Late 1800s
Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida
 |
| Marie Dunnigan |
Marie Dunnigan writes: I recently learned the most dreadful news while I was volunteering as a nursing assistant. There was a young man in a wheel chair with a bandage around his eyes. I asked what happened to him and a nurse said he was hit across the face by a horse’s tail. While everyone knows not to stand behind a horse lest it kick you, the swish of his tail is like a whip, but it is more than that. The nurse explained how the hair from the horse tail is jagged and not smooth like that of the mane, so it actually lacerated the man’s eyes. I so hope he recovers. Over my long eighteen years on this earth, I had never heard there was a difference in texture between the horse’s mane and tail. I knew surgeons use the hair from the mane to stitch up wounds and guessed they didn’t use the tail only because of the location where it naturally would be dirty. While I would prefer being at home reading a romantic novel in the shade of our talkin' tree, I must admit when I learn new things, I feel smart, almost as smart of Carolena, my big sister. She has the best brain of all of us, except our mother. Miss Ella outsmarts Daddy every day of his life.
2014
Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida
Jane Marie writes: I, too, found out this fact when we were visiting Fort Clinch, here on Amelia Island, Florida. While there are no real soldiers stationed there in this time, gentleman called re-enactors dress in Civil War uniforms and pretend the year is 1864. It’s so very interesting to those of us who love history. Well, I know you’ve been to Fort Clinch over the years. I don’t know if the two-story building directly across the parade ground from the main entrance was build in your day. When you climb the stairs to the second floor hospital, the first thing you notice is, unlike the other buildings with red brick interiors, all the walls here are painted white inside and the windows are opened. The breeze was glorious this hot late summer day and the man playing the part of the surgeon explained that General Grant, (I am sorry if that name still upsets you), I believe he said it was Grant, received word how a bright and ventilated room speeds healing. To this end, he ordered all the infirmaries, where possible, should be located on the second floor and have white walls. He also mentioned to those of us visiting about the difference between a horse’s mane and tail. I’m not around horses very often. We ride in automobiles, powered by gasoline, but next time I am, I will compare the two by feel.
Oh, and as to your mother being the smart one in the family, I have to agree. With all that goes on in the lives of the Dunnigans of Amelia Island, it takes a powerful woman to handle the unexpected and keep everyone feeling comforted and stable--everyone except Aunt Noreen. She is impossible to control...
Marie is the youngest sibling of four Dunnigan children featured in Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie Trilogy set on Amelia Island, Florida in the 1880s. Through the magic of electronics, she and the other characters in these fictional novels are able to communicate with their author, Jane Marie Malcolm, who, coincidentally resides in the same town of Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida.
Oh, and as to your mother being the smart one in the family, I have to agree. With all that goes on in the lives of the Dunnigans of Amelia Island, it takes a powerful woman to handle the unexpected and keep everyone feeling comforted and stable--everyone except Aunt Noreen. She is impossible to control...
Marie is the youngest sibling of four Dunnigan children featured in Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie Trilogy set on Amelia Island, Florida in the 1880s. Through the magic of electronics, she and the other characters in these fictional novels are able to communicate with their author, Jane Marie Malcolm, who, coincidentally resides in the same town of Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida.
