ever one of 'em could make some music
by linda metzner

For more than ten years I’ve been spending time visiting with my neighbor Flonnie Lunsford Mundy in Phoenix Cove off of Reems Creek. Flonnie was born 95 years ago in the timeworn log cabin that lends much beauty and flavor to Phoenix Cove. In winter we’d sit in the warm little frame house her husband built nearby. On summer days, on into the evening, Flonnie and I would sit on her front porch, watch the hummingbirds and the people going by, and laugh and talk about the old days. Here is a taste of the stories I’ve heard.

When I was a little girl, we’d get up pretty early of a morning and we’uns’d mop the kitchen and mop the whole house, just about all over, and straighten it all up for the weekend. That’s what we would do early in the morning when we’d get up.

In the springtime, we used to take everything out and scrub the floors and everything. People don’t do that no more. We’d take out all the furniture, pile it out in one place, and we’d mop the whole house and got it smellin’ s’good!

And the mattresses, we’d put fresh straw in ‘em. You’d take ‘em to the straw stacks. We raised wheat and then we’d have straw, and we’d go to the straw stack to fill up them old mattresses with fresh, clean-smellin’ wheat straw. We’d go get fresh straw and we’d fill up them mattresses, and we’d have fresh, pretty beds at night. We was tickled to death, us young’uns, to get to climb into them fresh-smellin’ beds. We felt pretty good about it.

We slept upstairs a whole lot. Up in the loft. We’d all pile in together. It had stair steps that you went up. They could talk to us from downstairs. They’d holler, “Be quiet up thar”.

If there were a lot of us young’uns, we’d really aggravate ‘em. We’d laugh up there and get tickled after it was dark.

There was two big rooms. The big room we called the livin’ room, and that was always left open for whatever you wanted it for. And then we had a big kitchen. Granny and all would fix a big dinner, for different times, you know.

There was several of us kids and, oh, we’d just play, play, play. We played what they call “Tap Hand” a lot. You’d hold your hands with one another, and then go ‘round and ‘round and sing. You could stomp and clap if you wanted to. I couldn’t sing it any more. We did a lot of that, a-clappin’ and a-jumpin’ and a-hoppin’. We’d do what young’uns do. That’s what we’s a-doin’.

And I’d have to do my work too. We carried water from the spring. We’d have to fill up our buckets full of water, for the night time. And we ‘ould do that, and then we’d bring a big bucket full o’ water to wash the floors, and we’d have to carry that, you know. We had pert much to do. We had a reservoir on the stove. And we had hot water.
We had a spring house right out here by the spring, and we churned down there, and we had all the milk, the butter and ever’thing in there. We’d get the butter and take it to the house. The spring water was cold. The water run out to a big old cement trough in the back. It was closed in with a shed over it. We’d throw off our clothes and jump in there in that cold water! It’d almost freeze us to death! Ooo-hooo! We felt so fresh when we’d get out. We’d put our clothes back on and out we’d go.
We used ta love makin' molasses. We’d sop the boiler. We’d sop it with our fingers. Children would run on home and say we was makin’ molasses, and they’d come! They’d be a pretty good bunch would all come down to sop ‘round the boiler. We’d play, jump, and hop like young’uns do. So we had a good time. The old folks done the work, but us young’uns, we had fun out of it. Yeah, law.

Dolls? Oh, yes, I had one or two, that somebody gave me. And I was so tickled and proud o’ them dolls. My aunt lived with us then and she sewed me some doll clothes for ‘em. Oh, yes, and we made our own clothes. Most all of ‘em.

We went to school. We had our homework to do. After we got supper over and the dishes all washed, then we had our school work. They had a school house off of Hemphill when we were little. We could walk there. There was two teachers. We went out there, but when we got to a certain grade, in the seventh grade I believe it was, then we went to Weaverville to school.

GOING TO ASHEVILLE
We went in wagons most of the time. They’d sell butter, milk, chickens and whatever they had. Friday, we’d kill the young chickens and get them ready to go to town. People would buy them things too! The men hunted a lot for squirrel, and rabbit, ground hog, whatever they wanted to go huntin’, and we’d cook ‘em and eat ‘em. We’d have a good pot full of meat. We growed most of our stuff, on the farm up here, all the grains and might near all the stuff we growed in the gardens we had.Sometimes the men would kill a rabbit, or some squirrels, and we could sell ‘em. They’d go once a week, and sometimes I’d go with ‘em. They’d take us young’uns if we wanted to. We’d get ready and wait for the time to go. And away we’d go. We had the best time! We had two mules that pulled the wagon, the best I remember. We didn’t know nobody much but we’d go to a store, and maybe stay awhile, and then go to another store. So we enjoyed goin’ to town.

WASHIN' CLOTHES
We had a woman who would come and wash clothes. She’d come over this mountain once a week and she’d wash clothes. Whatever had to be done, she’d help my Granny do it. Miss Arnton. She lived across this mountain. She’d walk across and come over here and work. She’d work all day, and back across the mountain she’d go. People don’t do like that no more. Yeah, boy. She brought her own bucket and everything else.

There’s a great big apple tree up on that mountain. We’d put ‘em in a tow sack, fill the sack full o’ apples, and tie the sack tight, and start it down that trail, and hit’d just roll, roll, roll. We’d kick it as it’d go along. We’s kickin’ it good! It’s a wonder we’d have apples when we got home! But it didn’t do much damage to ‘em. Law! We had fun, us young’uns. Those times don’t come often.

We went swimmin’ a lot in the summer. We had a big ol’ swimmin’ hole, in the creek.

MAKIN' MUSIC
Our Granny would let us have a big ol’ square dance on the weekend. And that’s what we’d do. The younger people—we enjoyed it so much, you know. We’d pull everything out of the kitchen and that was a good big room! So we’d do that once in a while. But we had a good time, you know. Law, on Friday night we could dance all night. They’d play all night! My husband, he was a good caller, and a good dancer, too. Many a night we’d play until light. And that’s what we usually done. Saturday night we had to quit at twelve so we could go to church on Sunday morning.

Our whole generation of Lunsfords was musician-gers. They all would get together and you never heard the like. (Laughter.) Ever’ might nearly one of ‘em could make some music. There was singers, and they’d play the guitar, the banjo, and the fiddle, and they’d have their own music. They’d all play. They didn’t have to have no music lessons. They’d just pick, pick, pick, and they’d fiddle. Uncle Bob had thirteen, and ever’ blessed one of them could play that I know of. You never heard such playin’. John Lunsford was one of the best violin players I ever heard in my life. He could just pick it up and just play, play, play! We’d set up many a night and make music and we’d dance all night.

GOIN' T' CHURCH
We went to our own Presbyterian church, and we went to a lot of churches. They held lots of special things, and we’d go. I went to the Baptist church for a long time. I remember bein’ baptized there. There was a bunch of us, baptized, and the preacher, and whoever was helping with the baptizin’. We’d do it down at the creek. You’d get wet all over. We’d wear our regular clothes and we’d sing.We had plenty of fun. We enjoyed it a whole lot. We don’t have nothin’ no more like we used to have. We wasn’t mean, or nothin’ like that. We was just noisy! But we enjoyed it.

I’ve had a good life. I’ve enjoyed it.

Linda Metzner lives in Phoenix Cove, not too far from Flonnie Mundy. She is a poet and composer and was profiled in the January 2006 issue.
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