The Swamp Road Chronicles®
"Snowy Owl"
My
story begins a hundred years ago or so, when my grandma was a little girl. She
was born and raised in the mountains of eastern Kentucky near a little
settlement called 'Tomahawk'. Her daddy
was a coal miner and logger. They were true mountain people. They couldn't read
or write, but they had great wisdom and knowledge concerning things that folks
today know nothing about.
My
grandma knew where to find ginseng for tea that could heal the dead. She knew
when to pick it and how to prepare it and what to mix with it to multiply its
benefits. She could find bloodroot, beewort,
maidenhair, or Dutchman's Britches or whatever was needed for whatever ailed
you. She knew which mushrooms could be eaten for medicine or just good eating.
Grandma
could predict rain by the turning of tree leaves. She understood something
about ghosts, spirits of the forest and other "elementals." She knew
signs too. Like signs someone would die soon, or bad trouble was on the way.
Signs like a ring around the moon late after midnight, and the clicking of
deathwatch beetles in the walls. She could tell you the meaning of a dream
about losing a tooth or a cow dying or lightning striking a gravestone, and
what to do about it. She passed all of this knowledge and wisdom along to their
daughter, my mother Nell.
My
parents moved to Ohio in the 1950s to seek a better life. Unfortunately, my
father was killed in an accident where he worked at Buckeye Steel in Columbus.
They had been married just 1 year and I was just 3 months old when Daddy died.
Mother received some money from Buckeye Steel and Daddy had a small life
insurance policy. Mama took those funds and bought a small farm in Licking
County near Swamp Road.
When
I was six I became deathly ill, my mother used her knowledge of roots and herbs
and the doctor was called in, he said it was hopeless; the Minister from the Baptist
church said "God's will be done." My mother prayed with all of her
might and nursed me tirelessly. But I only got worse. Sometimes Death wins. One
evening Mama heard the hooting of an owl outside of our little farmhouse.
For
three nights in a row that owl sat on a limb outside of my bedroom and called
out in a piteous way. Mama went out to the larch tree beside our house and she could
see the owl sitting high up in the branches. She said it was a Snowy Owl, It
was way south of where they are normally found; Mama told me, when I was older,
the owl had been sent on a mission of mercy to warn us that Death was coming.
Someone once wrote that an owl, late at night, when it calls out can sound like
an old ghost mourning for something sad and long ago forgotten. That's a
romantic thought, but, Mama knew it was an omen of impending death, mine.
Finally,
when all hope was lost, my mother returned to the knowledge passed down by her
parents and she turned to darker forces to try to save my life. She had learned
all about Swamp Road Sally from her friends among the neighbor ladies and
decided to seek Sally's help.
As
she was taught, she gathered a basket of several items that included Black Gum
Honey, biddy eggs, and mandrake root. There were other items included that she
knew had strong spiritual influences. At
three in the morning she stood in the middle of Pigeon Swamp Road and called
out to Sally or whatever spirits might be listening. She told them of her
basket of offering and she pleaded for their help in saving the life of her
daughter - me. She left the basket and returned home; she placed me beside her
in bed and then she watched over me throughout the night, wiping my face with a
cool, damp cloth.
Mama
told me that as the sun was coming up and the roosters began to crow, my fever
broke. I was soaking wet, but I was going to live. I rapidly improved and in
two weeks I was back in school. Mama rarely mentioned these events. She shared
with me her knowledge of plants and herbs, but never the signs. But, she did
say she believed that Swamp Road Sally had heard her plea and felt pity for her
and me and stepped in between me and Death.
Submitted by Billie Warren, 5-28-2023
