Old time things and by gone years

Things that are considered antiques are things my parents used every day. I know what its like to sit on a milk pail that was used to store milk. I can churn butter in a paddle churn. I've picked up chips from my Dads axe as he split wood for the wood burning stove in my Grandma A's kitchen. I have ridden in a wagon pulled by a team of horses driven by my Grandfather A and every chance I get I look at and read about any old tool that was used around a farm in the late 1800's and up to the common use of a tractor in the 1940's. On the old farm, there was horse drawn mowing machines and hay rakes.

There was even a plow that you sat on instead of walked behind as well as a scoop shovel used for scooping out water holes or making a pond. There was most likely over a thousand ways a boy of 8 or 10 could get himself hurt by just being on the old farm. That's why my Grandpa A and my Dad always had something for me to do besides investigate the farm machinery. One of those things was; I was taught to make a Leprechaun's pipe. Now we all know what a Leprechaun is, they are the 'little people" that live in the twilight of the evening, or mist of the early dawn. They keep an eye out for those of us with a wee bit of the Irish in us and they occasionally preform acts of mischief such as moving that tool your using, or letting the air out of a tire as the car sits in your driveway. We have all heard the story about the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow these wee people are there to protect. My guess is every time we see a rainbow that pot of gold thought goes through our mind.

Any way, Leprechaun's have to make their pipes. So they use what they can. Acorns, for the bowls and reeds for the stems. My Grandpa A, who was a bent stem pipe smoker, taught me how to make a Leprechaun's pipe. First you have to find just the right acorn. One that is not all dried out, broken or gnawed on by a squirrel. It has to have a cap. The best kind of Acorn is a white oak acorn, they are usually bigger than one from a post oak. However a post oak acorn will do in a pinch. Once you've got the perfect acorn then you have to find a reed. Now reeds did not grow on trees in Texas County so, Grandpa said it would be alright if we used a small twig. Twigs did grow on trees and they were everywhere.

Once shown I was determined to learn to do it, and the trick is not splitting the acorn as you got it ready, or make the hole to big to hold the stick. I had hours of sitting under the big shade tree in my Grandparents front yard, my tongue held firmly between my teeth as I concentrated on getting the job done just as I was shown. My eight year old hands did not work as well as MY Gram pa's, there was still a "short" between them and my brain. I went through a whole bunch of acorns before I finally accomplished getting all the meat out of the shell without tearing up the shell. Then a whole lot more learning to bore the hole just right to fit the twig I found. Finally I accomplished it and I was one happy little boy. I ran to my Grandpa, my pipe clenched firmly in my teeth with a smile from ear to ear, Grandpa smiled, and declared, Nancy ( my Grandma), there is a Leprechaun in the living room!