My mom and dad are visiting for my sweet daughter's high school graduation, so I got my dad's perspective on this cold snap...he says it's Blackberry Winter. What in the world is a Blackberry Winter, you ask? According to the Appalachian folklore handed down for generations and eventually to my Daddy, it's a cold snap that comes around the time that blackberries are in bloom, usually in early to mid May, and it sets the buds on the canes to insure a good crop of blackberries. Sounds reasonable to me. And to think, I thought it had something to do with a PDA freezing up...
And it brings back so many memories of blackberry pickin' in the Dog Days of Summer...which I will now have to ask my Daddy what that is... My guess is that the Dog Days of Summer are those hot days when you wish you were a dog, just laying under the porch in the shade, or finding a creek to offer some relief.
No matter. I'm just loving spending time with my mom and dad and hearing their southern sayings and southern wisdom and wives tales while reflecting on the next generation's passing through life so quickly... I'll just put on a sweater.
