On not quite being right

I've always wanted people to see me as reliable in what I say. I've found, however, that even when I think I am right I can be wrong, or if not wrong then not quite right.

I'm not quite like the fellow who claimed that he had just been wrong once in what he said. Then he said he was wrong about that. Let's see, when you are wrong about being wrong, then that makes you right. Right? But, do two wrongs make a right? Let's see, you were right in the first place, in the second place you thought you were wrong. But you were wrong about that. So does that make you right? I don't think we are getting anywhere with this.

I'm remembering one of those instances in which I wasn't totally wrong, but I sure wasn't totally right, either. When I was 8 years old and in the third grade, I was good friends with Stevie Rimmer. Stevie's family lived out northeast of Pea Ridge in the Twelve Corners Community. We sometimes visited each other's homes and stayed for an overnight visit once in awhile. On the time I am remembering, we were at Stevie's home, and he suggested that we go horseback riding. That was great fun. We couldn't do that kind of ride on our farm, because our two horses were draft horses, and I never saw them run in all my life. Our horses plodded here, and plodded there, and never a trot or a gallop would you see. But Stevie's family had real riding horses. So we were trotting and walking about the Rimmer farm in the Fall of the year and having great fun. At one point we passed some bushes along the fence line with some orange fruit on them. Stevie didn't know what they were, so I took it on myself to educate him about northwest Arkansas persimmons.

I told him, those are persimmons, and they are good to eat. He was skeptical, so I said, "Let's ride over there and I'll show you."

So we did, and I picked a couple of persimmons, gave Stevie one and kept one for myself. Just taste it and you'll see. Then I bit into the one I had in my hand. Uh-oh! Have you ever bitten into a persimmon that looked ready to eat but wasn't quite? The persimmons were not ready yet, and we were suddenly two boys trying to get the taste out of our mouths. The skeptical one was still skeptical, and the other one of us was embarrassed as could be for goofing up at a time when I thought I was going to show my friend something he didn't know.

Well, I found out something I didn't know until then. You don't want to eat persimmons too early. I guess at home I had always eaten the persimmons that Dad gave me, and they were really tasty. I learned that you want to wait until after frost and let those persimmons fully ripen.

Persimmons have always been somewhat plentiful in our part of Arkansas. Most of them that I have been familiar with have been growing along a fence row. I notice that Rogers, Ark., which has streets named after varieties of trees, has a Persimmon Street. That is a bit surprising to me, because I never thought of a persimmon as a prominent tree to name a street for. The prominent kinds of trees, to me, have been the white oaks and post oaks, the maples, the cedars, the sycamores, the walnut and hickory nut trees, and so on. On the farm, too, besides the persimmons and sassafras bushes, we always had lots of non-descript little trees that I never knew a name for. I did know the redbuds and dogwoods that showed up in our wooded areas. I notice that Rogers eve has a Hemlock Street. I would never have thought to name a street after that one either.

The other day a friend of mine was telling about once making a nice small wooden chest out of persimmon wood. He said it was beautiful wood. I guess after all these years I still don't know nearly all there is to know about persimmons. I would never have thought to make something out of persimmon wood. The persimmon trees that I have been familiar with have always been right small as trees go. When I think wood for woodworking I think pine or spruce, or walnut or oak or mahogany. I never think of persimmon wood or sassafras wood.

Especially if you need a wide board, you wouldn't want to use persimmon. I've never seen a persimmon tree larger than six inches in diameter. I have lived 80 years, but evidently I still have lots to learn. Did you know that sassafras is good for making tea? Or, did you know that sassafras is tasty to chew on?

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Editor's note: This column was originally published Feb. 20, 2008. Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is an award-winning columnist, a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at joe369@ centurytel.net , or call 621-1621.