blessing over the food and sat across the table, next to Hannah. Dat gave Sadie a stern sidewise glance before he bowed his head for prayer.
Such unspeakable tension in the kitchen now, and all since Sadie had come into the room. Dat and Mamma weren't totally ignorant of Sadie's behavior, Leah was fairly sure.
Not only was Leah uncomfortable, she was unfamiliar with this sort of strain, especially with someone seated at the table who wasn't part of their immediate family. Mamma's other siblings lived farther away, some over in Hickory Hollow and SummerHill, others in the Grasshopper Level area, but it was Lizzie they saw most often, since she lived just up the knoll, so near they could ring the dinner bell and she'd come running. Thankfully, Lizzie brought a joyous flavor to any gathering, and on this day Leah was more than grateful for her mother's youngest sister sharing their eggs, bacon, waffles, and conversation.
Over the years her aunt had taken time to introduce Leah, all the girls really, to God's creation, particularly the small animal kingdom. But it was Leah who had soaked up all the nature talk like a dry sponge. She recalled one summer afternoon long ago when Aunt Lizzie had shown her what squirrels could do with their tails. "Look, honey-girl," Lizzie had said when Leah was only three or four. "See how they fold them up over their little heads like an umbrella?" She was told that the umbrella-tail protected squirrels when the steady rains come, "which happens in the fall round here."
Lizzie continued as they sat in the shade of her treed
71
mi
kkyiird, "Squirrels use their tails another way, Leah. They fell' down onto their haunches and toss their tails over their uki like woolen scarves to keep them warm while they sit ft Ilu1 cold ground and eat."
I Yi Hin(4 Leah had found this ever so interesting, wanting I mini io 140 on and on sharing such wonderful-gut secrets. |n< pleaded for more while observing the many squirrels Uiipn ing here and there, up and down trees, over the stone
Lu
I "Well, now, have you ever felt lonely ... in need of a |i) "' Aunt Lizzie sometimes asked Leah peculiar questions,
I1 11 in]-; her off guard.
I I f'ticss, jah, maybe I have," she'd replied, though it was pivl to think of a time when she'd actually felt alone, what Illi three sisters in the house and more cousins than she
in hi even begin to count.
I i|iiirrels get lonesome, too, don'tcha think?" And here
I demonstrated with her own arms how squirrels used
\< M 1,iils to hug themselves, so to speak. "Ach, such a corn-
Iti 11 is lo them."
1; Al 1 he time "Leah wondered if her aunt was also a bit
My. After all, she didn't have a husband to hug her, did
ji ' She lived alone in the woods, well . . . not quite in the
11' -11, but perty near. "You must like squirrels an awful lot,
lit .(>, Auntie?" Leah had said after thinking about the spe-
Iti ihings a squirrel's tail offered.
I "Who wouldn't like such cute little animals? They look so
liii> tiled with their bushy tails high over their heads or
lii>'ring behind them," Lizzie said quickly. "But the dearest
||in; is how their faces look like they're smilin'."
I I ciih had never thought of that. And every time she
72
e ti e r I l
I u J~~- e lo i i
spotted a squirrel from then on, she noticed not only what their tails were doing but also the humorous half smile on their furry little faces.
Just now, sitting next to Aunt Lizzie, Leah couldn't help but wonder if her aunt could use a nice hug, maybe. How long had it been since she'd spent time with her, just the two of them? Much too long it seemed. Goodness' sakes, Mamma was always one to hug her girls, and Dat and Mamma often embraced each other when Dat came in the house for supper. Surely Auntie needed hugs, too maybe more so than all the rest of them put together. She didn't know why she would think such a thing just now, but she did. Which was why Leah decided then and there she'd take it upon herself to
Such unspeakable tension in the kitchen now, and all since Sadie had come into the room. Dat and Mamma weren't totally ignorant of Sadie's behavior, Leah was fairly sure.
Not only was Leah uncomfortable, she was unfamiliar with this sort of strain, especially with someone seated at the table who wasn't part of their immediate family. Mamma's other siblings lived farther away, some over in Hickory Hollow and SummerHill, others in the Grasshopper Level area, but it was Lizzie they saw most often, since she lived just up the knoll, so near they could ring the dinner bell and she'd come running. Thankfully, Lizzie brought a joyous flavor to any gathering, and on this day Leah was more than grateful for her mother's youngest sister sharing their eggs, bacon, waffles, and conversation.
Over the years her aunt had taken time to introduce Leah, all the girls really, to God's creation, particularly the small animal kingdom. But it was Leah who had soaked up all the nature talk like a dry sponge. She recalled one summer afternoon long ago when Aunt Lizzie had shown her what squirrels could do with their tails. "Look, honey-girl," Lizzie had said when Leah was only three or four. "See how they fold them up over their little heads like an umbrella?" She was told that the umbrella-tail protected squirrels when the steady rains come, "which happens in the fall round here."
Lizzie continued as they sat in the shade of her treed
71
mi
kkyiird, "Squirrels use their tails another way, Leah. They fell' down onto their haunches and toss their tails over their uki like woolen scarves to keep them warm while they sit ft Ilu1 cold ground and eat."
I Yi Hin(4 Leah had found this ever so interesting, wanting I mini io 140 on and on sharing such wonderful-gut secrets. |n< pleaded for more while observing the many squirrels Uiipn ing here and there, up and down trees, over the stone
Lu
I "Well, now, have you ever felt lonely ... in need of a |i) "' Aunt Lizzie sometimes asked Leah peculiar questions,
I1 11 in]-; her off guard.
I I f'ticss, jah, maybe I have," she'd replied, though it was pivl to think of a time when she'd actually felt alone, what Illi three sisters in the house and more cousins than she
in hi even begin to count.
I i|iiirrels get lonesome, too, don'tcha think?" And here
I demonstrated with her own arms how squirrels used
\< M 1,iils to hug themselves, so to speak. "Ach, such a corn-
Iti 11 is lo them."
1; Al 1 he time "Leah wondered if her aunt was also a bit
My. After all, she didn't have a husband to hug her, did
ji ' She lived alone in the woods, well . . . not quite in the
11' -11, but perty near. "You must like squirrels an awful lot,
lit .(>, Auntie?" Leah had said after thinking about the spe-
Iti ihings a squirrel's tail offered.
I "Who wouldn't like such cute little animals? They look so
liii> tiled with their bushy tails high over their heads or
lii>'ring behind them," Lizzie said quickly. "But the dearest
||in; is how their faces look like they're smilin'."
I I ciih had never thought of that. And every time she
72
e ti e r I l
I u J~~- e lo i i
spotted a squirrel from then on, she noticed not only what their tails were doing but also the humorous half smile on their furry little faces.
Just now, sitting next to Aunt Lizzie, Leah couldn't help but wonder if her aunt could use a nice hug, maybe. How long had it been since she'd spent time with her, just the two of them? Much too long it seemed. Goodness' sakes, Mamma was always one to hug her girls, and Dat and Mamma often embraced each other when Dat came in the house for supper. Surely Auntie needed hugs, too maybe more so than all the rest of them put together. She didn't know why she would think such a thing just now, but she did. Which was why Leah decided then and there she'd take it upon herself to
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