Oil $500 - By Flavious J. Smith, Jr.

– Chapter 4 –

The Element That Feeds the World

Since I was about 7, I spent every summer of my childhood on my grandfather’s farm in Tennessee.

The temperature would climb to about 102 degrees in late July. Humidity hovered around 95% most days. And the work was hard, backbreaking labor. The kind of work that builds character. (At least that’s what I told my sons when it was their turn to work the farm.)

On a typical day, we were up before the sun.

We stuffed our faces with a healthy breakfast of Grandma’s bacon, eggs, ham, pork chops, biscuits, grits, honey, butter, and hot fried apple pies. Yes, we had dessert at breakfast. My grandma had seven children. I think it just became habit to cook for nine mouths. Whenever I was there, I tried to be three of them.

By 7 a.m., we were out the door driving tractors and hauling hay.

161

Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker