Went to Western Kansas last week to see part of the tribe. You should know that my middle daughter, Dona M Seeger owns a beauty shop in Lakin, Kansas. The first order upon my arrival was to take a nap in the back room since she was busy with customers. Bill, my son in law from my daughter Patty, came and woke me up. He has been having some health problems so I was glad to see him up and about. As soon as Dona finished her last customer we went to Mi Ranchita to eat. There I seen more grand daughters, grandson, great granddaughters and more great grandsons. It appears I have been very prolific because this little gathering produced 12 or 13 paying customers and only 2 of my daughters were accounted for in this gathering.
After supper we headed out to Dona's house and bed. Now, I forgot that I wanted my haircut while we were in her shop and I did not think about it again till the next day. I was one tired puppy. I did not think about it the next day, but rather Sunday morning when it was almost time to leave. Now I do not know if I discussed the bowl business with Dona or not. Sometimes I have conversations with myself in my head and the bowl business may have happened that way. What I wanted to tell her and did not, was that I was proud of her and the way she has made a successful business to take care of herself and her sons. The bowl business aside.
Back before I was even in school mother was a lady of leisure. Dad did something to make a living , but I do not know what it was. I know he drank and I think he may have been involved in something not quite legal because we always had money when we lived on the Stroh place and he went to the sale and brought home a Shetland pony and that was the meanest damned horse on earth. That is the one that kicked my brother in the face and left him with a very ugly scar that he carried all his life. Jake may or may not have goosed the horse which is what one of his friends said happened. I just don't know.
The important part of the story is that mother always went "to club" and we had to be clean when she took us. Did I tell you how she used to put me under her arm and pump cold water over my head when she washed my hair. Jesus! That water was cold! I still cringe when I think of that. But anyway, back to club.
I do not know what went on at club because us kids had to go into the other room and somebody watched us. The ladies of the club were very helpful to each other. All of them were dressed very nice and wore little hats because that was what they did back then. They shared recipes and gave each other tips on how to raise kids. One of the ladies was a hair cutter. That meant she came to the other ladies houses and cut the kids hair. That was always a day to be excited about.
"Mrs. Soandso will be by on Friday to cut the kids hair."
Now my mother had a special bowl which was for Mrs. Soandso to use as a pattern for the hair cutting job. First we had to get out the haircutting stool which raised us to the proper height so Mrs. Soandso did not have to bend over. She had sharp scissors that were used only for haircutting. The haircutting usually went very smoothly and very quickly. Course if the recipient moved at all, the bowl would slide a bit and one side might be longer then the other. At times like that I was a stone statue because I sure did not want my hair to be uneven. And when she was all done we would line up for inspection. Mother would gush about how beautiful we were and then insist that she take a quarter for herself.
Have you ever looked at the old school pictures? You can spot the kids whose mothers went to club. All of our hair ended right below our ears and sometimes our bangs were only about an inch long . because Mrs. Soandso was tired. Of course we always had to have a "fresh haircut" for pictures. I often wondered back in those days, if there really was a god!
For some reason, when we left the Stroh place and moved everything we owned on a hay rack to the Ailmore place, mother quit going to club. Dad quit going to where ever he used to go. Mother started cleaning houses for the rich ladies in town and life changed without me even knowing it. I wish I had remembered what changed, but I didn't. Sometimes way in the back of my memory, I almost remember something, but not quite. Some where is the memory of a big house with an elevator across the river, and I seem to remember going there once with my dad. But it was never talked about and Dad never went there after we left the Stroh place.
Isn't life funny that way?
