Grandma Mellie's Scrapbook
Copyright © 2001, Michael S. Cole, M.D.


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Telling Time

    Another autumn has come with beautiful fall flowers and the leaves turning.
    I think I will like it when we can turn our clocks back from daylight savings time.
    Speaking of clocks always reminds me of my dear grandmother. She did not have a clock for many years. When I was a girl, she told time by the sun. I've heard her say many times, "The sun is an hour high" or "two hours high," and so forth.
    Also a post on the front porch facing the south cast a shadow and she reckoned time by that method, too.
    She arose at daylight and the menfolk would sometimes work in the fields until dark. On Sundays the church bell would ring for people to assemble for church services. I've always wondered how grandma told time when it was cloudy. But I guess time probably didn't mean much to her. She had her almanacs to tell when the sun rose and set. They also told the weather.
    Grandmother was a close observer of weather signs. She always said, if it rained on Monday, look for rain two more days that week. And if a rooster crowed at midnight, a storm was in the offing.
    Yes, she was a bit superstitious, but she was the most unforgettable character I ever knew. Her kindness and gentleness, her love for her fellowman and her religion have been an inspiration all the days of my life!

Mellie Smith
October 2, 1967


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