Folklore or old wives’ tales offer up a lot of interesting facts. Some are prone to be on target while others are just fun to remember and consider, for I have heard them all my life. Such as:
• When the pecan tree buds out, a freezing frost.is over.
• If it thunders in February, it will frost in April.
• If there is a ring around the moon, it will rain soon.
• If the cows are laying down, the fish will not bite.
• Wind from the East, fish bite the least, but wind from the West, fishing is best.
• If the kernel inside a persimmon seed is a fork shape, winter will be mild; if a spoon shape, winter will be snowy; if a knife shape, winter will cold and harsh.
Then there are the sayings my Dad, Mom, Grandparents, and/or friends repeated often, and they are actually words of wisdom.
• Many hands make light work.
• Never look a gift horse in the mouth.
• People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
• Early to bed and early to rise makes a person, healthy, wealthy, and wise.
• Any job worth doing is worth doing well.
• The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
• Can’t never could do anything.
• The early bird catches the worm.
• Make hay while the sun shines.
• Strike while the iron is hot.
• Hurry up, we’re burning daylight.
• Don’t cry over spilled milk.
• One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
• You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
• Beggars can’t be choosers.
• This is not my first rodeo.
• You’re barking up the wrong tree.
• You’re a day late and a dollar short.
• It will all come out in the wash.
• Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
• A watched pot never boils.
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
• If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas.
• Pretty is as pretty does.
• Home is where the heart is.
• Confession is good for the soul.
• An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
• There is more than one way to skin a cat.
• If it had been a snake, it would have bitten you.
• Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.
• If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
• Birds of a feather stick together.
• It doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.
And there are the old favored Southern saying I love:
• Heavens to Betsy.
• Bless your heart.