10 Things Buddy's cousin did according to him (& Truman Capote)


In the Truman Capote short story "A Christmas memory" Buddy says of his older cousin and friend
"Here are a few things she has done, does do:

  1. killed with a hoe the biggest rattlesnake ever seen in this county (sixteen rattles),
  2. dip snuff (secretly),
  3. tame hummingbirds (just try it) till they balance on her finger,
  4. tell ghost stories (we both believe in ghosts) so tingling they chill you in July,
  5. talk to herself,
  6. take walks in the rain,
  7. grow the prettiest japonicas in town,
  8. know the recipe for every sort of old time Indian cure, including a magical wart remover." We know too
  9. she always spends thirteenths in bed and
  10. puts whisky in her cakes