Folklore...Brooms, Sweeping and Spiders!

  Throughout the years, I have be admonished by countless older folks for my sweeping habits.  I admit that I do not keep the tidiest of houses but, in all fairness, the scoldings were never about cleanliness.  I was reprimanded because of a bunch of old wives' tales that, somehow, have stuck around through the ages.  Not that any of it mattered as I find the beliefs amusing, at best.  

  1.  "Do not sweep dirt out the front door after dark!  You will be sweeping away a friendship!"

  2.  "Never sweep after dusk or you will have a stranger knocking at your door within the hour!"

   3.  "Always sweep dirt OUT the back door but use a dustpan to sweep the dirt toward the inside at the front door.  If you do it the opposite direction, you will be "sweeping" away any money that you made during the day!"

  4.  "Never step over a fallen broom as it will bring bad luck!  To bring good luck, pick up the broom and stand it upside-down!"

  5.  "Stand a broom upside-down and you will be married before the year is out!"

  6.  "If you are sweeping and someone tracks in more dirt, never beat them with your broom or you will be in jail before the week is done!"

  Ok, so several of these are more broom-related than the actual sweeping but you get the idea that I have heard a lot about my housekeeping skills.  I won't even go into the comments about dog and cat hair on the furniture.  (Hey, I have critters.  Don't like it...go home.)  

  This evening, when I was sweeping out the entry way (yes, after dark and sweeping outward not inward), I noticed a slight movement near the doormat.  This was an indoor mat so I was curious as to what was creepy-crawling inside my house. Dropping to my knees, a spider stopped to say hello!  A cute, albeit large (for this type) jumping spider greeted me and convinced me to stop my cleaning.  My very own idea says to leave spiders in the house and never squish them!  There are only a few spiders that I will actually kill.  Brown recluses and those of the widows are on that list.  I deem all others as friends that keep the pests at bay.  With all of the folklore attached to brooms and sweeping, I had to giggle that a jumping spider may have just saved me from being cursed!

  As for the aforementioned admonishments...1.  I sweep any time dirt is on the floor.  2.  Strangers (and most others) are afraid to come to the Bayou after dark.  3.  Money is not of too much importance to me.  4.  Commonsense..Stepping over a fallen broom is asking for an accident...pick it up, for goodness sake!  5.  I am already married so right side up or upside down does not matter.  6.  Beating someone with a broom is never a good idea.  Just don't do it no matter how tempted you are!

  Now a bit of folklore about spiders!  If a spider is in your house, you should never, EVER kill it!  Spiders are associated with wealth and killing it will negate the promise of good fortune.  If it is an absolute must to kill the spider, then you must beg its forgiveness prior to smashing the critter.  So forget about smacking that spider with your broom!  In fact, NEVER sweep that spider out the front door after dark with a fallen broom that you have stepped over in the process of running away from said spider!  Leave it be as it may bring untold wealth!

Oh, The Things People Believe!

  It is funny how many "old wives' tales" stick around and are believed by those who obviously cannot think for themselves.  The preposterous ideas remain steadfast and are defended vehemently.  One such idea popped into my head today as I was hiking to the pier with the old dog, Mr. PJ.  He has a liking for a certain grass that grows near the marsh edge so I have to sort of be on watch for snakes while he munches.  Since he is not a true "Bayou Dog", as of yet, he is a bit oblivious to snakes and just might graze his way right on top of one.  A nasty bite from a cottonmouth would surely do the old fellow in so I try to stay between the dog and the danger zone.   While he was eating, I noticed "Snake Spit" on most of the larger stalked plants that were popping up in the boggy soil.  With the sight of the white, foamy goop on the stems of the plants, my brain started sliding back in time when Mark and I first married.  The "Snake Spit" was ingrained in some of the family members' heads and they would immediately start sprinting from the area.  Regardless of my explanation of what the goo actually is, they still stuck with their belief of it actually being snake spit.  They were not open to any explanations and actually called me a few names that were not the nicest.  So, I quit trying to give any information.  Let folks believe the ridiculousness if they wish.  

  Snake Spit has nothing to do with snakes at all. The white foam is actually the product of a small bug called (of all things) a spittlebug.  This little critter that greatly resembles the leafhopper is the culprit that adorns the garden with the unsightly mess.  The mama spittlebug lays her eggs on the stalks of plants and when those eggs hatch, the little ones immediately start to suck the plant juices from the stalk.  While some is used for food, most is turned into that foamy mess.  This hides the nymph, keeps it from drying out and regulates the temperature around the nymph.  Since the nymph is so tiny, not too many predators will take a bite of the nasty tasting foam for a minuscule tidbit of a bug.

  My thoughts, today, were not really about that bug and its foamy home but were more about how forcefully some folks stick with their misguided ideas.  Never try to change these folks minds.  You will talk yourself blue in the face and still not convince them that what they have long believed is erroneous. With the spittlebugs and their "snake spit", this all comes from a deep seated fear of snakes.  The same folks who argued me down about the origin of the spittle are also the ones that think that every snake is "poisonous" and that snakes actually stalk people just to bite  them.  (Don't even try to explain the difference between poisonous and venomous...just don't.  It is a losing battle.)  Poor, misguided folks.  They do not realize how many amazing things they are missing because of fear.  Yep. even those spittle bugs are pretty amazing when you think about it.

Have I Been Duped?

  Once again, I spent a good ten minutes of my morning splitting persimmon seeds.  There was a little "madness in my methods" since I was checking the weather forecast for the coming winter.  My trial of the seeds is still being processed.  Question???  Can persimmon seeds predict the severity of winter?  I am still pondering the fact.  

  According to the Old Timers around the area, if you slice a seed and find the image of a fork, the winter will be mild.  If you come across a knife, the weather will prove to be stabbing cold.  A spoon, on the other hand, will see you shoveling snow or, at best down here, having a dusting of powder or perhaps sleet.  For the past couple of years, I tested.  Knives and spoons seem to be the most prominent symbol in the seeds that I have tested over the years.  Ice and snow!  Well, that did work out a couple of times with ice storms.  Forks were not often present but warm winters are almost the rule down here.  

  I am thinking that perhaps this system is purely a myth and the Old Timers who keep swearing by it, are fudging a bit on their finds.  When I cut the seeds today, I found spoons....lots and lots of spoons. Mark and I mulled over the discovery.  Should we lay in an extra cord or two of firewood and perhaps weatherize the windows?  Perhaps an investment of some more blankets would be prudent?  Spoons...lots of spoons! Bring on the snow!  Or have I just been duped by a couple of old geezers who were pulling my leg?

Is it true?

The world is filled with myths, old wives' tales, folklore and superstitions.  Some of these are based on fact while others are merely based on fears.  Throughout the years, I have been warned, chided and otherwise advised about so many things that would fall in any one (or more) of the above categories.  At the moment with onset of what appears to be a severe winter for most of the country, I pondered a few of these folklore predictions. There is the superstition that for every foggy morning in August, there will be a snowy day in winter. Now there is a interesting idea.  I wish I would have counted the foggy days in August if there were any.  Our most memorable fogs are usually when the weather is a bit cooler than August which is perhaps our hottest part of summer.  Since I do not recall any foggy August morns, I am supposing we should not look for snow.  I do remember August as being a particularly wet month which was great for the garden!  Then we move on to the old wives' tale about pine cones.  Supposedly, the larger the cone...the colder the winter.  This is another one that we will have to chalk up as a dud.  The squirrels gnawed all of the pine cones before they were mature.  How in the world am I supposed to predict my winter without pine cones?  Early geese migration is another sign of a cold winter.  I do recall seeing a large flock of geese flying into the Bay area way back in the month of August.  At that time, it struck me as being odd.  As a rule, we do not see geese until late November but there they were!  

Now comes the tried and true method of predicting the severity of the coming winter.  Persimmon seeds!  There is a bit of folklore that mentions the cutting of seeds and the type of cutlery found within.  No, I do not mean that you will actually be able to supply your kitchen with all the silverware you need by simply chopping up some seeds but you may be able to decide if you need another blanket or two.  It seems that if you slice a persimmon seed open, there will be an image similar to a fork, knife or spoon found inside.  I decided to test at least that part.  I gathered a dozen or so seeds from under the wild persimmon tree.  With great care, I took out my sharpest knife and proceeded to carve away at that seed.  I would you to know that this was no easy task!  For you folks who have never seen a persimmon seed, they are flat.  Actually, they are about the size of a penny and I do believe they are just as hard!  Now just go try to slice a penny and you will see what I mean.  Anyway, it took several tries before I got the bright idea to trim the edge of the seed case.  Using my kitchen sheers, I snipped at the edge of the seed.  Once that was off, I was able to use the knife to slice the inner portion of the seed.  It was still quite hard so I really had to force the knife.  Finally after ruining six seeds beyond any use, I sliced one quite nicely in half!  Uh, oh.  Not good if I was expecting to be greeted with tidings of a mild winter.  This thing had a spoon shape inside.  That does not bode well for my garden!  You see, the different utensil shapes found inside the seed are supposed to indicate the weather for the upcoming winter.  A fork shows that the winter will be mild.  A knife represents a bitterly cold winter with winds that stab like knives.  A spoon represents the shovel..the kind used in scooping up lots of snow.  I cut three more seeds and found two knives and another spoon.  So, will we have a cold, snowy winter this year?  According to the persimmon seeds we had better gather more firewood!  The cold is coming!

Persimmon seed with the clear image of a spoon inside that indicates a snowy winter!

Actually, if you talk to anyone around here, they will tell you that I have been harping that we are going to have just such a winter.  How did I come up with this idea?  Earlier in the fall, I searched for Woolly Bears.  Those fuzzy red and black caterpillars that are supposed to be able to predict the severity of the winter.  These caterpillars have black bands on either end with a reddish band in the middle.  If that red colored band is narrow, the winter will be harsh.  Every Woolly Bear I found had a very thin band of red. Interestingly enough, the Woolly Bear predictions have proved to be around eighty percent accurate over the past fifty years or so.