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Barefoot In The Sand: Remembering the Waning Days of the Hopewell Community (1998) Bruce C. Gragg 5/123

help bring anything to the table if needed. When we did eat in the
kitchen our selection of food was the same as . the grownups had,
however we dared not complain about having to eat in the kitchen.
Often our dessert, by choice, was a cold biscuit and a bottle of
homemade syrup. This could be eaten on the run a lot easier than a
dessert needing a plate. We would punch a big hole in the biscuit,
fill it with syrup. Just maybe there would be a link of smoked
sausage left from breakfast and a baked sweet potato, that too was
hard to beat. Either. could be eaten on the run, to more outdoor
activity. To us that was often better than some of the dessert that
was served the 'grown-ups.' When we had several families for dinner,
we kids, now there would be more than the two of us; would have to
wait until almost mid-afternoon to finally get to eat. By then we
about due for a brief rest from our running and playing, so the long
wait wasn't as bad as it might sound. We rather quickly took care of
the leftovers and were back to playing in short order.

After all the visiting and eating Vera and I could always count on
there being a big pan of dishes to do after everyone went home. It
seemed as if when it was time for Vera and me to do the dishwashing,
at any time, Burnette could always find many containers that had to
be emptied and washed right then. She could find all the jars to be
cleaned and washed, the list seemed to go on, just a lot of things to
be washed that day. Nevertheless there • were always the usual chores
in the morning and evening every day of the week, that always had to
be taken into account when planning to go somewhere. A part of or
even a whole day could be missed doing field work but the animals had
to be tended to twice a day. This was with rain or shine, summer or
winter, no exceptions. We could be a bit late if necessary, but skip
them NO WAY.

During mid to late summer we would have a supply of watermelons and
one was always nearby ready for cutting and enjoying. We liked our
swimming, and Wheeler Landing, on the Suwannee was a close by place
with shallow and deep water for all ages to play in. If the river was
up a little then we had to cross a muddy bottomed slough to get to
the main channel of the river. Bay Creek also had a small but nice
place to swim, it had a sandy beach and it sloped from shallow to
deep water rather quickly. There was not a lot of room for a big
group to be able to romp around in, for a small group it was good.
This place was just below the old long wooden bridge, and also the
place that was most often used when there was a Baptism from
Hopewell. Before Highway 6 was paved we would get together with other
families and go to the Suwannee and swim either Saturday for Sunday
afternoon. One place near where they eventually built the Highway 6
bridge was a big sandy beach that slopped off to some deep water, the
area was big enough for plenty of play and goodtime swimming. Here we
didn't

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