THE TIMES LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PEA RIDGE — ‘Sayings’ jostle memory

Dear Editor,

Jerry Nichols’ latest “Now and Then” column about old expressions brought back a lot of good memories.

I had the good fortune to spend my youth around the farms of my grandparents, Owen and Ora Wood, and my great uncle and aunt, Mitchel and Helen Webb. Over the years I heard many of these expressions, including one that Uncle Mitchel was particularly fond of, “a’drivin like a bat out of Joplin.”

I never understood that one either until one day I finally asked him about it. He explained how Joplin was once a big mining town when lead and zinc were discovered there in the late 1800s, and now is home to lots of bats in the abandoned mines. I have read about the mines in Joplin, but never checked out the bat story but it made sense to me back then.

I have been blessed to be able to travel and see many parts of the world, but always look forward to coming home to that old farm.

Occasionally I will say one of these old expressions around my kids and they give me a strange look, which reminds me of another expression “like a calf looks at a new gate.”

While it is good to be able to see and experience other cultures and ways of speaking, even here in our own country, it’s equally important to not forget where we came from and lose the history of this area, which I am proud to call home.

Keep up the good work, Jerry.

ROBERT WOOD Pea Ridge, Ark.

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Enjoys local color

Dear Editor:

I certainly enjoy your paper with news from my home town. I enjoy the columns we need this kind of candor, color and character in the “mainstream media.” I recently enjoyed the articles on Derry Camp and Billy Ray Jones, plus the picture of Jacky Easley and his wife.

I graduated from Pea Ridge High in 1961

I don’t know if you still have the “heritage article.” But if you do, attached is a picture, probably from the ’30s, of my Grandmother’s, “Elsie” Keene Cash’s family, the Keenes.

If there are mistakes in the identity, I will take the blame.

Sincerely, BILL CASH JR.

Rincon Ga.