The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1958-05-30

| Dali grove. lie 1mneuldIely CdllSu
at our house to display it. My adj
miration, of course, was diluted
with a little envy, but Freddie
was a generous soul and l knew
he would let me try out his gift
the next day when the Academy
Street Giants assembled for prac-
tice. The thoughts was comforting,
and it fingered while my friend
extolled the merits of the glove.
Perhaps 1 need not observe that
noble gesture was fraught with
potential danger. 1 wanted to feel
the thud of a ball against the
leather then, not the next day, and
suggested that Freddie and l go
into the yard. Visiting the back
porch, l picked up my old ball and
smacked it into the glove. My
friend, who sensed the crisis, re-
treated several PAGES and held up
his hand as if to receive my throw.
1 hesitated-and held the ball.
"Naw, Freddie" 1 said. 1--WE
better ask Grandma"
She smiled when 1 did so.
''There's no baseball on Sunday"
she said. "But l guess birthday
is special occasion. A couple of
throws will be all right" And for
the next few minutes she watched
US break in the new equipment.
Fortunately, the Sabbath diver
sions permitted by the rules were
fairly numerous. l could listen to
the photograph owned and oper-
ated by the family living upstairs,
but this amusement wasn't too al
Turing because those good people
had Sunday Rules, too, and the
talking machine, as we called it,
was not allowed to play the lighter
records l liked. These included a
series in which a gentleman got
into hilarious, if slapstick, diff
culties with the English language.
On the whole, the restrictions i'm
posed by our neighbors on the use
of their record library made visit
to their parlor one of the less
attractive ways to spend Sunday
afternoons.
Walks were all right, but they
had to be taken in my best suit:
l could not be seen publicly that
day in my dear, battered cordu-
roys. Grandma's insistence on re-
spectacle attire limited my acti-
witty. In my Sunday clothes l could
not seek adventure in the Quinn
Creek Canyon, Jackson's Woods,
or the wide expanse of our local
wilderness, Sassafras Hollow. Ex-
ercise therefore tended to be limit
ed to sedate strolls along the neat
streets of our hill, or perhaps an
inspection of the downtown store
windows.
Grandma frequently accompan-
led me on these expeditions, and
one of my friends usually went,
too. She was a good companion,
always in touch with our little
world and well informed on such
vital matters as where the New
York Giants stood in the National
League and the current yield of
sinners in Cranes Hollow Brook.
She also knew the identity of my
current girl, and when, on these
Sunday saunters, we met that
months or seasons favorite,
Grandma would offer a pleasant
greeting. Later she'd remark, cas-
ually, how pretty Dorothy's hair
was, or how sweetly Jane had
smiled. l shall not attempt to esti-
mate the effect of these deft COM
pliments on a grandson's rating of
his grandmother!
Several pastimes were reserved
for Sundays when the weather
prohibited outdoor activities. l re-
call particularly the popcorn after
moons. About a o'clock Grandma
would slip quietly into the kitchen
| from the living room where we
were reading. I'd hear a clank and
know that the ancient iron frying
pan was being taken from the
cupboard. This was the popcorn
| signal, and ! FASTENED to offer aid.
1t was usually accepted because
Grandma tried to transplant some
of her own self-reliance to me.
My job was to separate the
kernels from the cobs, an operation
that scuffed my fingers and
taught me that good things were
the rewards of work and could be
the fruits of personal discomfort
How different is today's popcorn
making! The kernels come cobless
and preseasoned, the container is
the popping pan, and nobody gets
a sore thumb.
The "funnies" provided a Dor
derline Sabbath recreation. We did
not buy a Sunday paper, but l was
allowed to visit Frdedie's, whose
family had two. Thus / kept in
close touch with the adventures
and misadventures of Little Memo
| Enyv G1.oudno Pucfo R,-ou,n and