Mountain Lore
The first day of the new school year appears to be a sort of celebration. Families have brought "vittles" to spread on the ground and share with each other. Not very often do they get to meet and swap mountain news. Men talk about trapping and how poor the crops were that year; women admire the new babies and give advice on rearing them and exchange receipts.
The new schoolteacher is young and nervous. She faces her first challenging year in this mountain school far from her home. The closest family to the school has taken her in for the year. She will not only have to teach she will have to help on their poor dirt farm and do her share of the chores to pay for her room and board. She needs the experience before she can move on to better choices.
If you walk through the crowd you will be able to hear some of the weather warnings that have been seen and advice on growing crops. One man in particular is good about telling how to cure ailments. He's looked on as a man of medicine. Don't forget the women folk, they can tell you all there is to tell about gardens and kids. Listen and learn from the mountain folks...
If you smell cucumbers, watch for a copperhead snake.
If your hair curls up, it's a sign of rain.
Strong coffee can be used to color hair when it turns grey.
If you see the purple frost flowers in bloom, it will frost in six weeks.
A dirty sock worn around the neck will cure a sore throat.
Thunder will kill chickens in the eggs while they are under the setting hen.
If you eat peas on New Year's Day, you will have good luck all year long.
If you walk with one shoe on and one shoe off, you will have a year of trouble for each step you take.
Put your right shoe and right sock on first in the morning you will have a good day.
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