Journey Home is a series of poems reflecting farm life in the 1950-60's before many practices vanished with technological changes. Having a keen eye for detail, the author describes the typical layout of a farm as well as the chores and customs of the era. As you cherish the unforgettable characters, you will experience universal feelings of joy, sadness, hope, and humor. The love of family, farm animals and the, land is central and captured in the various topics. Revisiting the farm is a trip into nostalgia when the farm produced most of family's food and neighbors depended upon each other for hog-killing, quilting, fires and' sickness. Several vintage photos enhance the book.
1103908330
Journey Home
Journey Home is a series of poems reflecting farm life in the 1950-60's before many practices vanished with technological changes. Having a keen eye for detail, the author describes the typical layout of a farm as well as the chores and customs of the era. As you cherish the unforgettable characters, you will experience universal feelings of joy, sadness, hope, and humor. The love of family, farm animals and the, land is central and captured in the various topics. Revisiting the farm is a trip into nostalgia when the farm produced most of family's food and neighbors depended upon each other for hog-killing, quilting, fires and' sickness. Several vintage photos enhance the book.
15.0
In Stock
5
1
Paperback
$15.00
-
SHIP THIS ITEMShips in 1-2 daysPICK UP IN STORE
Your local store may have stock of this item.
Available within 2 business hours
Related collections and offers
15.0
In Stock
Overview
Journey Home is a series of poems reflecting farm life in the 1950-60's before many practices vanished with technological changes. Having a keen eye for detail, the author describes the typical layout of a farm as well as the chores and customs of the era. As you cherish the unforgettable characters, you will experience universal feelings of joy, sadness, hope, and humor. The love of family, farm animals and the, land is central and captured in the various topics. Revisiting the farm is a trip into nostalgia when the farm produced most of family's food and neighbors depended upon each other for hog-killing, quilting, fires and' sickness. Several vintage photos enhance the book.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781456766177 |
---|---|
Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
Publication date: | 06/20/2011 |
Pages: | 112 |
Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.27(d) |
About the Author
Shirley Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film, and television. In her six decades of show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! (1955), Carousel (1956), and The Music Man (1962). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing a vengeful prostitute in Elmer Gantry (1960).
Read an Excerpt
Journey Home
By Shirley D. Jones
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2011 Shirley D. JonesAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4567-6617-7
Chapter One
The FarmIn the rolling red hills of clay
Lay our small farm
At the bottom
Of the first hill.
Beyond stretched a narrow dirt road
Down to the pond
Hidden in woods
Of oak and pine.
Lady slippers grew on the way;
Their pink blossoms
Shaped like a bag
Holding nectar.
The dam rose above the water;
Led to high field
And forgotten
Trail to mail box.
The Old House
Old house built in 1881 had one room down
And one upstairs
Reached by wedged stairs
Behind a door.
Facing north the front door had year built
Nailed into wood
At the very top
For all to see.
The back door faced south and was locked
In later years
To safeguard food
In the freezer.
Two windows had shutters outside;
The one upstairs
Would swing wide open
From unlatched hook.
Rafters held cured hams and dried herbs,
Clothes hung on pegs,
Closet under stairs
Contained canned goods.
Bachelor suite for my father;
Shelf for his clock
And radio;
Hot meals at mom's.
Honeymoon cottage for my parents,
With warm fireplace,
Two heavy quilts
And lots of love.
Unlucky Fourth
Four maple trees planted in a row;
One for sister,
One for mother
And one for me.
The last one was for my Daddy:
His death symbol.
It didn't live
Like the others.
A Tale of Two Trees
Two massive oak trees side by side
Grew leaves for years;
Dropped tiny acorns
In the front yard.
Then came the spring when one was bare;
Killed by disease.
Only one left
To bring new leaves.
The roots of both trees overlap
Making it hard
To see where one
Starts and one ends.
Two sisters lived at the home place;
The first one's gone,
The younger knows
Her time is next.
Apple Orchard
Nine trees grew behind Grandmother's
House: three Golden
Delicious
And six Winesap
My favorite was one Golden
Delicious;
I climbed the limbs
And ate the fruit.
Another's trunk was hard to climb;
I left my shoe
When I got stuck
In the first fork.
People came to gather winesaps
To make pies and
Apple cider,
But watched for wasps.
Flowers on the Farm
Tiny green leaves unfurl in spring
As a soft touch
Against blue skies
Or rainy days.
Grandma's garden was a showplace
Where beautiful
Blooming bushes
Grew here and there.
Baby's breath has delicate white
Miniature blooms
In a cluster
On thin bushes.
Golden yellow buttercups nod
To each other
Along the drive
And under trees.
Yellow and red tulips were closed
Then opened wide
To show nectar
On black stamens.
Blue irises were planted in old churn
Broken when I
Pushed past the maid
In child-like haste.
Petunias circled an oak stump
Making purple,
Pink, and white bed
For sleepy cat.
Red or white rose buds and green ferns
Often became
Sweet corsages
For Mother's Day.
Cats in Flowers
One cat slept in the petunias
That ringed a stump;
Named Petunia,
She had kittens.
She became Grandma Petunia
When one off-spring
Grew up to nap
In petunias.
Foggy and Sure
Deep in the pasture stood two trees;
Foggy and Sure
Growing against
The western sky.
Foggy had two ears like a dog;
He was fearful
Because the fog
Covered him up.
Sure was the taller of the two;
Like a feather
She swayed in winds
But was not scared.
Sure reassured shorter Foggy
Who stood out front
Looking ahead;
Sure watched his back.
On clear, stormy, or foggy days,
They remained guards
At the homestead
Of my childhood.
The Necessary House
Beside an orange persimmon tree,
Stood our outhouse,
Unpainted wood
Tin roof, one seater.
The cement floor had build-in seat
With wooden lid,
Covering a hole
Dug for our waste.
A Sears and Roebuck catalog
Hung on a nail
Ready to wipe
Or to review.
A poor gray kitten met his death;
Lost his balance,
Falling in the hole,
Drowned in the slime.
There was no time to fetch a stick
To rescue him;
I still can hear
Pitiful cries.
Granny's Two-Seater
My granny's outhouse was deluxe;
A two seater
For the women
To sit and chat.
Peeling white paint under tin roof,
It sat behind
The apple trees;
Place to gossip.
A long bench with two matching holes
Side by side;
Ready to use
For business.
For Ladies Only
Flat River Church had an out-house
Built behind trees;
Busy Sundays
Had lines outside.
Inside a rustling of britches,
Flutter of paper;
Shared laughs and tears;
Made long friendships.
Men's habits were solitary,
One here or there
Sneaked to the woods
For nature's call.
Cool Water
Our well sat on a concrete block
Covering rock lined
Deep hole filled
With cool water.
Peering inside the wooden frame,
My reflection
Looked back at me
Like a mirror.
The prettiest well without a doubt
Belonged to my aunt.
Built with smooth rocks,
It was cone shaped.
Only a step from her back porch,
It was indeed
Running water
Of the fifties.
I carried a water bucket
From the hand pump
Until we got
Running water.
On cold nights an electric bulb
Replaced lanterns
To keep pipes warm
Inside pump house.
An old spring still gave cool water
At the bottom
Of a steep hill
In the pasture.
Adding On
When I was seven, our house got
An addition
Of two big rooms
On the east side.
There was a big eat-in kitchen,
Dining room that
Became a den,
Pantry and bath.
The window in our living room
Was enlarged to
A big pretty
Picture window.
There were shelves beside the double
Windows over
The kitchen sink
For our knick knacks.
The old kitchen became a new
Bedroom beside
The other one
But was larger.
When the carpenters left each day,
My sister and I
Played doctor and
Nurse in closets.
I loved the sweet smell of new wood,
Sound of hammers,
And playing with
Left over blocks.
I made castles and wooden roads
For my little
Ceramic dolls,
Toy trucks and cars.
Of Ghosts and Such
Tenants who lived in the cabin
On the hillside,
Swore of hauntings
They had witnessed.
We preyed upon one old man's
Fears by hiding
And making noise
While he chopped wood.
He stopped splitting slabs with his axe
And standing still
Looked and listened
To find the source.
Seeing nothing he resumed work
But stopped again
When he heard groans
From the pasture.
Asking if he believed in ghosts,
He said: "Yessum,
I sure do cuz
I heard a haint".
Family Heroine
There stood an ancestral home
Dating back to
The Civil War
When Sherman marched.
A few soldiers from Yankee troops
Walked down the road;
Approached the house
Asking for horses.
Not to be outdone, the matron
Got her rifle
And promised to
Shoot any horse thieves.
Leaving everything intact,
The soldiers made
Their departure
With empty hands.
Ancestors of this matriarch
May pride themselves
On the spunk of
This role model.
Autumn on the Farm
Dusty yellow sycamore trees
Begin the trend
Of leaves turning
Many colors.
Bright orange maples blaze bolder than
Crimson and brown
Oaks with falling
Leaves to the ground.
Dried corn stalks stand as quiet sentries;
Their ears are gone,
Their husks are tan
And quite brittle.
Pecan trees release their bounty,
Leave open hulls
As nuts slip out
Falling on ground.
When the walnut trees became bare
As walnuts fell;
It's time once more
To go to school.
Honking geese fly in formation
Making a "V"
Above tree tops;
Then they are gone.
Hurricane Hazel
When Hurricane Hazel blew through;
Daddy lost his cap
When checking on
Pigs in their pen.
Torrents of rain fell and winds howled
Counterclockwise
Before the eye
Then turned clockwise.
School dismissed early for the storm;
Getting off bus,
We sought haven
With close neighbors.
My uncle found his kids safe
Eating hot dogs
Under the table
In dining room.
After the wind and rain tapered,
We saw damage:
Lost one pine tree
And lots of limbs.
Other storms have come and gone:
Hazel was the first
Tropical storm
I remembered.
Catching the Bus
Up the hill and around the curve;
We huffed and puffed,
Carrying our books
To the bus stop.
Kerchiefs and muddy galoshes
Worn to school
On rainy days
Were the attire.
Our yellow bus had a flat front
Like a pug nose;
Its engine stored
Under the hump.
In Spring, we let down the windows
To feel the breeze;
Each seat held three
Kids on the route.
When this bus broke down, the garage
Sent an old one
With three long seats
Down the middle.
One day a girl fell on the floor
With a seizure;
Help was nearby
To take her home.
Some days our chatter got noisy;
The bus driver
Would pull over
Until we got quiet.
Once or twice, I fought the bullies
Ripped a button
Off Harry's shirt;
Argued with Steve.
Riding the bus provided a time
To laugh and share
Secrets with my
Friends and cousins.
Central School
My first school was a primary;
Brick, square building
With four rooms up
And six downstairs.
I was in a combination
Class for first grade;
There were a few
Second graders.
I listened to their spelling words;
Not borrowing,
Counted backwards
In subtraction.
I read their books; so did Sara Ann;
We were promoted
To the third grade
For the next year.
The bathrooms were in the basement;
Cousin Jane caught
My sister's hand
In a stall door.
Having no cafeteria,
We took our lunch
To school in small
Brown paper bags.
There was an auditorium
Upstairs for plays,
Chapel programs,
And music class.
The principal was an old maid;
A stern figure;
My heart beat fast
Whenever I saw her.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Journey Home by Shirley D. Jones Copyright © 2011 by Shirley D. Jones. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
The Farm....................1The Old House....................2
Unlucky Fourth....................3
A Tale of Two Trees....................4
Apple Orchard....................5
Flowers on the Farm....................6
Cats in Flowers....................8
Foggy and Sure....................9
The Necessary House....................10
Granny's Two-Seater....................11
For Ladies Only....................12
Cool Water....................13
Adding On....................14
Of Ghosts and Such....................16
Family Heroine....................17
Autumn on the Farm....................18
Hurricane Hazel....................19
Catching the Bus....................20
Central School....................22
The Playground....................24
My First Two Poems....................25
Davis Eyes....................26
Daddy....................27
Vera....................28
Shorty....................29
Revival....................30
Brunswick Stew....................31
Bessie and Bennie....................32
Fried Apple Pies....................34
Jam, Jelly, and Preserves....................35
Canning and Freezing....................36
Mason Jars....................37
Aprons....................38
Quilting....................39
Embroidery and Crocheting....................41
The Singer Sewing Machine....................42
Tractors....................44
The Fields....................45
The Homestead....................46
The Grapevine....................47
The Smokehouse....................48
The Hen House....................49
The Red Tobacco Barn....................50
The Little Green Barn....................51
The Pack House....................52
The Stripping Room....................53
The Feed House....................54
The Corn Crib....................55
The Log Cabin....................56
The Life of a Pet Pig....................57
Feeding Time....................58
The Livestock....................59
Churning Butter....................60
Hog Killing....................61
Three Family Legends....................63
The Watkins Salesman....................64
Easter in 1955....................65
Cousins....................66
Exiled from the Table....................68
Family Dinners at Grandmother's....................69
Sunday Afternoons....................71
The Brooks Whisker....................72
Homecoming at Church....................73
Family Reunion....................74
Thanksgiving....................75
Christmas on the Farm....................77
Looking for Santa....................79
Wonders of Winter....................81
Mother's Smile....................83
Journey Home....................85
From the B&N Reads Blog
Page 1 of