Stuff I Know
Rube wisdom from the red clay hills of Mississippi
I didn’t go to a “prestigious” university, my degree is from a state university. I’ve never worked for a think tank, held a government job or gotten paid to consult for a political candidate.
I speak with a heavy Mississippi accent, I tend to speak in allegories and quaint Southern euphemisms, and I also use family language quirks that only people inside my extended family get and understand.
So, in the minds of the elitists in America, I’m a rube.
But rubes like me know stuff.
Important stuff.
Like:
Your momma knows best, but your Mamaw knows bester.
Your granddaddy is the closest thing to Socrates you will ever personally know.
If you feed an animal long enough, it becomes dependent on you to feed it and if you don’t it dies.
You feed your family first, your livestock next and yourself last.
Rust never sleeps and rot is a constant enemy – maintenance is a daily activity, not a scheduled event.
You do things because sometimes things just need to be done.
You can do it right or you can do it again.
Keeping livestock and having a pet are not the same.
No matter your plans, the weather has a say in them.
You don’t cut hay when rain is coming, and you don’t cure ham until after the first frost.
When scalding a hog, if the water is too cold, the hair won’t release and if it is too hot, it will set. Marriages and arguments are a lot like that.
When it is cold, you need heat and when it is hot, you need cold.
There is a right time for everything – if you plant too early or too late, your crops will fail.
The Farmer’s Almanac is more accurate than any climate study.
We eat meat because it tastes good, and we need the protein to power our brains.
Pickups are better than cars.
Always check the oil – even if you checked it yesterday.
Cut firewood in the spring - before the sap rises - so it will be properly cured before you need it in the fall.
Hot biscuits with sausage gravy, bacon and eggs are the best breakfast.
· Fresh eggs, meat and vegetables taste better than anything from a store.
· Anything cooked in a properly seasoned iron skillet tastes better than anything else.
Squirrels do not taste like chicken, but bullfrog legs do.
A gun is a tool just like a shovel or ax.
Keep your tools and your mind sharp.
Building bridges requires work on both sides of the creek.
A couple of 80-pound dogs are sufficient to constitute a security system.
Fences (and walls) make for good neighbors.
Walls and fences have two purposes: to keep things in and to keep things out.
Front porches and party lines were social media before there was social media.
A good neighbor is someone who just shows up when you need help.
Slow is steady and steady is fast.
More than three people is a crowd.
Your word is your bond, a bond stronger than any written contract.
Being serious requires being quiet and a few words, not screaming.
Being an honorable person is a choice made when nobody is looking.
God is in charge of all of it.
I totally agree with you, Michael, on the many things you've learned. I was raised in a small town in NY, and I can say that I have heard many of your 'things you've learned'. I will, with your permission, add two more.
1.) The Choices you make dictate the life you will lead.
2.) You see that hedge row (or fence) between us and the neighbor - well my nose ends at that hedge row (or fence). Meaning that I will keep my nose out of my neighbor's business, and in turn they will do the same.
Good Stuff! I might add, Mother always told me, “You will be known by the friends you keep!” And “You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it.”