for the heroes of old
I’m thankful for pecan pie
And for the beautiful sky
I’m thankful for bread and butter
And for my two brothers
I’m thankful for sweet potato pie
And for being old enough not to cry
I’m thankful for sweet ice tea
And for the opportunity to just be
I’m thankful for green beans and butter beans
And for all the children and the teens
I’m thankful for lemon glazed pound cake
And for being able to swim in the lake
I’m thankful for potato salad
And for the numbers when my friends are tallied
I’m thankful for being physically sustained
And for the grace of being spiritually without blame
The teacher gave me an A-plus and wrote a note to my momma on my poem informing her I had won first place. I could tell by the look on Momma’s face when she read it that I could go camping for a week if I wanted to.
Poudlum and I planned to meet at Miss Lena’s Store on Friday after Thanksgiving Day, right after our noon meal. That way we would have time to walk to the Cypress Hole on the Satilfa, set up camp, and get in some fishing before it got dark. I just hoped he had done something to make his momma happy, too.
Thanksgiving Day came and went. Since my daddy was gone we all went to Aunt Cleo’s and Uncle Elmer’s house and ate turkey and all the trimmings with them.
On Friday, I was anxious to get going. My momma served up big bowls of steaming vegetable soup with corn bread and buttermilk, which was a welcome change from all the rich food the day before.
While I was sopping up the dregs of the soup with a piece of cornbread, she was fixing me a bag of biscuits left over from breakfast. She would bore a hole into them with her finger and pour the hole full of Blue Ribbon cane syrup, pinch the hole closed, and then wrap them up in waxed paper.
“These biscuits will fill you up in case you and Poudlum don’t catch any fish,” she said. “But I ’spect y’all will, cause black folks know how to fish. I want y’all to be real careful around that water now,” she concluded as she began packing my stuff into a small cotton picking sack.
She had allowed me to take one of her old skillets, a small one, along with an old quilt, a box of matches, a packet of salt, some cornmeal, and a half-pint jar filled with lard to fry the fish in.
“You got your pocketknife?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am, and Ned sharpened it real good for me this morning so I can scale them fish and clean them properly,” I said as I slipped the strap of the sack over my shoulder.
My momma hugged me and said, “Now remember, if y’all get too cold or hungry just go to your Uncle Curtis’s house. It’s not too far from the creek.”
The strap of the sack was cutting into my shoulder before I got to the store. I hoped Poudlum’s load was lighter so we could take turns carrying mine. The only thing I had told him to bring was a quilt and some fish hooks.
He was nowhere in sight when I arrived at the store, so I set my sack by the steps at the front door, went in, and started gathering some supplies just in case the fish weren’t biting. I didn’t want to be stuck in the woods hungry with nothing except biscuits to eat.
We planned to be there two nights, so I counted the meals in my mind while I selected cans of Vienna sausage, sardines, potted meat, pork and beans, and four dime boxes of saltines. We didn’t have to worry about anything to drink; we could just drink water from the creek.
“Good Lord,” Lena cried out when I piled it all on the counter. “Son, what you planning to with all this stuff?”
“Me and Poudlum gonna camp out and fish on the creek. This stuff is just in case we don’t catch any fish.”
After she bagged it all up I paid her and went outside and stuffed it all into my sack even as I became concerned about the weight of it.
I looked down Center Point Road, shading my eyes from the sun with my hand, and saw no sign of Poudlum. I hated the thought that I might have to walk all the way over to his house and try to convince Mrs. Robinson to let him go, but I knew Lena would watch my stuff if I did.
After waiting about half an hour I went back into the store and got myself a Nehi and sat on the front steps nursing it while I gazed down the dirt road looking for my friend.
I began to wonder what I would do if he didn’t come. Just go on by myself or go back home and share all the stuff in my sack with my brothers?
I didn’t think I wanted to sleep on the bank of the Satilfa by myself, but still, I didn’t want to give up.
Miss Lena came outside and stayed on the steps with me. “You think maybe Poudlum isn’t coming?” she asked softly.
“I don’t know, but it’s not like him not to at least come tell me if he’s not.”
After another thirty minutes I got angry and defiant. I stood up, shouldered my sack and started walking down Center Point Road toward the creek. Over my shoulder, I called back to Miss Lena, “I’m going fishing, and I’ll be at the Cypress Hole if anybody’s looking for me.”
I had to stop and rest twice before I got to the Church. Even though I kept switching my sack from shoulder to shoulder, the strap bit painfully into it as I walked, and it grew heavier and heavier with each step I took.
The sun was still beaming warmth down when I crossed the Mill Creek Bridge. Halfway up the hill beyond it I could see the sun striking gold from the mica stones in the ditch.
That was about the time I heard the ruckus coming from back behind me. Somebody was yelling. I cocked my head, listened real hard and heard a faint voice yelling, “Mister Ted, wait up, I’m a comin’!”
I recognized my friend’s voice and was elated that he was coming after all. The day took on a whole new outlook as my excitement about the venture returned. I stepped off the road, set my sack down in the shade of a big black gum tree, and waited.
It wasn’t long before Poudlum came trotting up with a wet sheen on his face. He stopped in the middle of the road when he saw me and said, “Hey, Mister Ted.”
“I done told you I ain’t no mister. I’m just Ted.”
“I keeps forgettin’. But anyway, I’m here, even if I is late.”
“What happened to you? I waited forever on you.”
“We got company. Dey been here all week, and my momma thought I ought not to run off and leave my cousins. But I finally got her away from all dem
