Or is it “The Grey Mule?” Webster’s Dictionary defines gray as a color that is a mixture or blend of black and white pigments. Under grey the definition is that grey is the British spelling of the word. Some people think that gray should denote the color and that grey should be used for a person’s name. We do have Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England, who lost her head. And there is Zane Grey the American novelist. But then we also have Dorian Gray. And we have the recent novel and film titled Fifty Shades of Grey. The two words evolved from the Old English term græg. So, it would seem that if your family name is either Gray or Grey, you are stuck with it. However, if defining color you are completely free to choose. OK. So, here I will talk about The Gray Mule. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse (mare). Horses and donkeys are different species with different numbers of chromosomes. Mules are more patient, hardy and long lived than horses and are less obstinate and more intelligent than donkeys. Charles Darwin wrote: "The mule always appears to me a most surprising animal. That a hybrid should possess less obstinacy, more reason, memory, social affection, powers of muscular endurance, and length of life, than either of its parents, seems to indicate that art has here outdone nature." So, it is easy to see why most farms in pre-mechanization times had mules. My stepfather, Frank Weisinger, had one on his farm near Hampton, Arkansas. It was gray and he used it for plowing before tractors were available. Even after he had a tractor, he kept the gray mule on the farm. I always lived with my grandmother and visited my mom, Mary, and Frank in the summer. I never had sense enough to ask why it was like this, just accepted it as it was. It was in the tractor period when the gray mule and I had a lot of free time on our hands in the summer. I remember the first time I took the mule for a ride. There was no saddle and I had only ‘city’ pants, but I finally got aboard and away we went. Both of us soon began to sweat in that hot, humid weather. After a couple of hours I had enough. When I dismounted I found that the seat of my ‘city’ pants had completely disappeared. OK, if I’m going to enjoy this, I have to have some pants such as blue jeans or overalls which I obtained. So that gray mule and I spent quite a few summers together. I had another experience with a gray mule much later in life. My wife, Tami, and I were on one of our visits to El Tovar and the Grand Canyon National Park.
In those days you could get a mule ride down into the Canyon on short notice. Tami’s mule was gray and named Eagle. Mine was a darker color. The guide told us that we would pass some youngsters who would be hiking on the trail and that they would most likely have some marijuana. The mules like to eat it, so it will be necessary to hold tightly to the reins to hold the mules back. He also said to let the kids pass on the inside of the ledge and put the mules close to the edge. It happened and it was just like the guide said. I’m glad those mules were sure footed and not afraid of heights.
OK, back to the farm near Hampton in my days as a youngster. Farm work was very hard in those days. Fortunately, Frank was a hard worker and a very good man. He was very patient with me and my naïve knowledge of life and work on the farm. We enjoyed a lot of good laughs centered around that. Fortunately I never hurt the mule and never wrecked the tractor. I remember Frank coming in from the fields for a quick lunch that Mary would have prepared for him. One of his favorite lunch dishes was black eyed peas and Mary’s home made chili sauce with corn bread. It quickly became a favorite of mine too. Oh, man! I would love to have some of that now. My mouth is watering. The two bowls of black eyed peas and chili, from the Internet, that I
show here are much too watery. This is certainly not the way I recall it. Frank had an interesting mixture for luncheon desert. He would take a slab of butter and mix it with honey. Then he would spread it on corn bread. This was good, too. He told me that the mixture is called a “gray mule.” There is no way to recreate Mary’s chili sauce to go with black eyed peas, but I do sometimes recreate the gray mule. For some reason it doesn’t taste quite as good as it did in those days, but it is enjoyable. I recommend it. I won’t enumerate specific quantities for the recipe, but rather will provide the process for you. Observing the next few photos, take a good pat of butter and then mix honey with it until you achieve a mixture similar to the one you see. As you see, in the gray mule example I am showing, I have clover honey and I am eating
biscuits with my gray mule, but of course corn bread is excellent with the gray mule also. OK, there you have it -
