[Ansteorra] How the Civil War Applies to Us (LONG)

[Sher M]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Martha Elliff"

>How do I know the parts of history that aren’t widely taught in public 
>schools?  My great grandmother’s roots were deep in Alabama and the four 
>inch thick etiquette >book I balanced on _my_ head as a child had been 
>handed down for generations.  I am sad that there are not more people of my 
>age group with those experiences.  A >good deal was gained in that war but 
>oh so much was also lost.  There are few vestiges of the Southern cultural 
>interaction remaining.  Do I think that we shouldn’t >progress?  Are you 
>kidding?  If we hadn’t, I wouldn’t be about to get my Master’s.  I wouldn’t 
>be able to be a businesswoman, a fighter, an equestrian, a metal and wood 
> >worker, a dancer, and an artist. <G> By the same token, I think that 
>learning the basics of needlework at your mother’s knee is priceless 
>because if you can’t learn a >little patience there, you never will ;)


OMG... I so remember the back straight, chest out, tummy in, rear end tucked 
under, chin up, and book on top of the head.  However, mine had a slight 
twist.  I had to walk with 3-5 different size books stacked on top of my 
pointy little head AND 'gracefully' pour a cup of tea or coffee, sit, stand, 
all that 'fun stuff'.  Miss Pat (whose family owned a plantation and freed 
their slaves before the War) made it a point to wear a thimble when the 
family slouch was at her house.  Let me tell you ... a thimble well applied 
hurts like a son of a gun.  If there was a male over 4 years old around and 
I opened the door... THUMP!  Young ladies do NOT open doors when there is a 
male available.  Right now I'm feeling a mental THUMP because I was slouched 
over my computer.

I don't know your age but did you have to learn how to sit properly in a 
hoop petticoat?  Lord love a duck... first time I sat down in one it went 
over my head and I thought Miss Pat was going to have a stroke!

Runa of the Thundering Herd
http://thethunderingherd.net/

P.S.  I got thrown out of ballet classes for kicking the girls in front of 
me and behind me... I'm blaming it on Long Legs!