Head Into the Wind Quotes

“Always treat ‘em like you’d want a fellow to treat your sister if you had one,” he’d wound up saying.
Toby made a wry face. Maybe Pa should’ve said, like you’d want a man to treat your mother if she was a widow.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“They were gone a long time, long enough for Jake’s throat to get raw from singing and for Mama’s legs to get tired from pumping the organ, if they sang and played all the time they’d been gone.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“Looks like rain again,” Grandpa said, from just behind him.
Toby jerked himself straight and dug stoutly at a sweet-gum sprout. Why in tarnation didn’t Grandpa clear his throat before he got right on a fellow?”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“Toby took a deep breath and let it out. “Look, Holly Sue, I know a short cut to your house. It’s a whole heap nearer than the way you’ve been going. Want me to show you to it this afternoon?”
“Show me to it?” She laughed again. “Goodness me, Toby, how you talk.”
Toby frowned. “You know what I meant.”
“I know, but I have to tease you to make you talk. Besides, you look so cute when your face gets red.”
“Cute?” he snorted. “Dang.”
“All right, Big Britches.” She threw her chin up. “I’ll find the short cut by myself.”
Toby wondered what made girls so contrary, but he still wanted to walk her home. “Tell you what,” he said with a grin, “the best way to find it for yourself is to tag along behind me and when your path turns off from mine, I’ll point with my right hind leg.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“He left their door cracked when he rejoined the others and Toby could hear him allowing that he was mighty proud of his grandsons but was still hankering for a granddaughter.
“Don’t look at me,” Aunt Maribeth said.
“Looks like I’ll have to look to you and Ben,” he said.
Uncle Ben spoke up. “Well now, I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Judging from the gleam in Jake Ransom’s eyes tonight, it wouldn’t shock me a tall to hear wedding bells before another Christmas rolls around.”
“Don’t be silly,” Mama said. “Jake’s just got the Christmas spirit, same as the rest of us.”
Grandpa chuckled. “I wa’n’t none too sure which one Ben meant, you or Jenny, till you spoke up.”
“Aw shucks, Pa,” Aunt Jenny said. “You know good and well I’m too old to put a spark in Jake’s eyes.”
“You ain’t more’n five years older’n Jake and he’s been a widower fer a long time.”
“Thanky fer the backhanded compliment but don’t count on me for your granddaughter.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“Okay, let’s go,” he said and turned so quickly from the window that he bumped Kelly.
“Can’t you see as big a thing as me?” Kelly demanded.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“Uncle Ben got a leather billfold. He declared it was like getting a milk bucket after your cow had gone dry but he thanked Aunt Maribeth and the boys for it anyway.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“Kelly scratcher the paper off and tore the box open and found a toy bugle. He lost interest in handing up the presents right then and there. And he started blowing his bugle and kept it up until Uncle Ben got fed up and declared that if he heard another toot, he’d hang the horn on the gun rack for the day.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“Confound it, boys,” he grumbled. “Why in the Sam Hill must we get up in the middle of the night to open Christmas presents?”
Aunt Maribeth called out, “Quit confounding the boys, Ben. And hurry up and dress so that we can get up.”
Toby snickered as Uncle Ben shook his fist at her door.
Grandpa came through the room with his clothes on. “You fellers kin come on out to the kitchen in ‘bout two shakes of a sheep’s tail,” he said.
Kelly said, “Us fellers’ll be there in one shake.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“Yer nose still itchin’?” Grandpa asked.
“Nope, it’s stopped, but I jest dropped my dishrag.”
“Another sure-fire sign,” Toby cried.
Grandpa chuckled. “How many times has old Clancy crowed from the back-yard stump?”
“Go on, laugh all you want to,” Aunt Jenny said.
“It’s been too cold for old Clancy to leave the henhouse, hasn’t it, Aunt Jenny?”
“Land sakes, yes. Nobody crows in this kind of weather but your grandpa.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“One thing about Auntie, she didn’t try to throw cold water on everything a fellow hoped for.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“I better not ketch you tryin’ to slide on it. A boy don’t never git too big to drown.”
Toby blinked and then stared at his grandfather. “Golly, Grandpa, I hope I don’t look that crazy.” He stripped Betsy’s teats a little more briskly than he needed to and she got even by wrapping her tail around his neck. He tried to spit out some of the urine smell and looked up to see Grandpa’s mouth twist, try to straighten and fail.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“My nose itches.”
“You know what that means, don’t you, Auntie?” Toby said. “Somebody’s comin’.”
Auntie kept on rubbing her nose, “Ummmm, mmmmm, must be a whole passel of ‘em.”
“Yessirreebobtail,” Grandpa said. “Who does your nose say ‘tis, Jenny?”
She didn’t have to wait for her nose to tell her. Quick as you please, she answered, “Ben and Maribeth and your other two grandsons.”
“Now, Jenny,” Grandpa drawled, “if you want us to respect your nose, you better pick some more likely prospects.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“If you don’t hurry,” Auntie said, “you’ll meet yourself coming back.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“He must be goin’ to make a speech,” Toby whispered to Jim.
“Dang,” Jim grumbled. “I’d ruther hear a mule bray.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“Auntie, would you ever consider marrying a man six years younger than you are?”
She stepped back and peered over her glasses at him. And then she said, “Why, I don’t know. I reckon it would depend. If that was his only handicap, I might consider it.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“One more knee to patch,” Aunt Jenny said as she slipped her spread fingers through an overall leg. “I declare to goodness, boy, I b’lieve you stood on your knees more’n your feet this fall.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“Toby leaned away from the knothole. Much as he’d like to get the jump on the other kids by meeting her first, he’d go through one of those cracks before he’d let his new teacher see him in his old work clothes.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“I don’t care how wet we git, do you, Mr. Butler?”
Grandpa thought it over. “Well, I’d sooner let it fall on the thirsty land,” he said, “but when it starts, you know what I’m gonna do?”
“No, what?” Jim said.
“Why, I’ll just let ‘er rain.”
“Shucks.” Little Jim grinned.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“He pulled the whistle out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth, meaning to give it just a light toot to try it out but it went off loud and shrill and made Grandpa jump like a startled rooster.
“Dadburn it, Toby,” he muttered when he saw what it was. “What in the Dan Tucker you think you doin’? Put that thing in yer pocket and keep it there.”
“I bet he thought the law had ‘im,” Jim whispered as they climbed into the empty wagon bed.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“Toby wished they’d clear out. If there was anything he couldn’t stand, it was giggling girls.
One of them said aloud, “Don’t you just love freckles?”
“On boys, I do,” another replied. “On girls, I think they’re tacky.”
Little Jim had no better sense than to grin at that. He said to Toby, “Don’t you wish you had freckles?”
“Shut up, Jim. Don’t pay ‘em no mind,” Toby whispered.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“By golly, a fellow ought to have some say-so in the sale of his eggs.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“What in the Dan Tucker you think you’re doin’ here?” Grandpa growled. Rebel yipped out a soft bark and waved his tail hesitantly. His big brown eyes pleaded for understanding.
“I orta take a brush to you and wear you out. Sneakin’ off and waylayin’ us like this.”
Old Rebel didn’t drop his eyes, not even once. He whined way down deep in his throat and it sounded just like he was saying, “I wanta go.”
“Sure, you wanta go.” Grandpa cut his eye up to see if Toby and Jim were taking in this intelligent conversation. Old Dave looked around at Rebel and whickered. “You stay out of this,” Grandpa spoke shortly to his mule. Turning back to Rebel, he went on, “I don’t like it, don’t like it a tall, but it looks like you got us where the wool’s short.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind

“Don’t worry. You ain’t blind. You’d hafta be kin to a cat to see through this darkness.”
― Robinson Barnwell, Head Into the Wind