"And oh my lordy me, I had a fine beau at the time.  Auburn hair, blue eyed and a fine young man who favored me as well.  He lived in the next county over, across the river, where his father owned three thousand acres of fine cotton land.  No-not as much as Papa, but still, quite a fine plantation.   He would ride over every few days during the early stages of the woah.  Who was he?  Oh, I'm sorry, Jeffry Burton was his name.  Any of the girls around here could have told you that and would almost swoon while utterin' the words.  He was that good lookin'.  But he didn't pay no attention to those other silly thangs, because he was in love with me."


I know what you're thinkin' now.  I ain't dumb.  I used to be beautiful, believe it or not.  I had some pictures made one time by a travelin' photographer.  I wisht I still had them.  But as I was sayin', Jeffry only had eyes for me and we planned on marryin' when he come back from the woah.  Except he didn't- come back from the woah, that is.  It was only a month since we had kissed goodbye when he died on the battlefield.  I saw his name on the list.  I tell you, it was almost as if my name was on there too."


"While I was grievin' foah Jeffry, not knowin what day it was or where I was most of the time, Papa went off to the woah too.  I didn't know it though, I was that heartbroken and alone.  By the time I was able to cope again, Papa was gone off the fight the Yankees too.  I was a lost  soul after that  A lost, soul if there ever was one.  But as you can see, I survived.  There were many much worse off than me.  I just kept tellin' myself that, anyways."


"Morgan Riley was Jeffry's best friend during the woah, was with him when it happened.  I had given Jeffry a new outfit to wear when he left for battle.  I bought the softest and finest dove gray cloth I could find and had my seamstresses on the plantation sew him a masterpiece.  When he first tried it on even the slave girls had to sigh.Of course...so did I.  My heart still skips a beat when I remember how really fine he looked in that uniform.  Like it's doing right this moment.  Don't never let them tell you an old woman doesn't  still have feelin's for her first beau, or her only beau in my case. Don't ever believe that at all."


"I told you he had auburn hair, didn't I?  Long, almost to his shoulders it was.  With his black knee high boots and seated on his favorite red horse-to match his hair I always teased him-- he looked more than handsome through my tears  when he rode away.  I cannot imagine him as they say he died.  I hope it wasn't true what Morgan said.  I never asked him personally if it was.  I prefer to think it a rumor and always will."


After The War

"What's that you said, Missy?  Oh, I didn't never tell you, did I?  Grape shot, Morgan told my brother.  Said Jeffry's head was almost gone after it hit him.  But I didn't believe that tale, no ma'am.  No, it was a clean shot through his heart that killed him I'll always believe.  Through mine too it was.  I never  found another man who I loved like I did  Jeffry.  There were no more young men like him after the woah, I suppose they all died.  Anyway, you asked me why I never married when Papa lost everything.  Now you know."

"I was broke after the woah.  Nowhere to go and no one to love me anymore.  And the men who came back were  all shot up, missing arms and legs, some without all their faces.  No, compared to Jeffry they were no match for  
 my memories of love, nothing to catch my fancy at all.  That's why now I teach young girls how to be ladies, how to act around the young and older men, how to find their own Jeffry I suppose.  But that's fine with me.  I've nothing else to do with my life now."

"So you see, I know exactly how sore your feet are after the dance last night.  Here let me draw you a hot bath and I'll warm some oil for your feet.  And while you're driftn' off to sleep, I'll tell you about when the Yankees burned Spring Knoll to the ground.  I wish't I still had those pictures of me in my ball gown, but they were in the house when they burned it up.  There was one of Jeffry and me together and he was lookin' into my eyes real intense like.  Course they was black and white pictures and you couldn't tell how beautiful his hair really was, but still..."

To  the left is a picture from my hotel room of the rooftops  of downtown Ribe.  Most unfortunately, on Sept. the 3rd, 1580, a terrible fire destroyed a large area of the ancient town. But, to an American, this was still quite a look at the past. Our oldest buildings and city, are, of course, St Augustine, Florida, with Jamestown, Virginia, coming next in 1607 after the failed attempt at colonization on Roanoke Island, North Carolina in the 1580s, that led to the famous "lost colony" mystery. As for the first, St. Augustine, it came into being about a decade and a half  before the burnt parts of Ribe were being rebuilt.

 At the risk of admitting some naughtiness, on waking the first morning, I noticed on looking out the window to across the street, a young and attractive woman, maybe on the second floor of the building she was in,  outside her room on the balcony. She was stark naked, walking about, talking on the telephone. This was a sight you just didn't see often in America (at least not where I came from) and I innocently admired the lady's charms until her internal radar zeroed in on me and she looked up, saw the gazer, and then just sauntered on back inside.

To right is a picture of Danish school students doing some cleaning of the old buildings with toothbrushes. Obviously done for fun or perhaps a dare, it shows the spirit of the Danish people. They're good sports and like to have fun and laugh.  Ribe was a great enjoyment to walk around that day. I noticed many languages on this mission of discovery and it's certainly no surprise. Yes, Ribe is a must see for any visit to Denmark my friends. I could hardly wait for the fall of night and what it might bring.