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The People Who Lived on the Land that is Now Redstone Arsenal, page 408
eyed catch. Be one on each end with a bat, and one catcher on each end, and you'd hit the ball and you'd run from one end to the other.” “We'd go down (to the creek) and catch crawdads all day. We'd make a hook out of a pin, tie it on a string, and catch them crawdads going and a'coming. You put a worm on a straight pin (or) anything, (and) an old crawdad'll get on it.” Life was not all fun and games. Mrs. Rector's father farmed for a living and had nine children to feed from his harvests. Farming was not done by machine, and everyone had his share of work to do. “We picked cotton, but I never did mind working in the fields. I liked it. I like to farm. My Daddy had some mules to work (with). He didn't even have a tractor. Back then not many people did. Farming, as well as other activities, was done according to the signs, mainly the moon. Potatoes and corn were planted on the dark of the moon. Corn planted on a new moon would grow very tall and would not bear. Beans were planted on Good Friday. Farming was not all that was done by the signs. The making of kraut was also done by the phases of the moon. “In the summer (Momma would) make kraut when the signs (of the moon) was in the heart. They say if you make it when it's in the feet it stinks. That's when I always make kraut, in the summer with the signs.” Living in the country meant that there was not always a doctor around when someone was sick. Only the most serious illnesses required the services of a doctor. Money was scarce and medicine was bought only when absolutely necessary. Many medicines were homemade. “When we'd get the bad colds, Momma would get some lard and coal oil and turpentine and camphor and quinine and all that stuff and mix it together and put it on a wool cloth and put it on us. (It) smelled like a??" I don't know what. Momma used to give us coal oil on sugar for coughing. Put a drop of coal oil on sugar, eat it, and that'd stop you from coughing. They used to say if you'd get some asphida (and) tie a little ball of that stuff up in a rag and wear it around your neck, you wouldn't catch diseases. I have worn it.” Since the history of mankind has been recorded, people have made up stories, gods, and spirits to explain an unidentifiable noise or shadow. The woods at night are full of unidentifiable noises and shadows, and ghost stories are often told to explain them. A ghost story, even if not believed, will stick in a child's memory. 408 - (4441)