Southern Humor – Pathway Journey

July 29, 2026July 28, 2026

Bless Your Little Pea Pickin’ Heart

“Bless Your Little Pea Pickin’ Heart” was a line popularized by the country singer Tennessee Ernie Ford. If you have never heard of him or the phrase, then you are much younger than I am.

The other afternoon I picked a mess* of peas and was sitting under a shade tree shelling a few just for the fun of it. It was one of those blistering Alabama summer evenings. I was hot and sweating when it dawned on me**, “I have air-conditioning.” So, I retreated to the house.

[*mess – Appalachian dialect for an uncertain quantity of something usually to eat; probably enough for one meal] [**dawned on me – Appalachian dialect for a sudden thought or idea.]

July 21, 2026July 21, 2026

Old Men and Their Junk

Rustic woodworking shop with various hand tools hanging on the wall and a workbench with jars and wood shavings

Old men love their stuff. It is gold to them but to others it is rust and dust. Coffee cans and peanut butter jars filled with assorted nuts, bolts, screws, and nails. A tube of hardened super glue he feels has another drop.

In the corner of his shed are several bird’s nests of bailing twine for when the world may end. On the shelf is a Dollar General yellar bag filled with strips of old Hanes t-shirts that are his go-to grease rags. There’s a row of nails with greasy baseball caps that a vagabond wouldn’t dare to wear.

November 22, 2024November 21, 2024

A Southern Delight: Nanner Sammijes

Yep, nanner sammij, you heard it right! To those of you in the northern latitudes, I am not speaking in tongues. Nanner sammij is the correct term, pronunciation, and spelling (perhaps) for banana sandwich.

My years in elementary school were in the sixties. Only the spoiled kids had metal Roy Roger lunch boxes. Most of the kids who brought their lunch to school carried it in a brown paper bag. This made for a combination of memory-making aromas.

Nanner sammijes was the frontrunner of the aroma generators. The fruity nanner smell, the aroma of bread, and the microbial growth in the mayonnaise had a multiplied effect. Then all of that Petre dish combination was filtered through a brown bag. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it. It was a unique smell that put wrinkles on my gray matter. When I think of the lunchroom at Duck Springs Elementary School, this peculiar, yet fragrant smell returns.