Kaufman

After the service at College Mound, Sherry and I went to Kaufman with Tim and his family. We looked for the site of my Grandmother's house in Kaufman, and with a minimal amount of wandering around, found it. We knew that the house had burned down, but we wanted to at least visit the site. Tim and I had both been there as children. This was not really "the old homestead." Our Grandmother had bought the house and moved into town sometime after our grandfather died in 1946. Most of her children were grown and gone by that time. But she lived there until she died in 1966. Our Aunt Jane continued to live there for a number of years. But the house was essentially unmaintainable. Eventually Aunt Jane moved into a modern duplex and the old house was sold. By the time it burned down, the family had had no connection with it for perhaps twenty years.

Next we went to Uncle Jack's farm, about five miles outside of town. This was a real nostalga binge. Tim and I had both visited there as children. Uncle Jack died in 1994, but Aunt Francis continued to live there until about five years ago, when she moved into an assisted living facility, where she still lives. My father and I visited her at the farm, perhaps ten years ago.

The house and the outbuildings are still there, looking very much like they looked when I visited as a child. I have posted some pictures below.

The shed behind the house.


Tim examines the old tractor.


The barn.

I remember being inside the barn as a child when it was well populated with animals, and climbing into the hay loft.


We drove into town for dinner at the Jackson Street BBQ, on the square. Tim had read good reviews of this restaurant on the Internet, so we decided to give it a try. A good decision! The smoke and barbecue smell outside would have pulled me in even without the reviews.


We were met with the sound of Bluegrass music. By pure luck we had gone there on a night when local musicians met to play and sing. There were about a dozen musicians, playing guitars, banjos, and mandolins. I said to Diana as we went in, "This is the real thing!"

They played and sang with no written music. All acoustic. It sounded absolutely professional.



Percussion was provided by a washboard. This was not a joke instrument. This was serious music. The guy standing, in the picture below, is playing a wash tub bass. There is a single string, which is barely visible in the picture. He controls the pitch by pulling back on the top of the stick to change the tension. It sounds pretty much like a real bass. I was amazed.

They played and sang a song that I remembered from my Grandfather's funeral in 1952. In the funeral the song was sung by a quartet with piano accompaniment, but I recognized the tune immediately. I remember just a few of the words. "Cheer up my brother. ... We'll understand (it all by and by.)" But that was enough to find the song on the Internet. I hadn't heard the song since 1952, but there are multiple performances on YouTube. The one I like best is by Johnny Cash .

We stayed there listening to the music until they started to close the restaurant. The waitress took this picture for us.