Thursday, May 7, 2009

Cow Patties

Earlier this week someone asked a question about the term 'burlap sack' and its synonyms. I can think of tote sack, potato sack, and gunny sack, but I'm sure there's more.

Just thinkin' about burlap sacks kicked in a memory of the Newton gang heading out bright and early on a Saturday morn for the mine fields of southeast Beaumont, out past Spindletop Road and into the pastures near a sulphur refinery and the Neches River. We'd load up dozens of burlap sacks and a coupla long-handled shovels into the back of the Rambler to gather up big ol' heapin' pie plates of dried cow poop.

I know we did this at least once a year, but I seem to remember it being at least twice or more a year. Mom's vegetable and flower gardens needed their fertilizer!

Being on the kid end of the family, Mary, Tom and I would help for a little while, and then get sent over to the nearby woods to 'explore', and stay outta the way of the grown-ups. I guess Paul and Dave got stuck with the work, along with mom and dad, scooping up the cow patties and bagging them up.
I vaguely remember that sometime during the day we'd have a picnic, but I'm not real sure about that. The thought that after messin' with poop all day long (even with gloves on) we'd sit down for lunch without a major scrub-down with soap and water seems a tad unhealthy.
Was this the same place we found those sulphur core samples?

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