Riding On A Pick Sack

As I was on my way to town today I noticed the cotton fields all shiny and white. It brought back childhood memories of my mama and how hard she worked. Before all the combines and fancy mechanical pickers it was all done by hand.  Cotton was picked one handful at a time and put in what they called a pick sack. They came in different lengths, 4,6, and 9'.  Imagine dragging a 9' sack behind you full of cotton. Then you carry that sack across the field to a wagon or truck for it to be weighed.  You got paid by the pound not the hour.  I was so little I got to ride on mama pick sack.  I can remember laying there and listening to her and some of the other ladies talking and they were just a picking.  Mama was only 5'2" and she pulled a 9' sack.  She could out work most men in the field.  When I got big enough mama put a strap on a flour sack and she would help me fill mine up then we would dump it in hers.  Then it got to be a thing to help mama pick more than daddy, cause us girls could pick more than boys!  When I would get tired I would still get to lay on mama's pick sack and rest. When she got older it really bothered her to ride by a field and see all the good cotton they had left in the field.  She would say, "If my knees were better we would see if we could pick the rest of that cotton."  My mom lives in my heart and I love sharing our stories with you. Thank you for stopping by my blog.