Too Much Pepper

[This story comes to us from David Pennington, who heard Lee Edmonds share it with Ed Pennington, David’s dad while the two were in the rafters wiring the second story of the Pennington’s house.  David was listening from below.]

I forget your dad's rank aboard the ship [ensign, lieutenant Junior grade , but recall that he had some level of authority. He told my father that the cook on the ship had a habit of dishing up the food, then coating it with pepper till it was black.

I remember him saying, "Now I like a little pepper in my food, but I like to have it mixed in while it's cooking. I talked to him about it, but he told me it was his kitchen and he'd run it the way he wanted to."

One day a cable came in from the War Department, announcing that pepper was to be rationed to a certain amount per man, per month. As your dad told it, "I thought, oh, boy, I've got him now."

So, acting casual, he paid the cook a visit and handed him a copy of the cable. "This just came in, and I thought you ought to see it." The cook took the cable in one hand, leaned on the counter and studied it, while picking his teeth with the other. Then he stood up, got a pencil, and did a little figuring. "Well sir, according to this, I can use twice as much pepper as I have been. If you'd like me to do that, I can oblige." Your dad assured him it would be fine if he didn't change a thing, and beat a hasty retreat.

From the Meat Counter

[This story comes to us from David Pennington, who heard Lee Edmonds share it with Ed Pennington, David’s dad while the two were in the rafters wiring the second story of the Pennington’s house.  David was listening from below.]

One day, Lee’s father asked him to mind the meat counter while he ran an errand.  (Lee’s father worked in a grocery story.)  A woman who was a regular customer came in and asked for a chicken. Lee picked one out of the case and showed it to her. When she said she would take it, he asked her if she wanted it whole or cut up. He'd heard his father ask that question, but he'd never been taught anything about butchering. When the woman asked to have it cut up, he put it on the block and cut it into four pieces with a cleaver--two cuts, like a cross. Then he weighed and wrapped it for her.

A few weeks later, his father asked him to mind the meat counter again. Wouldn't you know it, the same woman came to the counter and asked for a chicken. When he asked her if she wanted it whole or cut up, she said she'd take it whole.

Thoughts On: New Orleans

[This comes from a 3rd-person narrative written by Emmilou Collins Edmonds Adams. Portions in brackets [] were added for clarification.]

Watching the news now about the havoc that Hurricane Katrina [August 2005] made of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans in particular just breaks my heart.
 
My mind cannot comprehend what has really occurred. I have no doubt that in time it will be rebuilt if the Lord does not return first, but I do not think it will be in my lifetime as I am almost 84 years old.
 
This has prompted me to write what few memories I have of New Orleans.
 
Strange as it may seem, I remember having a dream as a child of going to New Orleans in a boat (from Denver?). That is all I remember of the dream and I have remembered very few dreams through the years. I really cannot imagine how I had even heard of New Orleans at that time.
 
My first real connection to New Orleans came in 1943. I had just finished college and was not yet working. Lee had just been commissioned in the USNR and was to be stationed in Raleigh, North Carolina, for three months. I wanted to make a trip to see him. With much reluctance, Mother and Daddy agreed for me to go.
 
We were living in Waco at that time. I went to Houston for a few days which I spent at Uncle Ray’s. I interviewed with Humble Oil Company (to become Esso and then Exxon). The headquarters were in Houston, but the jobs in labs were in Baytown. So I also made a trip there and was interviewed and hired to begin work in September.
 
My agenda for the trip to Raleigh was by train, Houston to New Orleans, New Orleans to Greensborough, North Carolina, change there for Raleigh. It was impossible at that time to get sleeping car reservations. I had seat reservations for the train from New Orleans to Greensborough, but that was all. In the mean time I had to spend the night in New Orleans. Daddy had tried to get me a hotel reservation there but was unable to.
 
I had share a seat with a lady (perhaps ten years older than me) who was in somewhat the same boat. We teamed up and after many phone call were able to get a room we could share in a hotel in the French Quarter. I remember that after checking in, we went out to find a place to get something to eat. And I had shrimp Creole. Next morning we parted ways because she was going a different way, even from a different station.
 
When Lee O [was] back in the States following VJ Day, he was to report to New Orleans for reassignment. By that time we had been married a year, most of it spent apart. I went with him to New Orleans. He expected to be there a few days at least so we spent the day in a rental car trying to find a place to live instead of sightseeing. We did eat at one of the famous restaurants, Antoine’s. We finally found a room in someone’s house. Lee reported in next day and was immediately sent to San Francisco so we spent only one or two nights in that room. When he had orders for discharge a few months later, he had to return to New Orleans, but I did not go with him at that time.
 
I did not return to New Orleans until many, many years later. On one of the trips which Charles and I took with our Young Heart group with our church we went to Disney World [and stopped in New Orleans].

Thoughts On: September 11

[This comes from a narrative written by Emmilou Collins Edmonds Adams.]

Even though I had had the TV on at home until about 8:30, I had shut if off and had gone to the Wellness Center to exercise. When I checked in I was met with something about how awful it was and I didn’t have a clue what was going on--for a moment. Then someone said planes had struck the one of the twin towers of the world Trade Center and the Pentagon.
 
There were many TV monitors in the Wellness Center and of course everyone was watching. We saw the plane strike the second tower. (Of course we would see the film being replayed many times during the next few days.)

Edmonds in Washington County

[This comes from a 3rd-person narrative written by Emmilou Collins Edmonds Adams sometime after 1990, probably around 2000. Portions in brackets [] were added for clarification.]

Lou and Lee O. Edmonds came to Bartlesville [Washington County, Oklahoma] in January of 1946. They came with the influx of new people to work for Phillips Petroleum Company shortly after the end of World War II. Lee O. went to work in the research department when it was still housed in the building with the glass bricks downtown.
 
Since they were expecting their first child, they bought an older house at 1469 Maple instead of a few blocks over in what was then known as the Phillips Edition.
 
They had four sons and one daughter. As their family grew, so did their house. Beginning with the addition of a closet, Lee taught himself building [skills] and with a minimum of help, built a new kitchen, added a bedroom and eventually expanded the upstairs to have four small bedrooms.
 
All of the children attended Jane Philips School most of the time. Because of overcrowding, some of the children went to Horace Mann for kindergarten. Anna, the youngest, even went to McKinley for first grade. By the time she was ready for third grade, and the two older boys had strayed to College, the family had built a new home in Woodland Park.
 
All five children attended Central Junior High school and graduated from College High School.
 
Lee O. died in 1973. Lou continued to live here and in 1990 married Charles W. Adams.
 
The family was active in church. They were charter members of Trinity Baptist Church (which was very close [to their house on Maple). In later years they returned to First Baptist Church.

Thoughts On: Tornados

[This comes from a narrative written by Emmilou Collins Edmonds Adams around the year 2000. Portions in brackets [] were added for clarification.]

I had never had any experiences with tornados as a child. The nearest thing was the bad hail storm we had in San Antonio (see Down in San Antonio). When I was in college my roommate worried about them when she would hear about them on the news. She came from west Texas.
 
As I began my life in Oklahoma, they have often been in my thoughts--especially in the spring which is usually thought of being tornado time, though there have been many at other times of the year including Christmas time.
 
My first experience was on night after Memorial Day. I don’t remember the year but I would guess it was about 1954. At least it was before we had in sirens to warn us. We were awakened in the night with police cars driving the streets with their sirens going. Lee and I got up and got the kids up and we just huddled and waited not having the least idea of what we ought to do. We just waited till we got an all clear. (How did we know?) Later we learned that many people got into their cars and went to the Phillips tunnel and others drove south actually crossing the path of the tornado.
 
At that time the tornado did not touch down at least in a populated area.

Remember When: Stamps Were 3 Cents for a Letter

[This comes from a narrative written by Emmilou Collins Edmonds Adams around the year 2000. Portions in brackets [] were added for clarification.]

Actually I remember when they were 2 cents and postcards were 1 cent.
 
The 3 cent letter was in effect for a long time. You could send Christmas cards for 2 cents if you just tucked the flap in and did not seal them and only signed your name. If you sealed them or wrote a letter, they were three cents.
 
Now we have jumps in postage so frequently that it is hard to remember what the price is.