Pouncers and Announcers

With Thanksgiving behind us and the Christmas holiday ahead, food is on my mind. When we look back a few generations, and sometimes not so few, just about everyone put up food. The root cellar at the Ozark Folk Center depicts a storage area for root vegetables and jars of items canned during the summer season. Tomatoes, pickles, and chow chows come to mind. Friends of ours put up a pear chow chow which makes sense considering that the Ozark variety retains a toughness that is not great for snacking but would be perfect for chopping into chow chow.

I'm guessing that a root cellar would also be the perfect hidey hole for snakes. Stone County, with its rocks and crevices, provides the perfect habitat and I can easily imagine lifting a basket of potatoes or apples and finding one curled underneath. You would need pouncers and announcers! the pouncing cat would keep down the mice and the announcing dog would alert you to just about everything else!

Recent renovation of an old stone building on my property revealed snake skins in the rafters when the old ceiling came down. Every time I walk inside I look up--and try to remember to wear a hat!

Entry by Lenore Shoults