Folk Tale Friday.

My grandfather was born in 1901.
Sorry to say that he has passed on, but he left some interesting DNA and some funny stories.
One of the stories he told was about living in Oregon with his family for a while when he was young.
(Now back in the early 1900's, all the way out in Oregon, my imagination went neanderthal thinking how primitive and rustic it must have been)
Plus the family lived a bit outside of whatever they called a town back then, so he and his 2 sisters had to walk back and forth to school a pretty good way.
Most days went smoothly, but he told a story of how, one day, he and the sisters were coming home from school and a very large bear came out of the woods.
The very large bear saw the young, tender, vulnerable children and that very large bear started to chase them.
My grandfather chuckled as he told this part of the story where the 3 of them had to run so very fast and so very far to escape that very large bear.
He explained with relief that the 3 of them eventually managed to make it home all safe and sound........phew.......only for his mother to give him a whipping for peeing in his school clothes!
He chuckled again.......
?
At the absurdity of it?
A nervous, near death memory chuckle?
I was wide eyed, dumbfounded and definitely not chuckling.
Where was the concern, the relief, the motherly affection?
Was she Team Bear?
Did they have no water for washing?
Did she hate pee?
That mother's every decision would have become suspect in my eyes...forever after that.
Sheesh.
Rough neighborhood.
Life was hard.




My grandfather (holding the baby) during less stressful times.


Thanks for being here.