How did Pop Carter,
which is June's father,
Mama, how did he celebrate Christmas
when y 'all first married?
When we first married?
Mama, he didn't have a
great big old copper kettle
somewhere hid up in the
mountains, did he?
June can tell you that story, John.
But I will tell you that he used to go
buy a bushel of apples
and a bushel of oranges
and fruit like that for the girls
and he divided it in three ways
and they could do what they wanted to
with it.
They wanted to give it away, okay.
They couldn't have the rest of the others,
they had to,
theirs had to last them through Christmas
an d, you know, they couldn't
go to one of the other girls
and say, hey, give me some of your fruit,
mine's all gone.
I want to tell you that story
about how you ask about the
celebrating.
Back years ago,
they didn't have too much to celebrate
with up in that country
unless you made your own.
And my father, somewhere had him
the dandiest copper kettle
with little pipes going out all over it,
somewhere up in the hills.
uncle knew him.
And my grandmother Carter was
quite a woman
and she never said one word to my daddy
but she was always going into Clinch Mountain
hunting wood
and dragging it out on her back
and she came out of there one day
dragging that great big old fork
and stick with a copper kettle
right on the end of it
and she was my father's name
was Ezra Carter
and she'd say Ezra said oh Ezra said look Gear Esri said,
I found the dandiest copper kettle
for making apple butter.
And he nev er said a word.
We always had good apple butter.