Nubbin Ridge

Life on a small farm in the Texas Panhandle in the decade from 1909 to 1919 was often a time of hardship, especially for a father struggling to care for a sick wife and seven young children. It was also a time of uncomplicated pleasures, of wresting a living from the earth by hard work and faith, of strong family ties. In this affectionate remembrance, Lewis Nordyke re-creates his boyhood years at Nubbin Ridge and, through delightful anecdotes of his family and neighbors, a way of life that is, alas, irretrievable. He tells of his father who was determined to keep the 247-acre farm despite hailstorms, boll weevils, and drought, and of his courageous mother whose determination to raise her seven children would not allow her to give in to the ravages of tuberculosis. There were the halcyon days at the single-room schoolhouse where Miss Missouri Strahan taught all subjects to all pupils, from first to tenth grade; of possum hunting at night, and an occasional meeting with the mysterious Mr. Crow who tramped the woods and scared the children. Once a year there was a Baptist revival meeting when the itenerant preacher would stir up some old-time religion and try to get Father Nordyke to "heed the call." For news there was Grover the Rover who peddled his goods and gossip about the countryside, and for dancing there was Father Nordyke's magic fiddle - and yes, there was even a haunted house! Lewis Nordyke has written a moving and nostalgic account of a delightful era in America's past and a boy's lively participation in it - a reminiscence filled with all the humor, pathos, and gentle laughter of youth.