The Old Dillard Settlement

October 2001

You see, another story came to mind when once upon a time during a cold winter he went out for firewood to replenish the fireplace. He was gone and gone, as I think I may have told you. The family knew nothing about him and his body wasn't found, so they figured he was at least still alive. He was, and returned in about a year with, "Whit, you've let the fire go out."

We had a laugh and Jean said, "Did you know Grandpa George was a basket maker and sold baskets to help get the money to build their house with?" He was such a grand carpenter and built a fine house for the times, and I am thankful I still have a little remnant of his work in my kitchen.

What I wonder is, could he have gone to the Indian reservation for a spell? Just a thought, folks, no documented information.

The other day, I was reading in our old book, "ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture". I remembered reading something about he remedial value of bee stings. I know this is a good book. May be a little bit out of date, 1935 edition, but after talking to Aunt Flo Davenport about bee hives and honey, I needed to refresh my min on the matter. Aunt Flo said her dad sometimes put on his bee bonnet, which was made to protect the head, face and neck. Gloves and long sleeves were worn also, but she said the stings didn't seem to bother her dad. She said once he was stung by about 35. She told about, once upon a time when she was quite young, she was eating her lunch and a bee happened to be on her bread and stung her on the lip. How it did swell---and HOW the "kids" did laugh at her because she looked so funny.

Well after reading up on these stings, I wondered if her dad ever had rheumatism? The book reads, "It has been reported that bee-keepers during their occupation., continuously exposed to stings, and acquiring immunity to their effects, never suffer from arthritis, rheumatism, or gout. If they were afflicted with these maladies before taking up bee-keeping, they are usually cured with out suffering further recurrence." Some of the testimonies in the book reads like this: "In 1870, a veteran, who had acquired a very bad rheumatic ailment, was completely cured after being stung by bees. A retired facteur rural (letter carrier), whom for some time had been unable to walk, fully recovered after being stung by about a dozen bees. "Once more peculiar case." A woman with a paralyzed arm was stung by a number of bees and, as a result recovered the use of her arm." The writer of that article appealed to the medical profession to explain this miracle, suggesting and inviting a torough investigation.

Since I had a son who was highly allergic to stings and had about two years of shots for immunity, I am not telling you to go out and get stung, and I don't want you doctors to loose all of your patients. Maybe you have beehives??

Then a lot of our students are so caught up in ball, they about eat, live and learn with it. Like, one time in history class, (I understand a lot history teachers are also coaches,) the teacher asked his students to list the eleven greatest living Americans.

Everyone jotted their answers down quickly-except (I won't call any names,) who was setting there with all the wrinkled, up expression he could get in his young face and in deepest of thought.

"What seems to be the problem?" the teacher asked. "Well," __replied, " I can't seem to decide on the fullback."

Then of course, we are all interested in where different folks are from, (even in tracing our ancestry down,) so I reckon it also starts to be taught in school. One poor teacher was doing her best on this topic and asked the children, "Where do the Italians come from?" The little second grade child replied with a loud cry, "From Italy!" and "Where do the English come from?" Equally as loud, "From England! The Chinese?" "China!" "The Russians?" "Russia!" and where do the Irish come from?" Up leaped a little boy and screamed, "From Notre Dame!" You just can't fool a 'kid'.

I have heard all kinds of complaints about new math from the parents. We don't understand how to do it and I wonder just how we use to manage and how we get along today. Again the ball games help out, I reckon. One of the kindergarten teachers was giving a little quiz on counting and started one little girl out with 1 to 10; the next child was to take over beginning with 11. This got a little bit out of hand when the little girl started, "11, 14, 22, 17, 28," The teacher was not too happy with this answer and felt she had failed somewhere along the line and asked, "What kind of counting is that?" The child spoke up proudly, "Who's counting, I am calling signals." They start out young in this ball thing.

I must admit, I have shed several tears when my dad and brother would try to help show and explain mat to me but it never did happen to me like it did to one little boy. The teacher noticed a lump on the head of her young student and inquired what happened? The reply was, "Oh, it's nothing really, that's just where my daddy helped me with my math last night."

Once upon a time when one of my cousins was going to a little one-room school, (all kids went barefooted,) the toes were a good way to learn to count. The teacher told him to count his toes. He did, and came out with the same number of 6 each time. The teacher got provoked and said, "Let me show you how to count. " she got down, grabbed the foot and proceeded to count. She got the same number, 6. He happened to have 6 toes on that foot.

Don't ever underestimate the child.

What I wonder also, what was the important thing about a 3^rd grade reader. Bill McClain told me that "once upon a time he had been told that Grandpa George Davenport was a well learned person and read all the time. He went to school until he was 18 years old, which was good for then." He said, "All of George's school years, he took his Bluebacked speller, and the 3^rd grade McGuffie Reader with him." This is the grandpa who use to tell his children that some day people will be flying through the air like birds, and grandma would say, "Kids, don't believe a thing he is saying, I think he is loosing him mind."

He was wise, wasn't he?