Minters Spring

Walking through the moss rocks and down the winding trail
We carried our lunch in our little tin pails.
Eager to see what each new day would bring
We headed for the school at old Minters Spring.

The rain and cold weather left our clothes wet
Those long walks to school, I remember them yet.
Our little bare feet, blue from frost sting
We were headed for the school at old Minters Spring.

When spring arrived, some days we were late
There were butterflies to chase and Mrs. Royder’s cake.
Those things were important and everything
As we headed for school at old Minters Spring.

Our teacher was small she had pretty red hair
We loved her as a treasure, we knew she was rare.
She gave us the spirit to make our heart sing
As we headed for the school at old Minters Spring.

I remember those days more than any other
All in one room with sister and brother.
There was something there, that was a special thing
As we headed for the school at old Minters Spring.

I Wonder

Sometimes I wonder about everything
What makes flowers blue and the grasses green
What power makes the birds soar
And why on earth does the lion roar?

The lion is such a beastly thing
The animal world says he is king
The elephant’s trunk hangs down so low
Why is it called a trunk, where does he go?

Did Humpty Dumpty really fall off a wall
Is the Jolly Green Giant ten feet tall
Does the humming bird really hum
Can the little tin soldier really play a drum?

How about Rudolph and his shiny red nose
Beauty and the Beast and the blue rose
I can’t help wonder about all this
The prince, Snow White and the magic kiss.

How could a cow jump over the moon
Did the seven little dwarfs all sleep in one room?
I wonder about all this fairy tale bliss
And I’m so afraid there’s something I’ll miss.

Old Man Will

There was an old house sittin’ on a hill
Belonged to an old man by the name of Will
Folks say it was haunted and I believe it too
Just listen to the story I’m about to tell you.

One dark night when the moon was high
Folks said they could hear an old woman cry
They said they could see her wrapped up in a chain
Her head split open without any brain.

The rats were crawling in and out of her hair
Folks wanted to get closer but they didn’t dare
She was killed with an ax, they said, by old man Will
After he’d done it he ran off down the hill.

He ran to the swamps all murky and damp
Folks say he’s still there, livin’ like a tramp
They say he went, crazy as a loon
He won’t come out of that horrible lagoon.

Dogs started howling late one night
The town folk started looking at a terrible sight
The old house was burning in a terrible roar
The old lady was laughing as never before.

She was free at last of the house on the hill
Some folk say she went down to get even with Will
They say when the moon is full at night
You can hear them in the lagoon having a terrible fight.

She beat him with the chain, she had just begun
To torch him for the evil he had done
She was out to get even with old man Will
For what he had done that night on the hill.

The Quilt

She sat on the porch rocking to and fro
She didn’t know what to do or where to go.
Old Jake had left, said he wasn’t coming back
Packed up some salt pork and some hard tack.

She was left to take care of little baby Flo
She really was worried as she rocked to and fro.
She worked on her quilt thinking with all her might
What she planned to do just wasn’t right.

She got herself dressed, looked just like a man
Would go to the local bank, she had a good plan.
She packed the old pistol and headed for town
Walked into the bank and said, “You-all lay down.”

“I’ve come for some money, give it all to me”
Her body shook so hard she could hardly see

She sat on the porch rocking to and fro
She had taken care of little baby Flo.
Look in the quilt and you will surely find
Money that she hid there for her peace of mind.

Fickle Woman

Fickle woman, fickle woman, where have you been?
I’ve been to the city to buy a jig of gin.
I looked in the mirror and saw my sad eyes
As I looked, I began to realize.

That life is for the living, to take and to give
That it’s about time that I learn to live.
Fickle woman, fickle woman, where have you been?
I’ve been to the city to fetch a jig of gin.

To fetch a jig of gin and dream my life away
To wink at the guys as we dance and sway.
To wear my red dress and sing a love song
To laugh, dance and sing all night long.

Fickle woman, fickle woman, where have you been?
I’ve been to the city to fetch a jig of gin.
To fetch a jig of gin and start a new life
I’m yearnin’ to be somebody’s new wife.

Bein’ by myself ain’t part of the the plan
But darnit , so far all the guys ran.
I’ll color my hair and paint my lips red
Prance through the streets and knock them all dead.

I am the jiggy woman full of jiggy gin
Don’t tell me you just want to be my friend.
I’m out on the prowl, may take all my life
But I’m bound and determined to be a new wife.

Fickle woman, fickle woman, where have you been?
I’ve been to the city to fetch a jig of gin.

My Darlin Husband

My husband sez I am smart, thets whi he marred me,
He nose what he’s takin about, A&M giv him a degree.
When we do email, I hav to correct his spellin,
I don’t know wher he lernd to spell, ther jest ain’t no tellin.

He gives me a diagram headache, correctin him all the time,
If he’d jest listen to me, Id giv him a yankee dime.
I say, lets rite yur kids a letter, I know jest what to do,
We owe them one, Its ben long overdew.

Going to tel them we went up Dallus wey,
Went to sea the grankid, sat and watchd her play.
Her mom give me some flours, strait out of her garden growed,
I was mitey proud to git them, loaded the kar and hit the rode.

We heded for home, got on a fancy hiway,
Talked about the fun we had and how we spent the day.
He said, “Do I turn here or go strait ahed?”
I told him to watch wher he was goin or we’d both be dead.

I think weir goin to Huston, I can hardly wate,
Weir goin to get on email and set up a date.
I no I can find the house, easy as can be,
Cause he says I am so smart and he’s so proud of me.

Abigail's Song

Entering into the realms of glory, drifting away from the silky shroud
Abigail wraps her wings around her, carrying her, softly as a cloud.
No fear will she feel as she journeys along
For the angel will be singing “Abigail’s Song."

Precious Lord, this child I bring to you, take her hand
She has done her work on earth and ‘oer the mighty land.
I sang a song for her as we floated through the light
Take her hand precious Lord as she travels in her flight.

Abigail sang, “Come to the light. ‘Tis shining in this place
Sweetly the light has shown upon your precious face.
Once you were blind but now you can see
The light of the Lord has shined upon thee."

My Friend

I was going to write a song for you about my life
To tell you about some happiness and some strife
Then I remembered that I told you nearly everyday
In the way I handled my work and in my play

Perhaps I wasn’t smiling and you knew that I was sad
Or maybe I had a mean look, you knew that I was mad
It could have been a song, especially for you to hear
Trying to say, you are my friend, I like having you near

To tell you that I love you in many special ways
To say I thank you for your prayers on all those days
I was going to put it in a song, a message loud and clear
But you had already seen my life, you didn’t have to hear.

Jake

Jake was a mule and lazy as could be
Lying around all day under the old oak tree.
Pa needed old Jake to help plow a field
He told my ma, old Jake just won’t yield.

Pa worked half a day trying to get Jake up
Ma came out of the house with something in a cup
Pa ask what she was going to do “what you got there?”
He reply was a “little lye, he’ll get up I swear.“

She got a great big corn cob, had a little plan
Rubbed some lye on his rump and away he ran
He was bucking and kicking, jumping left and right
Kicking at everything that was in his sight.

Ma said “I will teach that stubborn mule, he’s got to mind me”
Old Jake just continued on his jumping, kicking spree
He kicked down the old fence, tore up the flower bed
Kicked down the chicken coop his rump real red.

Ran as fast as he could to the old water tank
Jumped right in with great relief and down he sank
Pa said, “We need to get him out of there as fast as we can”
But in his mind Jake had another plan.

He stayed in the water the rest of the day
The fields not plowed yet I am sorry to say
Ma and pa went to the house, didn’t know how to swim
Had to leave old Jake, the sky was getting dim.

They went to bed that night, was tired as they could be
Got up the next morning and what did they see
There was old Jake under the tree content
Ma got a cup of lye, she was hell bent.

Lullaby

Restless, I wander about not knowing why peace will not come.
As I step into the cool night air I am in awe at the beauty as silver hues quietly sift through the trees casting age old shadows.
The stars are playing a symphony to the earth and the moon is softly singing a lullaby.
The sacred old owl and wolf join in and reach their god. The coyote will not be ignored.
Nature goes within herself as she is calmed by the twinkling symphony.
My heart swells at the stillness and beauty of the night and I softly sing to my God.

The Bell

It was in 1880 when they moved to this small town
He was just a little boy and wanted to look around.
The big Brazos river ran by Old Washington Square
Lots of important history has been recorded there.
As he rambled through the trees, he saw a church that had been built with majestic care
There were some big boys looking in a well, he wondered why they were there.
They had something on a rope being lowered down inside
The little boy shaking with fear thought he had better hide.
Behind a tree he hid, the thing on the rope they were holding tight
He prayed that he was hid and was well out of sight.
As the boys released the rope it dropped into the well
The boys all sworn to secrecy, the story of the bell.
The church members had bought a bell and put it on the book
When the people heard it ringing they all came out to look.
Was there a fire somewhere or had someone died
A man was calling to them, please come on inside.
He said “The loan man is coming and we have no money for the bell”
That was when the big boys got the idea of hiding it in the well.
What about the little boy hiding behind the tree
The big boys discovered him there and were as angry as could be.
They grabbed him by the neck, shook him hard and strong
If you ever tell our secret you won’t live very long.
For eighty six years he kept the secret locked up tight inside
He called his daughter to his death bed just before he died.
He said “ Sister, I have kept a secret that I would like to tell”
“It’s all about some big boys and a bell in a well."