It’s day eleven of Inktober and we are still singing our hearts out! Today we turn to a traditional folk song, more like a round, about one of the basics of farm life…making a feather bed! Who knew that could/should become a song!?! Yet here it is. Aunt Rhody needed feathers to make her feather bed, and we need to tell her the old grey goose is dead!
I didn’t know what to do on this one, so I splattered black ink on the page and left it until I was inspired. I then wrote the verses in different ink pens or various sizes! Today it hit me that the ink splatters look like gun shots – yikes! (Let’s call that a productive use of firearms.) When you live on a farm you have to make what you cannot afford to buy, which means almost everything. And Aunt Rhody, being a resourceful gal, needed a new bed – as the lyrics tell us – and the goose was the major contributor to that endeavor. So the goose had to go…and we will thank him for that contribution!
Now it’s time to channel your inner Folk Singer and start singing about that goose….
Go tell Aunt Rhody,
– Traditional Folk Tune
Go tell Aunt Rhody,
Go tell Aunt Rhody
The old Grey Goose is dead.
The one she’s been fattening,
The one she’s ben fattening,
The one she’s been fattening
To make a feather bed.
I am not a fan of firearms, yet living in the country I have learned to respect the contribution they make to a productive life. Feeding a family, making a bed, even protecting what you love from those who want to cause harm. This is a polarizing and volatile subject and In no way am I promoting the use of firearms. I struggled with this one…yet my maternal great Grandmother was a real life Aunt Rhody. She raised thirteen children on a farm in Alabama and they all grew up to be productive and hard working contributors to the world. And yes, that grandmother knew how to handle a gun.
Sometimes in life we do what we have to do to get things done. We use the tools we can to get the job done – and not all of those tools are socially or politically acceptable to everyone. Some people may get offended by the harming of an animal in this song, or the use of a gun, or even the fact that I chose to use this one for Inktober. I prefer to think of it as fondly remembering my own Aunt Rhody who was a hardy woman who helped raise my Mom, who then raised me to become a capable, strong independent woman…who has never shot a gut, yet can respect those who can and do.
Sat tuned for another tune tomorrow…by now your lungs and vocal chords are getting quite a work out!
