Dear Reader:

How many of you remember hearing this expression (growing up) from your mother, aunt, or grandmother? I do remember always wondering what a bushel and a peck were exactly…but it never distracted me from the hug around the neck….that is what I really wanted…just the warm feeling of being loved by a family member.

When I looked it up…the information was very “dry” because a bushel measures dry volume (whatever that is) and one bushel equals 8 dry gallons. One peck equals 8 dry quarts. There are 4 dry pecks in one dry bushel.

Confused enough now? Me too! Never liked math (all of it was too “dry” for me) and I particularly never liked figuring out measurement- pints, quarts, and gallons when they were wet, much less dry.

But this example does provide a metaphor for the type kisses I got, along with, the “hug around the neck.” Some kisses were wet and some were dry. After a few family reunions… as a child you learned when to run get the kleenex before “Wet-kisser Aunt Wendy” arrived.

(It was comparably later in college when I came to know which history professor spit… so stay away from the front row unless you wore a rain jacket… and which history professor “spittled.”)

I would watch, rather fascinated as one professor’s spittle slowly ran down the side of his mouth, during his lecture, and finally drop to the floor. I seem to remember the class having a “pool” (quarter a piece) for whoever came closest to guessing the correct time it took the spittle to hit the floor. If only poor mother knew what she was really paying for back then.)

According to the above sale sign…a bushel of apples plus a peck would cost the consumer $18.00 (See… I can do math… but just the motivating eating kind.)

Anyway, since the idea of the little “ditty” is to impress one’s abundant love on another….a bushel of love plus a peck…I assume that meant a ‘whole lots of loving’ going on! And my favorite family huggers always gave me a “peck” on the cheeks or lips rather than a mushy kiss. Ugh!

The expression really sounds like a good ole’ southern idiom but actually it originated from the Broadway Musical Guys and Dolls around 1950.

Doris Day made the song popular, as well as, Perry Como. Since Perry Como once lived in Saluda, NC while retired from singing… where many retired teacher friends, from Summerville, now live (Several of whom mentioned seeing Como walking along the wooded paths around Saluda when the weather was good)…I thought I would share his version with you. Perry Como sings the song with Betty Hutton.

*I think this song should be dedicated to Doodle…as you listen to the lyrics you will quickly figure out why…and besides I love Doodle a bushel and a peck! Happy Thanksgiving Doodle!

Betty Hutton & Perry Como – A Bushel And A Peck (1950) – YouTube

So until tomorrow…Isn’t it nice to be loved like a “bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck?” Why not try it on someone today?

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Happy Birthday Betsy! I am so glad you could join the “Jackson Birthday” party lunch and I know the family started “birth-daying” for you yesterday….hoping it was and continues to be a fun week and a memorable gift of joy!

Here’s to the Burrell Sisters (Ashley and Tarshie)…supporting each other. Ashley had surgery Wednesday evening for her on-going battle with Chrohn’s disease…everything went smoothly and hopefully this will keep the disease in check for a most deserving Ashley! Honey, even though there wasn’t time to see you….please know you are always in my thoughts and prayers, along with your wonderful family! See you Christmas! The family would appreciate continued prayers as Ashley continues to heal!