July 4 – Independunce Day

I think the fourfth of July is one of my favorite holidays. First of all I love that we defeeted the Britush at the Elmo. I wonder if thats where that Sesume Street charakter got his name from. Second I love fireworx. We couldnt afford none but Pa created his own. He spent the gas money for the car and got Jiffy Pop and started roastin it. Then he took some dung balls from the field and lit them on fire and placed them on top of the Jiffy Pop. Eventally the Jiffy Pop exploded and the poop went shootin off into the night. We ran all around trying to avoid fallin poop. Pa howled somethin awful at the site. Ma laffed too. Sadly Ezekiel got a poop ball to the head and it burned him a little. I hope he comes over tomorrow still.

FifthI love watermelon. We couldnt git none this year since the saloon was all out so Ma shaved some ice and dripped some chicken blood and sugar into it. Then she put some beetles in there. Next she squished the ice into balls like watermelons. The ice tasted good but i didn’t like the beetles none. i spat them out at Liza-Jane. She got mad cause she hates beetles and therefore watermelons.

Anyways I love the fourfth. Plus today we put hay in Jethros overalls and he had a horrible itch all night.

June 18 -Last Day Of School

I can’t beleave school is finally over! We had 4 or 5 make up days since school got closed after Mr. Swartzendruber’s cow died in the classroom. They had to saw the beast up to get him out and it took days to scrub the blood off the wood floor and get the stink out. Mrs. Brenneman wouldn’t let us out until we all proved we could count to 20 and tell the diffrunce between d and b. I was so mad cause Jed kept sayin seventy-teen insted of seventeen. I guess that’s what happens when you and all your kin are in the same grade.

Ezekiel got to ring the bell and then we all ran out to the Stutzma’s store for sum horehound candy. Then me and Ezekiel went to his house and he rode me in the wheelbarrow all around the farm. It sure was fun. I got to look into his blue eyes. It reminded me of the water in grandma’s well.

May 3 – The Fair

I am expecially excited today. Ezekiel asked me to the county fair. He invited me by thowin’ his old boot through my window. I am sad to report that he broke my ceramic jewelry box shaped like a grain silo. When I lifted the top it made a mooing noise. The good news is that inside his boot was a note that said, “You will be fairer at the fair with me.” He’s dreamy!

We went to the fair and had a gay old time even though there weren’t much attracshuns. Uncle Moses (I don’t think he is my uncle, but everyone calls him that) was spinning people on the ‘Piknik-Tron.’ He put the top of the piknik table on some type of gear and then he would hold the table and run around in a circle while we sat on top. Ol Joe (he is actually old but I don’t know when people gave him that name) was giving kids a ride on a ‘Ferrus Water Wheel.’ He brought his water wheel from his crick and attached a lever to the side of it. Then we would line up, jump on the wheel, and croutch down on the little steps. He pushed us around and around as we followed in a line trying to jump on the steps. It was sure fun going up, but it was a dandy coming down. Jethro got stuck under the wheel and we had to shut er down for a while. The final event was a ‘hog wrastle.’ You had to enter a fenced in pen and get a pig in a potato sack while bein blindfolded. If you caught him you got to take him home and eat him. To confuse people, they put a bunch of other animals in the pen. I thought I won, but when I opened my sack the only thing in there was brainless Bobby Lee. He snuck in the pen and snorted like a pig. I rilly thought I picked a winner. Apparently it was a real hoot for onlookers – or should a say a real oink. I’m funny.

Ezekiel walked me home and picked some grass for me along the way. A dandelion got stuck in the handful of grass and made it real pritty. I like that boy.

April 26

It’s a beautiful day today. Me and Liza-Jane chased frogs up and down the crick. It was great fun. Then we pretended that Sampson was Paul Bunyon and he chased us up and down the crick. Ma got mad because I forgot to churn the butter and it spoilt. I think my birthday is coming up soon. Pa said isn’t until the winter, but I think he’s foolin’. I hope I get one of those hula-hoops so I can stop trying to spin that old bike tire around my waist. It just don’t feel good and it roons my Wranglers. Later tonight we’re gonna have a neighborhood hoedown. I think Ezekiel is gonna be there. I’m fixin to kiss him if he lets me. Ma wouldn’t never allow it, but I say, “Why not?” A country girl ain’t gonna wait forever for love.

June 13

It’s another dang hot day! Ma cooked up some grits for breakfast. The day was uneventful until Pa’s overalls came undone again and fell around his ankles. Jed and Beth-Anne laughed like a couple of stuck pigs. I had to admit that it was funny, but my mind was on somethin’ else. New neighbors just moved in and they have something called a television. I climbed up their tree and watched through their window for hours until it was time to come home. The program wasn’t all that interesting though. It was about this girl who lived on a farm with her Pa, Ma, and two sisters. There was this mean girl named Nellie who bothered her. Why don’t someone just come to our farm and make a program? We’re just as interesting.

The new neighbor boy is cute and named Ezekiel. I think he likes me. I climbed down the tree and we talked for 10 minutes. He even let me drink out of the family well. I think somethin’ special is happening.