"Turtle Soup"

DATELINE: 6/09/2011
RE: "Turtle Soup"


One Sunday we was all sittin around the dinner table, and Grandma Biggers was bringin out some homemade heaven from the kitchen. There was fried chicken and mashed potatoes, and collard greens, and black-eyed peas with ham hocks, freshed sliced tomatoes, and cat's paw biscuits. The last thing she brought out was a big old tureen of homemade soup, which she served to Grandpa first. We was all lappin it down and thought it was really great, when Grandpa said, Hon, bring me another bowl of that chicken soup."

Well Grandma knew that Grandpa would never eat any turtle no matter how it was fixed, and she knew that this was not chicken soup, but turtle soup. So she looked him right in the eye, and said, "Hon, this ain't chicken soup, its turtle soup, and I see that you liked it." Well the dinin room got real quite, and then Grandpa stood up and said, "Woman I told you never to cook turtle for me!" And with that he walked over and picked up that tureen, which had come from Grandma's mother, Great Grandma Pease, and he carried it to the open window and heaved that turtle soup, tureen and all, right out into the yard.  We never had any turtle to eat in our house ever again, and no one ever mentioned turtle soup or Great Grandma's soup tureen ever again either.

Now I learned a few things from that which I still think about today. First, no matter how much someone likes somethin, it might not make any difference, if it ain't what they think it is. Second, if someone you care about asks you not to do somethin, and you do it anyway, you might lose somethin precious. And third, I still ain't never eat any turtle in my whole life ever again, and I don't think I"m any worse off for it!

Some of them folks up in DC might just think a little bit, before they start offerin up somethin which ain't what you think it is. So watch out for some Skunk or Polecat tryin to get you to eat turtle, when they want you to think its chicken!

"Now, that's the way I see it, and you can tell'um I said so!"

Bascomb Biggers