Posted by
Frigglesnitz on Monday, September 25, 2006 10:34:45 PM
The title of Mary Katherine Ham's column was one of the best ways to get my attention. What better name for it?
It's a subject that has always warmed the cockles of my heart.
The stories remind me of a perhaps old wives' tale (but it may be true) about a wife who had taken all the beatings she could manage from a drunken husband who apparently felt entitled. After all, maybe he'd had a bad life on the curb or in the gutter.
One night, after such an episode, when her husband, drunk as usual, finally passed out, she proceeded to sew him up in a quilt. He was probably dreaming of "icy fingers up and down his spine." One could only hope.
Next thing she did was go get her iron skillet.
Next thing she did was to proceed to whale the living tar out of him. I should think an old iron skillet could do a fair job of whaling.
I never knew the veracity of this story. Nor did I care. It's a story that never fails to delight me. Who cares about the letter of the law about imminent danger in a case like that? Certainly not me.
It was never clear to me if the husband ever woke up. I tend to think not. On the other hand, perhaps it would be better if he had. I've imagined him as a brainless sod to start with; he would simply continue so, except that after the quilt was ruined, he might have been rather limited in his own whaling abilities.
It's irrelevant. The main thrust (pardon the expression) of this story is that the little lady took action.
All the strong women described in Ms. Ham's column are just that: strong beyond their own imaginings. We no longer need old wives' tales -- they're just something to remember and keep working at.
It's the way we were. Past tense.