en chicken en thing like dat. Oh, my God, couldn' see de top
of de smoke house for all de heap of meat dey have in dem times. En milk
en butter, honey, dey didn' never be widout plenty of dat. De peoples
bout here dese days axes ten cents a quart for sweet milk en five cents
a quart for old sour clabber. What you think bout dat? Dat how-come
people have to hunt jobs so mucha dese days. Have to do some sorta work
cause you know dey got to put sometin in dey mouth somewhe' or another.
Oh, my child, slavery days was troublesome times. Sugar en salt never
run free wid de peoples den neither. I know de day been here when salt
was so scarce dat dey had to go to de seashore en get what salt dey had.
I gwine to tell you all bout dat. Dey hitch up two horses to a wagon en
den dey make another horse go in front of de wagon to rest de other
horses long de way. Dey mostly go bout on a Monday en stay three days.
Boil dat salty water down dere en fetch two en three of dem barrel of
salt back wid em dey get dat way. It was just like dis, it take heap of
salt when dey had dem big hog-killin days. En de sugar, dey make dat
too. Made de sugar in lil blocks dat dey freeze just like dey freeze ice
dis day en time. I know dey do dat--know it. Dey make molasses en some
of it would be lighter den de other en dey freeze dat en make de
prettiest lil squares just like de ice you see dese days. Dey have
sometin to freeze it in. Dis here old black mammy know heap of things
you ain' never hear bout. Oh, baby, de peoples sho bless dese days."

"Oh, my god, de colored peoples worship to de white folks church in
slavery time. You know dat Hopewell Church over de river dere, dat a
slavery church. Dat whe' I go to church den wid my white folks. I had a
lil chair wid a cowhide bottom dat I always take everywhe' I go wid me.
If I went to church, dat chair go in de carriage wid me en den I take it
in de church en set right by de side of my Miss. Dat how it was in
slavery time. Oh, my Lord, dere a big slavery people graveyard dere to
dat Hopewell Church."

"Honey, you mind if I smoke my pipe a lil whilst I settin here talkin
wid you. I worry so much wid dis high blood dese days en a ringin in my
ears dat my pipe de only thing dat does seem to satisfy my soul. I tell
you dat high blood a bad thing. It get such a hold on me awhile back dat
I couldn' do nothin, couldn' pick cotton, couldn' say my--me, couldn'
even say, God a mighty--thing pretty. Oh, I don' k