My father, Luther Layne told of working for the WPA on the St. Francis River Levee system near Lake City, Arkansas. My mother had been recovering from Typhoid Fever and was not able to get out of bed. There were three small children and a small farm take care of, along with the long hours working on the levee. The day started long before the rooster awoke. First he had to take care of the household chores, making sure mother and the children had something to eat, water from the pump and enough wood chopped and stacked near the stove to last the day. Then it was out to the barn to milk the cows and take care of the hogs and chickens. I think the chickens took care of themselves, free range, before it got expensive.
Mothers brother, Vaughn Collier worked with dad on the levee and lived down the road a mile or so. With times so hard in the Layne house, Aunt Lee had been making dinner for both of them and packing it in a 5 lb. lard bucket. You can almost see this one coming. After a very long morning, doing all the work at home, walking 3 or 4 miles to get to work and then working all morning on the levee, the dinner whistle finally sounded. When they set down to the much anticipated and justly earned meal, they opened the bucket and you guessed, it was lard. God bless them, they are defiantly a hard act to follow.
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