Seasons

I think Summer is my favorite season.  I love Spring, but my allergies don't.  I'm ready for Winter to be over.  So many people are sick with colds, flu, etc. 

We cooked some of those "frozen" collards today.  The next day after the ice had melted, you would never have known that they were so drooped the day before.  I knew they would be even better and they were. A lot of people will not cook collards because they stink up the house too much.  My husband takes the pressure cooker (after I have washed the collards, and placed the seasoning and the meat in the pot and have everything ready to cook) out side and cooks the collards on a gas burner.  Then he brings the pot back inside and I empty it quickly and wash up the pot. The left overs are put into bags and put into the freezer for later. 

I remember a time when I was much younger, that a snow storm caught us unaware.  Everything was froze. No water. No electricity.  We had oil heat so we could stay warm.  Mrs. Cannon, an older lady in the neighborhood, had water and my husband went to her house to get us some.  He came back with collards and sweet potatoes as well as water. We warmed them on the heater and that was some good eating.

Mrs. Cannon also taught me how to can stringbeans. She was a very wise woman. She always had a good supply of food in her house.  She knew to fill the bathtub with water whenever storms were predicted. The old house she lived in is overgrown with small trees and weeds. You can hardly see the house. But throughout the seasons, you will see some daffodills peeking out, and later a rose will shine through. And I think of her...