Granny’s Pantry #2
Granddaddy and
Granny Cole farmed about 200 acres mostly between Lick Creek Church Road and the
Yadkin River in Davidson County, North Carolina. A rail line ran the length of
the property near the river. Their old, two story farm house was located about a quarter of a mile from the tracks. Going
to Granny’s was one of the “funnest” things I did as a child and staying there
for days and nights while Mama and Daddy traveled or during summer vacations
was my own small taste of Heaven.
Sometimes I would
crawl in with Granddaddy, but he snored. I would have to wake him up and let
him know (I’m sure he appreciated it), so he would turn over, quit snoring and I
could go to sleep.
Other times
Granny and I would find a bed upstairs in one of the bedrooms where she always
had multiple beds set up for visiting family members. Granny always got up
early to fix Granddaddy breakfast before he went out to plow, and I always
slept late. But I wanted to know when she left me in the morning…maybe I would
get up, too. So, I remember reaching out my leg to touch hers before I went to
sleep so that I would feel it when she moved her leg to get up. It didn’t work.
Granny’s house
was large, and in the day time, a wonderful place to make my own while she went
about her farm chores. At night, the big old house surrounded by pastures and
woods could be a scary place. Strange noises came from the direction of the
river—roars and bumps and screeches—and suddenly Granny’s was not so safe
anymore.
“Granny,” I would
whisper, “what’s that?” In my young
mind, the possibilities were unnamed but endless. And it didn’t just happen
once or only to me. The sounds could change or the time when they happened
could change. It was enough to prompt the question again and again, from me, my
sister, my brother—we all heard those noises and over and over—separately—we would
ask. “Granny, what’s that?”
And Granny would
answer, “It’s just the train.”
What was
frightening and unknown to us was familiar and recognizable to her. Those switching
and revving and braking and backing up noises that made the trains of the
HPT&D railroad sound like monsters from the night represented old friends to
her—ones that were daily visitors to her world.
And now,
sometimes when an obstacle of life comes up in our adult world, we’ve been
known to repeat Granny’s explanation to
make ourselves feel more secure. Whatever it is out there…it’s just the train.
How much more
comforting to remember are the responses of my Heavenly Father to the questions
and fears of my life:
Before
they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
Isaiah 65:24
(NIV)
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.
Psalm 56:3 (NKJV)
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.
Psalm 56:3 (NKJV)
