1 post tagged “chinaberry”

26 Aug 2007

As a young’un I lived a coupla year onna farm my grandparents sharecropped jus’ outside Oak Grove, up in northwest Louisiana.  How big it was I don know, but it was huge ta me, had cotton fields, pasture, orchard, and a wooded area big ‘nough to get lost in; if you is six.  Duh farmhouse my grandparents lived in had green grass inna front and inna back was only dirt, cept fo a big ol’ Chinaberr’ tree.  I swear dat tree same as duh one I dug up onna Innernet.  

Anyways, Chinaberr’ trees is lotta fun.  You can climb on’em, which my brother (four year older’n me), my uncle (two year older’n me) an’ me did all duh time.  Climmin uh tree use up lotta time, special inna hot summer when nothin’ else ta do.  An us boys would play under dat tree fo’ hours, ebber day.

Sharecroppers, at leas’ at duh time, didn’ have duh mon’ fo’ store bought toys, so we made ‘em.  What we did was use ol’ emty medcine bottles, emty match boxes, an’ ol’ thread spool for toys.  Simple, we preten’ deys car, truck, tractor, and we would scrape miles ub road roun’ dat ol’ tree.  We dug hol’, fill’em wit’ water, and pretend deys lakes an’ rivers, an’ we build bridge obber dem.  We use boxes fo’ gas stashun, house, an’d so on, an’ so fort’.  As I say, Chinaberr’ trees is lotta fun, an’ use up lotta time.

Nother t’ing you can do wit’ Chinaberr’ tree is to use dey fruit fo’ ammo inna slingshot.  But firs’ we make duh sling shot.  What we did is ta go huntin’ for tree lim’ wit’ uh fork init.  Den we cuts ‘em inna shape like duh picture.  Den we fin’ ol’ shoe, inna tube, an’ string.  Cut’em in pieces like inna picture, an’ put’em tagedder.  Looked awful like duh one I found onna innernet.

 

Den we’uns gon’ huntin’ for wil’ game.  Or, ‘bout as wil’ as small bird, rabbit, and squrl get.  If’n we finds nothin’ we’uns is duh wil’game.  One uh us be duh game.  Five minnit headstart.  Den hunted.  If’n we’s shot, we’s stay hunted.  If’n we surviv’ twenny minnits, udder peoples be duh hunted.  I was duh hinted lots.

Chinaberr’ hurt like hell.  (Unnerstatemen'!)

More later