Saturday Mix – poem by E.B.P.

A long time ago around 1910

So darn long ago I can’t remember just when

When the chores were finished on Saturday night

Mom would go in the kitchen and light the oil lamp

She would go into the shed and get the big wash tub 

Us kids knew then we were in for a scrub 

She would pull the tub up to the oven door

And poke up the fire till it started to roar

In a big wash boiler the water heated quick

We filled it with water we carried from the creek

With a bar of yellow soap and a rough washcloth

You were pretty darn sure the dirt came off

My mom made towels from seamless sacks

They were pretty rough when she dried off your back

If you wiggled around you might get a good whack

When you were dry and your back was red

She would slip a clean nightshirt over your head

And slap your behind and say get into bed.

Uncle Henry got up at the crack of dawn

He would jump out of bed and pull his clothes on

“Get up folks and start earning your board

Hear the little birds sing their praises to the Lord”

He would yell at me “go feed your mule

Stir your stumps or you will be late for school”

Those days are gone but I remember when

Must’ve been around the year 1910 

***This was written and unedited by my dad about his life in Montana.

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