May 31, 2018
Like many folks from his generation, Pap held on to things other folks would throw away in case he needed them later. He kept most of his stash in the basement, but sometimes he put things where they were handy like in the trunk of his car or hanging in a tree at the edge of the yard.
If you’ve been a Blind Pig reader for a long time you’ve probably noticed on occasion I use a photo of a strange looking object hanging in a tree. Last week the photo was the top of an old water filter that Pap had hung up in a tree below Granny’s house. I’m sure Pap changed his out and then decided he better keep the old one in case somebody needed the parts off it.
Looking for things Pap hung around the place is sort of like a scavenger hunt, you never know what you’ll find.
The day I discovered the water filter The Deer Hunter was cutting the limbs out of a tree that was growing to close to Granny’s porch. These days I don’t have any call to go into that part of Granny’s yard on a regular basis, but as I cleaned up the branches I decided I’d throw some of them off that bank and that’s when I noticed the filter hanging in the tree. Silly I know but it was almost like Pap was saying “Tipper I’m glad you all are helping Granny since I’m not here to do it. You’re doing good girl.”
As we’ve been working in Pap’s big garden this spring I’ve thought of him often. The Deer Hunter and I have noticed his mark here and there and it always brings a smile to our faces.
Just like I thought Pap would be pleased that we were helping Granny back in 2018 I think he’d be pleased with the good stand of corn that’s growing in his big garden.
Last night’s video: Two Easy Summer Side-dishes.
Tipper
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I heard something some time ago that has helped me.
People are in your life for a season, like spring, summer, winter and fall. You love and cherish the time, but then the season moves on. You remember the season and cherish the memories, but it has passed on. New seasons bring new beginnings with new experiences with new opportunities to make memories and cherish those times. Living in past seasons won’t allow you to experience the beauty of the next season.
My hubby always saves any kind of metal. He’s a welder and he always has a need for it eventually—and metal of any kind is costly. He also saves all bolts, screws, leftover boards, and etc. He’s my Mr. Fixit—he can just about fix or repair anything. I save buttons, gift bags, old greeting cards and other little things I think the grandkids can do crafts with. We do lots of arts and crafts together. I use the buttons on my crochet projects sometimes. I reuse gift bags. We all laugh because we pass them around and around in my family. My favorite thing is to go in my Hubby’s shed and see all the things he has hanging around. I have no idea what most of it is, but I know it’s something he is saving to use one day. My dad’s sheds were always like that too. Now he lives in a little apartment and he has a few little tools and things in a tiny closet. It makes me sad that he doesn’t have room for all his wonderful treasures he always saved for another day. This was such a neat post, Tipper. Thank you. I binge-watched all the shows I missed while I was away. They were all great! Those baked onions looked so delicious you made last evening.
Oh don’t we miss our dads. Sometimes there’s such an ache to hear that voice again. I live in the house I grew up in and every time my husband mows the smell of the grass takes me right back to Saturday mornings and hearing his mower going by my window and that smell of grass coming in, always makes me smile to myself and some times brings a lump in my throat. How lucky are we to have had daddy’s that left such an impact on us.
Pap’s creative sculptures! I knew an old neighborr who would take worn out car parts and turn them into fanciful critters. I miss his laugh and willingness to help others. God rest his soul.
I think all country menfolk hang things in trees or on nails, spikes, pegs and hooks found in every barn and shed on the place, all put there for that purpose. Unusual “trophies” like mule shoes, plow points, short lengths of rusty trace chains come to mind. I hung one such piece of rusted metal in my pole shed. It was found only after puncturing three tires on two different trucks. The culprit was a 4-inch-long spindle or shaft from some discarded piece of farm machinery that had been in the ground long before that property became our hunting lease. One rut of our woods road ran, by chance, mere inches from that spindle, at a curve. After the third puncture there, all on the left side, we searched until we found the costly cause. By the way, sawmills usually won’t take in trees from old home places, not even mature black walnut, as valuable as that wood is, because of the likelihood that nails could be imbedded in them.
Gene, there is a huge red oak tree in the front yard of my father in law’s home. Before he passed away, I remember hearing him saying there once was a barn near the tree when he was a young boy and the trunk of the tree was full of nails, horse shoes, wire and who knows what else. I have a big red cedar tree on my property that would make beautiful cedar wood but I know for sure it has 4 foot tall hog wire imbedded in the trunk.
remembering – and unexpected pop-up memories – are an important part of life no matter in what form they come in – it helps us re-live a time, place and even a person who’s no longer with us.
I know your dad is proud of all you do for Granny. I am sure he smiles seeing how you follow his example loving on your children. What precious memories. Brings a tear to my eyes remembering my loving parents. ❤️
It’s good to keep certain things cause you don’t know when you ir someone might need them later. My dad didn’t throw nothing away. Momma didn’t either. She would keep jars and jars of old buttons. And yes we used them later.
I remember you posting many years ago an item Pap left on a tree just in case he might need a part of it later:) We were just talking about my Daddy had my Grandfather’s huge old woven barrel type basket hanging on a nail in the barn. My Grandfather used it on the farm and now his great-grandson has it hanging in his barn. My Husband saved everything and in his basement workshop had jelly jars screwed to the rafters filled with screws, nuts, and such. I am terrible to save too much in the way of notes, journals, data:) I watched Corie’s video on May on my TV and just wanted to say it was beautiful. Granny looked wonderful!!!
I’m the same way, my shop, barns and shelters are full of stuff I may need one day. it beats driving 18 miles for a bolt.
When pill bottles were clear, they were great for storing sewing notions such as hooks and eyes. I still have a couple of glass baby food jars with odds and ends in them.
The old log barn my father and I built many years ago is still “adorned” with all sorts of old stuff that he hung on nails.
My parents saved everything and made use of it all. They grew up poor, worked hard for what they had, and did not waste anything. It seems like every time I throw something away that has been hanging around on a nail for years, someone will need it in the next day or two.
Dear Tipper,
This was so special! I usually close my eyes and concentrate on listening to Pap’s unique and beautiful voice, but it was so nice on this video to just watch and listen to him……..I didn’t close my eyes once! I’ve never heard him sing solo and I loved it! Wish I could have known him……and I’m sure others feel the same. I really enjoyed last night’s video and plan to make both recipes. Thank you again for all your hard work and for letting us share in your daily life. God bless you!
Love,
Jackie
I don’t hang up the things I think I might need to keep. I take them apart, clean them up, oil them up to protect them from rust, catalogue them and store them away. When the time comes that I need them I go to where I thought I stored them and they’re not there. I know I saved them and I know where I put them and they are not there.
So I go buy a new one and install it. But it doesn’t end there. It continues to bother me, I knew I saved it and I knew where I put it, why isn’t it there? So I look again in the same place for the fifteenth time and there it is.
Would it be better just to throw away parts and pieces I might need later and save myself the frustration of it all?
Pawpaw- I never know what to expect when I read your posts. This one is hilarious and just so true for lots of us!
My mom saved gift boxes and gift bags from birthdays and Christmas. “you never know when you might need it “. I must admit there were times they came in handy. I imagine Pap is well pleased his big garden is being planted again. And Granny is being taken care of.
My dad kept a lot of nuts and bolts and parts off cars. Our garage was filled with them. My mother-in-law and husband kept/keep everything. She would even keep bread wrappers and the containers that meats come on after rinsing them. I have to sort through and get rid of a lot of “junk” my husband keeps. I like to keep things that you might need later but I will give them to someone to use if it sits around a long time. When I married my husband, he had a whole shoe box full of pen parts he had been collecting for years. Enjoyed watching the video on side dishes last evening. Prayers continue for Granny, Corie and your entire family.
My dad and grandpa did the same. It is definitely a reminder of these wonderful men when I walk the property or go into the shop. Always makes me smile.
Tipper, it not silly to think Pap was somehow communicating with you through the filter hanging in the tree. I think God allows those thoughts of communication from our loved ones through things like the filter. I don’t have no biblical proof, it’s just my thoughts since I’ve had some of the same experiences. I can only say that the Bible does tell us that in James 1:17 “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” So if we see or think of a loved one that has passed on to glory and it makes our hearts smile, then it’s because God allowed that gift of joy from our loved ones in heaven. This doesn’t mean I’m right, nor does it mean I’m wrong, it’s just my thoughts.
A tall stand of corn you say? I’m certain Pap would be very proud of that corn as well as the big garden growing on his home plot! It is my belief (not to mention basic math and energy) once a person has lived and passed on, their energy simply changes yet still must exist on some level. I think dear Pap is watching bits and pieces of life from his palatial estate and must be smiling as he declares to Jesus “my cup runneth over” with love and goodness from my dear family! I was reading just a few days ago how bottles hanging in trees (you’ll see many in the deeper south) are supposed to catch evil spirits running amuck. I always think bottle trees are interesting anyway. Why not hang stuff in trees for later? Pap was a really nifty saver if you asks me! I declare he was “a mighty fine man indeed and you’re blessed to have such a good daddy, Tipper! I hope your grandsons will be half that man…. If so they’ll be dandy indeed!!! God bless you all and keep the natural stuff going on land and especially the body!
In an age where people just replace things and throw things away, it is nice to see that some folks keep things “just in case”. My husband has a lot of pieces of wood and drywall around. He says he never knows when he might need those small pieces for something.
When you share stuff about Pap and Granny, it sure makes me feel closer to them in a way. You were so blessed to have them as parents.
That post was so sweet. Thank you
Laura, I agree, and it makes me feel closer to my own parents as well. After Daddy died I was cleaning up around the property and opened the door to his camper. Right there in the threshold, lay his two little Homelight chainsaws “primed and ready” to go. We always used these when we got the place ready for family reunions. I felt he was thinking ahead for me when he placed them there. Reading Tipper’s blog and all of everyone’s comments really takes me back.
I’ve known people who hung glass bottles in trees, and I’ve seen trees covered in small items–everything from old kitchen utensils and tools and suns, moons, and stars and other craft items, but the strangest thing I saw was on Beaver Island in the middle of Lake Michigan. With one of my granddaughters, we were driving back on a two-track when we came upon a tree covered in bras–hundreds of them. We came to learn that what had once begun as a joke on one woman grew into an island tradition over decades and one which continues to this day. All women contribute one bra and hang it upon the tree in the middle of nowhere in the woods, but it’s a tree all islanders know. Having lived on the island for three years, I also contributed, not knowing why and feeling very silly as an older woman, but even tourists are told about and participate in the island tradition. I’ve also seen cars in trees. I guess it boils down to people’s creativity and senses of humor and surely, at times, for practical reasons as trees have many arms and fingers to hold just about anything.
A soldier friend and I were driving in France (or Belgium?) and stopped to take photographs standing next to a humorous highway sign that read: “10 Bras”. It was 10 kilometers to the town of Bras.
Beautiful Tipper, my family of old and sometime I do something similar. Life has been so wonderful and I am sure when you see something Pap did, you have a warm feeling…I know I do. Prayers continuing for Granny and you guys….won’t be long before another toddler is arriving.
Remembering our loved ones is a gift. We should do it more often. Even the ones we did not get along with!
My Daddy would lay things on top or hang things from nails drove in the rafters or ceiling joist in an old farm shed. He liked to fill jars with bolts, nuts or screws he found on his cleaning/sweeping job at Michelin. He would drive a nail through the center of a metal jar lid nailing it to the joist and then screw the jar to the lid allowing it to hang from the joist. He died in 1991, but many of the jars are still under this old shed. When I look back on my life, I realize I have the same habit of keeping things that many other people would throw away. Many times I find a use for it later on. I wish I could just hang around our main county landfill and pick up many of the useful things other throw away. Before it was stopped, I brought several push mowers home that had very little wrong with them, one only needed a 10 cent bolt in the handle. I say for the ones that throw things such as this away “their money comes easier for them than mine does for me.” Waste not, want not. Tipper, I remember you posting a few years back about Matt holding on to a choker cable and thinking about getting rid of it and then one day he had a use for it. I keep things such as this, it does not cost anything to keep things such as this- it don’t eat anything and I don’t have to pay taxes on it! Anytime I am at this shed and see these things and the jars I remember my Daddy.
Randy, your philosophy was shared by my late in-laws and is carried on by my husband. He keeps everything, including an old bathroom sink from a job during 22 years of city park maintenance. I would get so annoyed every time I saw that sink in our basement but a few weeks ago, he put it to good use. He was using a sledgehammer to bust out our old cast iron tub so we could move our washer and dryer upstairs into the bathroom. The hammer swung back just a bit too far….and “tink”…a piece fell off the front of our sink that hung on the wall. Over the past 2 or 3 years there have been many instances when he was able to find items that were needed by us or our 3 kids and he has never said “I told you it would come in handy” but he often mentions off-handedly how much a new whatever-it-is would cost. I have stopped stressing over his inability to turn loose of things. Our kids say they have night sweats about it, though.
I recently used some scrap lumber that I had been saving for several years. After buying (7) 12ft 2×8’s and (4) 12 ft 2×6’s last week at a cost of @$160 to floor my utility trailer, I am glad I save scrap, leftover lumber, many times I use it later on.
My Daddy did the same thing with jars in his garage. He used jars to store all sorts of stuff.