Such a simple picture with richness in color and meaning: purple hull peas with
a rogue leaf soaking in a plastic turquoise bucket of water to keep them from
drying out in the heat of a summer day deep in the Alabama Black Belt.
You can see the rich colors but why would I say rich in meaning? Because when I was a little girl, shelling peas meant sitting on the front porch with my sister, Leigh, my mother, visiting with my cousins, my grandmother, and my Aunts, Billie and Bettie. It took hours and during that time there was much laughter and great conversation. I haven’t thought about that memory until today, at least for a very long time. It makes me smile to do so.
Pam McPherson is a new friend. She and her husband, Troy, own, operate, and live on Circle M Ranch, with their four children, Madalyn, Morgan, Kate, Mack, and Uncle Sonny, a cousin who adopts everybody, including me. They all work together farming cattle, along with growing and cutting hay to feed the bovines. Madalyn, age twenty, is working full time with her dad, but Pam says it takes all of them to keep things going.
Pam was standing in the carport saying goodbye to another friend when I drove up. She has an electric pea shelling machine, which I’d never seen. When I related the above memory of shelling peas, she related to me that one summer, when their peas didn’t yield quite so much, the kids all wanted to hand shell the peas and watch television. She said it took all day and said never again, all the while laughing at the memory of the same.
At some point, Troy drove up in his truck with a couple of bags of ice and Madalyn drove down the long driveway in the John Deere, headed from the hay field to the barn. Kate and Mack walked out of the house, politely shaking my hand when we met, then headed to feed one their several dogs. Uncle Sonny drove up in his old pickup, smiling and excited to see me. We met last week in a local restaurant where Terry and I were eating lunch.
After a few minutes, we moseyed into the house, where I also met Morgan, who was cleaning the kitchen. I’d already eaten lunch. However, Pam had not and while I visited with Uncle Sonny, who sat at the opposite end of the table, she casually fixed herself a salad and sat down to me right on the bench that ran parallel to a long pine table she said Troy had given her for Christmas one year. Mack sat to my left, Kate to his, on the other long bench.
For the next hour-and-a-half, we just visited. Morgan shared a picture she’d taken with her phone while on the tractor last week. It was of a horse running in a field of freshly cut hay with an angry sky as a backdrop, all framed by a semi-circle of trees. It was a perfect shot! Mack told me about the boat trip that he, Pam, and Troy, had taken down a local river. He told me he liked to fish. Kate talked about her upcoming part in a local production of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” and asked if I’d like to go? Excitedly I said, “Yes! That’s one of my all-time favorite movies!”
All-in-all it was one of the most enjoyable couple of hours I’ve spent with new folks in a long time. Pam home schools her children, although she is educated and trained as a nurse. She and Troy started “The Cowboy Church” about three years ago, saying that it was what they believed God would have them do. In all of that time, no one was on their phone. It was about relationship and getting to know each other.
As I went to get into my car, Pam said, "Kate go get a couple of bags of peas out of the freezer and put them in a WalMart bag. Troy had already made a special trip back to the house and gave me a "Beef. It's what for dinner;" tag to put on my car.
Sharing; it's what it's all about.
The richness of the colors embedded in those purple hull peas was matched only by the richness of the moment.
How refreshing.
©sarah_beaugez-purpleHullPeasAndNewFriends_2017
You can see the rich colors but why would I say rich in meaning? Because when I was a little girl, shelling peas meant sitting on the front porch with my sister, Leigh, my mother, visiting with my cousins, my grandmother, and my Aunts, Billie and Bettie. It took hours and during that time there was much laughter and great conversation. I haven’t thought about that memory until today, at least for a very long time. It makes me smile to do so.
Pam McPherson is a new friend. She and her husband, Troy, own, operate, and live on Circle M Ranch, with their four children, Madalyn, Morgan, Kate, Mack, and Uncle Sonny, a cousin who adopts everybody, including me. They all work together farming cattle, along with growing and cutting hay to feed the bovines. Madalyn, age twenty, is working full time with her dad, but Pam says it takes all of them to keep things going.
Pam was standing in the carport saying goodbye to another friend when I drove up. She has an electric pea shelling machine, which I’d never seen. When I related the above memory of shelling peas, she related to me that one summer, when their peas didn’t yield quite so much, the kids all wanted to hand shell the peas and watch television. She said it took all day and said never again, all the while laughing at the memory of the same.
At some point, Troy drove up in his truck with a couple of bags of ice and Madalyn drove down the long driveway in the John Deere, headed from the hay field to the barn. Kate and Mack walked out of the house, politely shaking my hand when we met, then headed to feed one their several dogs. Uncle Sonny drove up in his old pickup, smiling and excited to see me. We met last week in a local restaurant where Terry and I were eating lunch.
After a few minutes, we moseyed into the house, where I also met Morgan, who was cleaning the kitchen. I’d already eaten lunch. However, Pam had not and while I visited with Uncle Sonny, who sat at the opposite end of the table, she casually fixed herself a salad and sat down to me right on the bench that ran parallel to a long pine table she said Troy had given her for Christmas one year. Mack sat to my left, Kate to his, on the other long bench.
For the next hour-and-a-half, we just visited. Morgan shared a picture she’d taken with her phone while on the tractor last week. It was of a horse running in a field of freshly cut hay with an angry sky as a backdrop, all framed by a semi-circle of trees. It was a perfect shot! Mack told me about the boat trip that he, Pam, and Troy, had taken down a local river. He told me he liked to fish. Kate talked about her upcoming part in a local production of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” and asked if I’d like to go? Excitedly I said, “Yes! That’s one of my all-time favorite movies!”
All-in-all it was one of the most enjoyable couple of hours I’ve spent with new folks in a long time. Pam home schools her children, although she is educated and trained as a nurse. She and Troy started “The Cowboy Church” about three years ago, saying that it was what they believed God would have them do. In all of that time, no one was on their phone. It was about relationship and getting to know each other.
As I went to get into my car, Pam said, "Kate go get a couple of bags of peas out of the freezer and put them in a WalMart bag. Troy had already made a special trip back to the house and gave me a "Beef. It's what for dinner;" tag to put on my car.
Sharing; it's what it's all about.
The richness of the colors embedded in those purple hull peas was matched only by the richness of the moment.
How refreshing.
©sarah_beaugez-purpleHullPeasAndNewFriends_2017
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