March 2014
This is my grandmother, Jessie Lee Griffin McCrary, in 1922, the spring, tending her first flock of chickens. My grandfather, James Bloumer McCrary, took this photo with his 1921 Kodak camera. They were farmers. Specifically, fish farmers. They raised brim, and Baltimore, and catfish fingerlings. They grew a huge garden every summer, and my grandmother “put up” (canned) hundreds of quarts of vegetables. We, my parents, my sister and I, lived on the farm, also, and we raised cows, grew vegetables, helped with the ponds. It was hard work, but it was satisfying. And fulfilling. And provided me with a lifetime of stories and lessons.
Nancy McCrary
