell us about a house out in Texas whur at a certin' time ever ev'nin' the windus' 'ud shut down, and the doors 'ud shut, and the plates 'ud slide out frum the cab'net onto the table, and the chandelier would play music. We listen'd and wonder'd at how that cud be. 

All the stories we herd growin' up must be why we all loved ta read. One of the first poems I remember hearin' started off with "There is no Frigate Like a Book" . I wondered what in thuh world is a frigate? Then I found out it was a ship that moves out on the high seas. The poem is by Emily Dickinson, who wuz fasanated by thuh fact thet readin' kin take us far away in our imaginashins like nuthin' else can. Hurray fer books and fer boogers too.


My mama's mama was half Cherokee 'n I'm sure she grew up listenin' to stories told to her, and musta pass'd 'em on to Mama. In fact, I know she heard stories growing up, because l've herd some uv 'em. 


Do you know any stories about boogers? I'll betcha do. If you have any trubble understandin' any a these words taday, jist read 'em outloud and they'll cum to ya. 


This is Blabbin' Grammy signin' off fer taday. Much luv ta each uv ya, and I'll be seein' ya agin'. Bye fer now. More later.

23 comments:

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

You are a real educationist, One can learn alot from reading your blogs Ruby, always so interesting.

Have a lovely week-end;
Yvonne.

Jeff Beesler said...

Such an authentic voice you possess in your post! Hang on tightly to it; it's clearly yours!

Jan said...

Nice twang!

Lisa said...

I enjoyed this so because you were telling me stories. I felt like my mouth was opened listening to you like a little girl;) Thank you Grammy.

The Words Crafter said...

Boogers! My class of three year olds would be rioting about now!

Hmmpf, lemme see....Bloody Bones is gonna gitchyoo!

I'm from NC an' I didn' hav any problum a'tall readin' yor post!

Wanda said...

Aunt Daisy was quite a character wasn't she.

Nicki Elson said...

Nice drawl. And even w/ over 1000 blogs in the challenge, I can pretty much guarantee you're the only one to choose boogers for B!

Misha Gerrick said...

Nothing like a good ghost story.

Or good story, for that matter. Written or not.

:-)

Hi from the Challenge!

Elaine in Florida said...

Oh my heavens!!!! This'un is great...wunder why I din have no truble at all unnerstanin ever wurd..reckon my wv upbringin taken over...love, love, love this post!!

Elaine

Elaine in Florida said...

oops...I notice I "messed up" on at all...should have been a'tall!!

Patricia Stoltey said...

Hi Ruby -- thanks for coming by my blog for the A to Z -- you probably know by now that I'm traveling and trying to do week one of the challenge on a very slow computer. I'll be back after the 9th and you'll see much more of me then. I'm so glad you're doing the challenge. I'm counting on April to get me back on a blog-hopping schedule to visit all my good friends (and make some new friends, too).

Grammy said...

Hey, y'all, thanks for stopping by and making an old lady laugh out loud. Ruby

Petra said...

Loved it, boogers, accent and all! :-)

Penned Pebbles

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Great stories! Don't know much about boogers though.
Grammy, if you'd like some bookmarks for you and your library, let me know and I can send you a stack.

nutschell said...

new follower here! what a funny post and such a strong, unique voice. love it!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Loki Morgan said...

I found you through the A-Z challenge and boy, you are a fun read! :)

Loki Morgan @ Who said being random was bad?
http://lokimorgan.blogspot.com

Grammy said...

Thanks you all!

Anonymous said...

ooh I love spooky stories :o)

Wool'n'Nuts

TnBassPkr said...

an' whut she'sa tellin' yew is all gospel,,cuz I larnt it frum her,,I is her nef,,uh neph,,,I,m her brother's son

Margaret Hall said...

Great, great~!! You betcha', my friend! Thar' are massive boogers out thar'~! Luv, luved your postin', Grammy~!! Sendin' hugs yer way, be visitin' for "C"..
http://timeforabucketlist.blogspot.com/
http://imagesinthought.blogspot.com/
http://the-old-story-tree.blogspot.com/
http://bagladythoughts.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Boogers with a drawl. You never know what you'll find out there in Blogdom LOL! I would imagine when it comes time for the letter F there will be those who discuss flatulence. Probably me.

Candyland said...

Aww I LOVE the way you talk! Makes me miss my Gram who's from Alabama.

Tori Cooper said...

Wow! That was a fun read Grammy, didn't realize reading drawl would be so much fun! I can almost hear it, I have family over in Kentucky and some of them have such a heavy drawl that a typical San Diegan wouldn't know what the heck they were saying... to me its fun!