PECANS & MAGNOLIAS

By Beverly Deen

Come back with me to the golden days of the old South. Embrace a warm family life and laugh at the adventures of a tom-boyish girl growing up in Central Florida in the 30s and 40s.Childhood days were spent fishing and swimming in the clear blue water of Rainbow Springs or in the Blue Run River. We played Tarzan, swinging on hanging vines in the nearby woods. Saturday afternoons were happily spent eating popcorn in the theater and watching Gene Autry and Roy Rogers get the bad guys.Hurricanes showed up occasionally and were exciting. Families boarded up windows and prepared for possible evacuation to the community center. During one storm, two pet baby alligators escaped from a tub and we never did find them.Daddy worked as an agent for the Seaboard Railway in Dunnellon. Once in a while, he'd take my brother and me out of school to watch the Ringling Brothers Circus train pass through on its way to winter quarters. We also loved to watch the Texas longhorns in their cattle cars as they passed by. Best of all, however, was spotting snow on some railroad cars from the North as they sped further south.Life in small town America during WWII was a vivid experience for all of us. There was a strong community sense of patriotism-even the children helped out by collecting aluminum foil and scrap iron and buying War Bond stamps.My extended family provided love and care as did the members of our little Southern Baptist Church. This is a story of middle class America during a golden time. Despite the cloud of the Depression, life was simple, standards were clear and it was a wonderful time to grow up.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1492931993
• ISBN13: 9781492931997
• Release Date: November 2013
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 228 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"