I can’t think of anything that hasn’t been covered already but it did make me think of something that was said by my papaw when we took our dinner break from hoeing a big bottom of field corn. When he decided it was time to go back to work he would say, “grasshopper grasshopper give a little jerk, grasshopper grasshopper lets go to work.”
—Larry Griffith
I’m glad Larry shared his grandfather’s saying a few months back. It has been rolling around in my head ever since as a line of encouragement to get what ever task is at hand completed.
If you’ve ever heard the little saying please leave a comment and tell about it.
Please pray for the people of Kentucky who are suffering from devastating flooding.
Last night’s video: Alex Stewart Portrait of a Pioneer 11.
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I have not heard the grasshopper jingle either. I am familiar with the idea of building up the reward in ones’ mind and minimizing the immediate effort though. Paul did that when he wrote “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed…” (I smile at the translation “reckon” ’cause I’ve been reckoning my whole life. That grandpa was training them and it stuck because they still remember. A bit scary to be reminded we are always being an example of one sort or another.
My prayers are with those in St Louis and Kentucky, and all those affected by the heavy rains and flooding. I pray, also, for all the volunteers helping in the aftermath, and those who can’t physically be there to help, but are praying, and/or sending what items they can to assist in whatever way needed.
I vaguely remember the last line of Larry Griffith’s grasshopper rhyme. Maybe I heard my grandparents, or someone at church say it. I might even be confusing it with another rhyme I heard as a child but cannot remember, and this one stirs some of the cobwebs in my brain surrounding it, but not enough to uncover it! This is a good rhyme for lighting a fire under yourself to stay on task. Thank you Mr. Griffith and Tipper!
Donna. : )
He would start off slow with g r a ss h o pp e r, grasshopper and got faster as he finished. I dreaded that slow grasshopper, for I knew what was coming.
I’ve not heard that one, but it is cute! I’ll have to use that to get myself working. I might use it with my granddaughter. She is in the preteen age, so it will either get a chuckle out of her or an eye roll , but either way I know she’ll be smiling on the inside because she always liked little rhymes like this.
Thank you for sharing it with us!
My great Uncle Horace claimed to have made up these two sayings when he attended grade school in the 1890’s.
1, 2, 3 Mama caught a flea, flea died, Mama cried, 1, 2, 3
Apple cider, ‘simmon beer, the Black cat spit in the Yellow cat’s ear
My Pa, b. 1894, had one that started: One -zoh, zee -zoh, zicca -zoh, ZAM; bob-tail penny winker, tee toe tam.
I cannot remember where it went from there but there was more to it.
I meant to add that the rhyme might have been a counting function like ‘one potato, two potato . . . ‘
My grand daddy (who operated a coal trucking business and got up and gone way before daylight) used to say GET UP BOYS AND PEE ON THE ROCK. IT AINT QUITE DAY BUT ITS FOUR OCLOCK. I DONT WANT YOU BUT THE CAPTAIN DO. HATE TO CALL YOU BUT IM HAVING TO. He also used to say pat your belly and rub your head and then pat your head and rub your belly… He got a big kick outa watching us kids try to keep up… Golly, I surely do miss him-44 years now he’s been gone…
The flooding in Kentucky is really bad and frightening! My heart goes out to the people of Kentucky! We always tend to think it can’t happen here!
Grasshoppers are really beautiful and intricately built little critters. I love to watch them move and hop, with such grace. Their little bodies are beautifully built!
Have heard about the grasshopper a long time ago and thought it was a cute saying…ever heard the one….Lord have mercy on my sole, how many chickens have a I stole…one last night and the night before, and I’m goin’ back to steal somemore! Doesn’t make much sense, but it does rhyme..lol. And yes, yesterday was the first film reports I have seen about the flooding. I especially noted some of the houses and cars being a little above water but the streets in front of their houses was so destroyed and don’t see a way out for them for a very long time. God bless ’em.
Yes, my sister lives in the region that is currently affected by the flooding. Perry county where Hazard KY is has been hit really hard with deaths and over 100 people still missing. She is personal friends with some of those who have lost everything. Thankfully her hollar she lives in has not flooded, but today is another day of storms for the area………….Prayers for everyone in that region………..
Never heard the grasshopper one! My grandad had sayings for everything. ‘Lettuce, Turnip, & Pea” say that one out loud & think about it for a minute ; ) When I was very little & showed up to visit, he had one where he’d meet us at the door . He’d say Round & Round the Buzzy Bee goes, where she stops, nobody knows…” and he’d be spiraling his finger and then would “buzz” you in the tummy. It made us laugh every time! Of course we were soooo little, just about anything made us laugh. My father’s saying that would irk us was “Schooooool tomorrow”. It meant ‘bedtime’. Ah, to be little again.
You all are so blessed to have lived around your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I only got to appreciate and get to know them on rare visits. I love to hear your stories.
Pat, outside of my relationship to God, nothing is worth more to me than spending time with my family and I mean all of the members. One of the greatest joys of my childhood was spending time with my maternal grandparents everyday. I was with my granddaddy every minute that I could . I was fortunate to live beside of them. I also got to see and spend time with my other grandparents every weekend. After church we would go and eat Sunday dinner with them. A lot of times some of my aunts, uncles or cousins would also be at both of my grandparents on the weekends. I encourage everyone to spend every minute you can with your family, they can be here one second and gone from earth in the next. I also got to spend a lot of time with my wife’s family members.
I do feel blessed to have had the time I had with my grandparents (paternal), but It was always a strained thing, as my mother did not get along with her in laws. We spent quite a bit of time with them, but the negativity was always right there under the surface. And we didn’t spend time with those aunt/cousins. Unfortunately, my mother did not get along with most HER family of 10 siblings, either, & both of her parents died young. So even though I have a slew of cousins, we were not raised to know any, but maybe 3 or 4 of the ‘chosen’ ones. I had to wait until I was in my late 20s to get to know them. Family is such a weird thing – the more I talk to others, the more I realize that there is not too much ‘normal’ in the way that families interact with one another. But obviously i cherish the memories that I do have & loved ALL of my family (the ones I did know & the ones I grew to know) and I have learned alot from them.