It was pretty green around here the other day.
Little One (our oldest grandchild) and Papa went out to the garden and picked peas – two baskets full. Peas, peas, and more peas. Our two little rows of plants were loaded down with green pods chock full of those round little balls of deliciousness.
Little One helped me shell quite a few of those peas until she got a tad weary of it.
As we worked together, you might say we were like two peas in a pod. I split open the pods, handed them to Little One and she plucked out the peas and deposited them into a colander.
While the two of us sat at the kitchen table shelling those peas, childhood memories floated back to me, summertime sweet memories, as sweet as those peas.
I remember being a little girl just a couple of years older than my grandchild, sitting on the side porch with my own grandmother shelling peas from our family’s garden.
History seemed like it was repeating itself for me in a way as I shared my recollections with my five-year-old granddaughter right then and there.
And as I verbalized those memories, an old saying came back to me as well. Bless your little pea pickin’ heart.
I recalled that country singer/entertainer Tennessee Ernie Ford used that catch phrase a lot on television shows back when I was a child. And he also actually sang a song entitled, Bless Your Pea Pickin’ Heart.
You can listen to it here.
Who would think baskets full of fresh peas at pea pickin’ time would bring back so many pea pickin’ memories?
“How luscious lies the pea within the pod.” ~ Emily Dickinson
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Mama's Empty Nest 
Nice blog
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Thanks, SaaniaSparkle! Be blessed today.
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My pleasure, followed you 🙌🏻
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I sat on the front porch steps and shelled peas with Grandma and her friends, and ‘bless your pea-pickin’ heart’ is something my mother used to say, although usually as a kind of joke. I didn’t realize that Emily D. had written about them — what fun. She didn’t miss a topic.
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Yes, I too remember folks using that saying as a way of joking and I think that’s how Tennessee Ernie Ford used it too. I understand that in the south, “Well, bless your heart” is meant that way. I also was surprised to find that quote from Emily Dickinson although it’s not quoted in its entirety. I believe it’s from a poem called Forbidden Fruit:
Forbidden fruit a flavor has
That lawful orchards mocks;
How luscious lies the pea within
The pod that Duty locks!
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I know your fresh handpicked peas were delicious.
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They were! The rest got put into the freezer for later use. Be blessed today.
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Thank you
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