Time was, we got together. Not like oil and water, but like figs and goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto with a glass of pinot noir. Things that meld in taste. Nothing better than cantaloupe and bacon — or the first gulp of brewsky. Germans think beer in a can is barbaric.

From the 12th century “togaedere,” to gather together. Used pleonastically for agreement and harmony. Seems like we try to reinvent a new wrinkle in true togetherness daily. As Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together except when they be agreed?”

School has just started, but here is a test. What pairs with what? How many can you remember?

Read aloud to someone you know. Salt and pepper, spic and span, bacon and eggs, toss and turn, rack and ruin, this and that, come and go, when and why, rich and famous, cash and carry, lettuce and tomato, hearts and roses (or guns), up and down, night and day, chicken and noodles (dumplings, Aaron), curds and whey, thick and thin, moon and stars, pins and needles, hammer and nails, gee and haw, cut and curl, kit and caboodle, needle and thread, paper and scissors, bowl and pitcher, button and bows, dead and gone, eyes and ears, dark and dreary, time and money, hook and ladder, socks and shoes, rats and mice, or snakes is OK, knife and fork, God and country, birds and bees, fingers and toes, divide and conquer, war and peace, lost and found, pots and pans, hugs and kisses, nook and crannies, peas and carrots, names and faces, hot and dry (no score for guys whO said sexy), heaven and hell, rebels and yankees, rant and rave.

Then these famous couples, Dagwood and Blondie, Rhett and Scarlett, Mutt and Jeff, Frick and Frack, Amos and Andy, Anthony and Cleopatra, Romulus and Remus, Currier and Ives and finally the ever present right and wrong and black and white. If you got over 50 correct, you are probably over 70 years old or you live in the past.

Some things blend with age and get better. Some colors go together and opposites on the color wheel match perfectly and show each other’s best qualities and contrasts. Too many colors make muddy water, together.

Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.”

In the 1900 census, whether you were the proprietor, manager, porter, salesman, spooler or spinner, a watchman or a packer or a driver, you were important. Some paired up, like Noah taught us, to live together in perfect harmony and teach the world to sing. “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.” — Matthew 19:6.

It’s not always a bed of flowers. Weeds grow.

You had others who helped you. Cook, laundress, laborer, domestic or a poor widow, who each did their part. Everyone had a task, a position, a chore in life, to do good and prosper. They all put their pants on one leg at a time, to go to work.

In the 1900 city directory, Charles Henderson was the bellman at the Empire and lived at 116 West St. Pinner Hawkins was a chambermaid and lived at the Empire.

“Maybe we’re ragged and funny … but we’ll travel along, singing a song, side by side.”

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a great big “get together” one day?

Clyde is a Salisbury artist.