This past week took me back to Hoke County, N.C., to stay with Aunt Caroline and my cousin Bill. They are both recovering from a series of happenings that left them both less than ambulatory. Bill fell down stairs and broke his leg in two places and his shoulder blade, and Aunt Caroline had surgery on her leg. He has graduated to a cane, and Aunt Caroline is on a walker. Various family members have rotated in and out to help a little where and when we could.

Aunt Caroline is 95 now and a treasure. She plays bridge, attends church regularly and is blessed with a good disposition and a generous spirit.

They live on the old McNeil place. The house was built around 1830 and is little changed except for the addition of a bathroom and an updated kitchen. The kitchen originally was detached from the house, but one of the downstairs bedrooms was converted when the bathroom was added.

There is a vineyard and pecan orchard behind the house, and longleaf pines grow thick.

We would go to Raeford to buy shelled field peas and to Wagram to check the mail. We’d go to Laurinburg to buy groceries and gas, as it’s cheaper there.

One thing we did while I was there was to drive to Raeford, the Hoke County seat, to vote. Bill and Aunt Caroline were able to cast their ballots from the car, which was so convenient.

The whole area was affected by Hurricane Matthew, and even now there are areas without electricity. Some of the cotton crop was damaged by the heavy flooding, and the peanut harvest was another victim of flooding.

Hay is in short supply, and there will be a lot of challenges for farmers.

There were still fields with water standing.

I have never in my life seen such a horde of mosquitoes. It’s impossible to walk from the house to the car without being swarmed. They are thick in the grass and trees.

I went out to the vineyard to cut grape vine for wreaths, and every exposed section of skin is now covered with bites.

We stopped on the edge of one of the Cooleys’ fields of cotton, and I walked out and pulled up a number of stalks of cotton for wreath making.

The plan was to make three —two for our family cemetery plot at Centre Presbyterian Church near Maxton and one for Aunt Carolyn’s front porch.

After they were finished, I fastened a cluster of longleaf pinecones and bolls of cotton onto the bottom and stuck wild grain beneath the pinecones.

Then we drove down to Centre, and I walked out into the cemetery and placed one wreath on our grandparents’ headstone and one on Mama’s.

The cemetery is well kept and was established when the church was built in the 1760s.

Grandmama was the church organist, and Granddaddy was an elder there.

After Granddaddy died, we would often go down to the church with Grandmama and rake up fallen leaves from the plot, and gather up broken sticks and pinecones. It’s a peaceful place, and I’m awfully glad we were able to go and pay tribute to the people who came before us. Without them, we wouldn’t be here.

They lived useful, productive lives and taught us our obligations to the people in our own community and beyond. I hope they’d be pleased with what their grandchildren have done with their lives.

The Pickens County Courier gladly accepts letters to the Editor. Letters must be no longer than 500 words. All letters must be signed, including first and last name, address and phone number in order to be considered for publication. Only the name and city where you reside will be printed. Submission does not guarantee publication. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. No slanderous or obscene material will be accepted. Letters to the Editor and columns do not necessarily the Courier’s opinion. Send letters to  news@thepccourier.com

The tulip bulbs arrived this week, and once again I have high hopes for the spring. Maybe this year will be the year the vermin don’t eat the bulbs before there’s even a chance of seeing the blooms.

On the theory that they can only get to them if they’re planted in the ground, the plan is to protect them from the onslaught by planting them in big sturdy containers.

The Pickens County Courier gladly accepts letters to the Editor. Letters must be no longer than 500 words. All letters must be signed, including first and last name, address and phone number in order to be considered for publication. Only the name and city where you reside will be printed. Submission does not guarantee publication. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. No slanderous or obscene material will be accepted. Letters to the Editor and columns do not necessarily the Courier’s opinion. Send letters to  news@thepccourier.com

We’ve been looking for raw in the shell Spanish peanuts and have been surprised at how hard they are to find. There was a time, and not so long ago, when this was not a problem.

It was possible, if you didn’t grow them, to go to the farmers market or even some grocery stores and buy these peanuts in bulk.

The Pickens County Courier gladly accepts letters to the Editor. Letters must be no longer than 500 words. All letters must be signed, including first and last name, address and phone number in order to be considered for publication. Only the name and city where you reside will be printed. Submission does not guarantee publication. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. No slanderous or obscene material will be accepted. Letters to the Editor and columns do not necessarily the Courier’s opinion. Send letters to  news@thepccourier.com

Do you remember banana pudding? I’m not talking about what is now called banana pudding, but the real kind. The kind Grandmama used to make for dessert on Sunday. There was none of this instant vanilla pudding poured over vanilla wafers and sliced bananas with no meringue on top She wouldn’t have served that to the dogs.

The second presidential debate

Dear Editor,

Thank goodness for Hillary Clinton! My admiration for her has gone over the moon since I watched Sunday’s second presidential debate. Secretary Clinton held her cool in spite of Mr. Trump’s disrespectful and unfounded attacks on her character and professional performance serving the American people for the past 30 years.

It began as a simple, everyday thing. It began when we shipped a birthday gift to our daughter in July.

We used a shipping company that uses initials as a name. We’ll say no more than that.

The gift was a pair of sterling silver earrings valued at $60, plus a $4.95 Hallmark birthday card. It was gift wrapped and placed into a $1.80 bubble envelope. The shipping cost was a little more than $9.

We sent it off and went merrily on our way. It was supposed to arrive in three days. But it did not.

When I went online to track the package, the information posted stated the package had not been delivered. It was never delivered. Finally, the online website informed me that the package was lost.

I was disappointed, but didn’t worry because the package was insured with the company. For some obscure reason, I thought foolishly that the company policy saying they were responsible for the loss would be followed by the company itself. Alas, alack and woe is me. I drove eight miles to the local store and spoke to the manager. He verified that the package was indeed lost and told me I’ve have to send in a claim form, which would be sent to the local store and then given to me.

I stood next to him in the store and listened to him call the main office and request a claim form be sent. A week passed, and nothing happened. I went back after trying and failing to get a claim form from corporate. They told me the form had been sent to the local store. Agent One told me the local store would have to reimburse me for the loss, as corporate wasn’t responsible. I drove to the store and asked the manager if this was true. He said it was not. He also said no claim form had been sent. He gave me a toll-free number to call for more information.

I went home and called the number and spoke to Agent Two, who said the company wasn’t responsible and there was nothing he could do. I asked to speak to his supervisor, Agent Three, who said nothing could be done until they received the claim form. I said the claim form had not been sent. They said it had.

I went online and read a long statement on the company website that said the matter would take seven to 10 days to resolve. Really? I called again and told Agent Four no claim form had been sent. I said I didn’t believe what he was telling me and said I wanted a check for $64.95 mailed to me. He said they weren’t responsible. I said they lost the package and they were responsible. I asked if being trained to lie to customers was part of the general customer service training program. He said he was sorry for any inconvenience. I said it wasn’t an inconvenience, it was an outrage, and asked to speak to his supervisor. His supervisor, Agent Five, came on the line and said there was nothing she could do to help me because she had no authority to do so. I asked who did have authority and asked who her supervisor was. She said her supervisor was on another line and would I like to hold. I said I’d hold for 45 seconds, after which I’d hang up and they could call me back. I waited 45 seconds and hung up.

Sometime later there was a message on my voicemail (I’d been up at Table Rock out of service range) giving me another number to call and telling me to give the tracking number which, of course I’d already given to Agents One, Two, Three, Four and Five.

I waited a few days to cool down before calling and then called the number. I spoke to Agent Six and was told they could do nothing until they received an authorization number from the local store. I said the local store had yet to receive anything from them, and Agent Six said a form had been sent in July. I said it had not, as I’d been to the store and heard the conversation the manager had with corporate.

I asked why they had to receive notification from the local store that the package had been lost when they were the ones who had notified me and the local store that the package had been lost. Agent Six said that was their policy. I said I didn’t believe it.

I said I didn’t lose the package, write the policy terms or do anything wrong. They lost the package, and it was their responsibility to pay for the loss.

I said if they refused to comply with their own policy, I would turn them in to the Better Business Bureau in Atlanta, where their corporate office is located, and also to the Consumer Protection Agency. It would be my pleasure to do so, as it had been 66 days since the package was lost.

Agent Six said she’d resend the form. I asked if she’d copy me the email with the form so I would know she’d really sent it. She said company policy wouldn’t allow her to do that. I said that I had no reason to believe anything she said and without a copy I had only her word that it had been sent and I considered her word worthless. She said she was sending it as we spoke and to call the local store tomorrow.

The next morning I called the local store and was told by the manager that he’d actually received the requested form. I couldn’t believe it. Of course, I haven’t received a check yet, but do feel some progress was made. After all, three visits, five phone calls, four online research sessions and 71 days later, they may actually do what they promised. Time will tell.

“All the President’s Men” was a movie made in 1976 with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman playing the parts of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the reporters for the Washington Post who investigated the Watergate Scandal that led to Richard Nixon’s resignation as president.

I’d read about it at the time and watched the hearings on television. This past weekend I watched the movie for the first time and really enjoyed it.