“It couldn’t be helped!”

Daddy should have been a polygamist the way he laid out work for the whole family.  His list for Mother might start, “Take the power saw by the shop in Springhill (22 miles away) on your way to the tractor place in Magnolia (24 miles beyond Springhill) pick up a magneto.  It ought to look like this.  (He’d dangle two broken pieces)  On your way home,

Hello, Mr. Flu!

Mother always had a special capacity for bungling.  Sometimes she just talks to hear her head rattle. That can be as dangerous as leaving a loaded gun lying around.  When Mother was a teenager, the flu came to town.  The Pyles family next door all got the flu, except for Mr. Pyles.  He was struggling to care for his wife and six children.  The