DjMS dm y'AY rIAKDS
By ■ ■
LIrs. La:cfcon Mauney
Hello boys, here I am with time on my hands
and nothing; raich in my head, I might say right
off the bat, that-Y;e staj^et home and like it.
There is no; other choice, v^hat with all the
"circumstances and consequences" staring us
in the face.
You knov/ its real3.y incredible how many
things one. can. find for amusement right at
home. Big and little gals are learning; to
crochet and knit, and the ”left behind” men
are also njidusfcrious on the home front. A
few weeks ago Char3.es Forney, Jr. was seen
—designing a streamlined sand box. Bet he
could turn but some fancy mud pies. He’s even promised-Bert Brackett’s twins they
can go over and play in his saiid box - a little later. Also Luther Eaker has
fashioned Edith Richard a bread slicer, A lot of women now, find time to fix some
homo made meals right in their ov/n kitchen and what I mean they do it with hardly
any meat; a scarce amount of sugar; a dab of lard; a-sp’oonful of coffee and a little
milk for'moisture. Gh yes, necessity is the mother of 5jrivx;ntion alright, and what
a Mother] Last week I had a tasty looking dish on the table. I’d mixed a little
of this arid that together and as result had \;hat I callcd the main dish. VJhen
L^ixton asked what it was I told hi:a to name it. He took one bite, sniffed and
said "ii'iflated propaganda" — Vfell, boys, remarks like that don’t help the morale
on the home front, but v/hen he tagged the dessert "sabotxige", that was the last
straw.  ■
A fe%v weeks back we had the biggest freoEC of all .times,* They froze shoesi
And it caught liie and my family all in need just bblou the anTtleo.- It zoomed dovm
on us like the locust plague and literally froze us in our tracks. Just a week
before that I had split my work oxford to let a peeved corn get a little air. If
I had only Ichown I could have saved my shoe and removed the toe.. A colored woman
was seen scratching around in a guUey. Wacn asked v’hat she was hunting she re
plied" I’se lookin' fer a.pair o’ shoos I throwed in here a couple nonts’ back.
Dems doggone good shoes now". Oh yes, I laiov; now that old shoes, like old friends
wear v;ell and are valuable. Mark my word for it, shoes will be worn ’till you
crji’t tell x^hether they started on lifcs journey as an oxTord or spectator pump,
or what have you. So boys, v;hen you come home j'-ou’re liable to find your sweet
heart by "tracing her little footprints in the snow", or mud, according to the
season. One nice thing about it tho’ v/e can aJJ. go slopping abound in our old
run down scuffed shoes and be in style, Itether its strjnps v/e’re short on, no-
one will be the wiser. Me and my family cxe just the type who,, if \ie were hungry
and it started raining soup, we’d be standing with a fork in our hands,
•• You'd hardly know the old home tov/n anymore. So many of the "originals"
are away and so mr.ny new comers here. However when you get a chance to come
home use your map and compass and when you get to the .designated location, stop,
look and listen. Presently you’ll be scampering out of the'way of Jr, Heads • .
"bobbin--wheel wagon", or Mr, Griggs milk crTt jogging along; Aunt Mrjnie Elam
v/ill give you a close shave and shine your uniform buttons as ^he goes by in
her car, and you’ll hear one of V/rJ.t Lee’s hearty "guffaws," Then m’lad you’re
hom.e, safe under your own vine and fig tree. These"landmpj'ks'? don’t lie. Yep,
with everything getting more ajid more scarce, v/o stay at home and like it, I
never kncv/ bcfonithat a game of checkers, set back or rumiay could bo so exciting.
If you see Ma looking v/ell--shod and healthy, and Pa looking like he’s going up
hill in reverse, you'll Icnov; she came out victorious in a lively game. Oh, what
"stampy" funPThen tho res the radio. Aside from tho waj? news, that’s aJLways of
vital interest, there’s the soap operas, and what a dither they can put one in.
(Cont’d on next page)