June When I Was a Boy
By Bill Shepard
Wow! How fast time seems to be passing. It seems such a short time since I was writing about memories of May. Now we are ankle deep into the month of June, the month that is noted for weddings, watermelons and June-bugs!
Bill Shepard
Ah, to be a boy again in June! The following lines are from my book Mill Village Boy_
“If I could be a boy again in June
And chase after grasshoppers and butterflies
Pull butter weeds for the pigs,
And go fishin’ on the full of the moon.
If I could be a boy again.”
From my little book of poetry_
Blue Moon
“By a slow moving stream in my hometown,
Boys would gather from miles around.
With a crooked cane pole and a black flax line,
They would crowd the bank in the summer time.
School was out on the last day of May.
In between chores, there was time for play.
With a can of worms and my cane fishing pole,
I’d head down to the old.fishin’ hole.
When I was a boy, many hours were spent
Finding much pleasure and it didn’t cost a cent.
And I don’t regret, now that I’m old,
The time I spent at the old fishin’ hole.
The slow moving stream still flows along
But beside the stream, there isn’t a throng.
For time has changed the boys that be,
They’re all at home- watching TV.
—Poem by Bill
“Did you ever think you’d like to
Go back a little ways
And enjoy again the pleasures
Of your happy boyhood days?
Would you trade your patent leathers
And your made to order clothes
For an hour of running barefoot
Squeezin’ mud between your toes.
I know you say you wouldn’t
But we’re all just grown up boys
And it’s pride that robs us
Of the fun that kids enjoy.
–Anon
When I was a boy_
Last year’s school days are now just a memory and next year’s are too far away to think about now. There was much to be done before next September arrives. Any day now, I will find a job helping nearby farmers to start harvesting their tobacco crop. Much work will need doing before the crop is ready for the market in August. That was when the large tobacco warehouses would open in Darlington and sales would begin. That was when the Darlington Square would really come alive and the stores would be filled with shoppers. 0, happy day!
The butter beans that I had helped Dad to plant on “Good Friday” were now sending their vines to the top of the trellises Dad had prepared for them to climb. Already, they were showing blooms and soon the young beans would appear -also, the June bugs! We could hardly wait for the first mess of butter beans to be placed on the table. It wouldn’t happen before early July.
Young readers can’t imagine how much we enjoyed the fresh vegetables and fruits in those early times. They were only available when they were in season and grown locally. Today, with our modern means of transportation and refrigeration, our store shelves are filled the year round with fresh produce from around the world. Not so, when I was a boy!
Starting in early July, wagonloads of watermelons from nearby farms would begin showing up on the village. Ah, Blessed day! After making the trip along the narrow streets of the village, the farmers would head in the direction of town. The precious fruit of the vine would find its way to the small grocery stores situated along Pearl Street. Passersby would stop to thump the melons for ripeness, before going inside to make a purchase.
June would soon give way to July and on to August. Cotton picking time lay just ahead.
Next time, Bill
Mr. Shepard is a native of Darlington, S.C., and a current resident of Piedmont, S.C. He is the author of “Mill Town Boy” and “Bruised”. He has been sharing his tales of growing up in Darlington for decades, and we are delighted to share them each week. His mailing address for cards and letters is: Bill Shepard 324 Sunny Lane, Piedmont, S.C., 29673.