For some ungodly reason, I woke up at 3:33 this morning and after laying there I decided to get up and face the world. What I had on my little pea brain at that time of morning was thinking about my childhood. After we left the "Stroh" place we moved to a place called the "Ailmore" place, again on the edge of town. I remember it a little better since I was a little older. It was a wood frame house with 4 rooms; kitchen complete with a wood stove and a sink that drained into a bucket, a front/dining/family room, a bedroom with 4 beds like a bunk house, and a back porch. We did have electricity, I think. Our water source was about 15 feet out the back door. Jake and I were in charge of keeping the stock tank pumped full of water for the horses and the milk cow and water brought into the house for drinking, cooking, cleaning and what ever else was needed.
Josephine was in charge of us, as usual. Her job was to clean the house and make sure we did not get into trouble. One day mother had left us money to go to the movie. I think it cost 7 cents each. Only Jake and I could go. So off we went. I had on my good dress. In those days a wardrobe consisted of a dress and a good dress. Good dress was for town and church. We never wore shoes in the summer. We were bought a pair of shoes before school started and we better hope those stayed the right size until the ground thawed out in the spring. Of course we handed our clothes and shoes down to the next kid, but remember I was a girl and Jake was my "hander down". I digress.
So off we went. Between the house and town was a bridge that spanned Bull Creek. Cow Creek was farther from town and much bigger, but Bull Creek fed into it. Bull Creek carried just enough water to make seining for Crawdads a lucrative chore. We would take the big wash boiler which was used to heat water for the laundry and a seine and catch a bunch of crawdads. If we were real lucky we would catch big ones. We pulled thier tails off and boiled them. Then we would remove the shell and eat the meat.
(It was shaped and tasted much like a teeny, tiny, little bitty lobster, I think. But today was movie day! I must add here that since those days I have tasted crawdad and it was not nearly as good as back in those days when daily fare usually consisted of potatoes, corn, beans and that sort of thing served up with a loaf of bread that cost less than a nickle at the store.)
As luck would have it we were almost over the bridge when Jake spotted a big Bull Frog. Nothing would do but to catch that bull frog. Down the bank we scrambled and after that frog! He was fast, but we were faster! We had visions of froglegs soup for supper! Mother would be so proud! At last Jake stood in front of me with the biggest bullfrog in the world clutched in his two hands. Now what? He was covered with mud. I had not fared much better myself. A plan emerged. He would go down the creek a ways where the water was not so muddy and I would carry the bullfrog in my skirt back to the house and have Josephine put it in something. Then I could put on my old dress and come back and we would go on to town. Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men some times go awry. And such was the case with the bullfrog in the skirt.
As I approched the door, Josephine ripped it open with her eyes very, very wide and her mouth drawn up in a tiny, tiny, very tight scowl. "What have you done?" Ah, but my pride of what I carried could not be contained as I stepped in the door and opened my skirt. "Look what we can have for supper! " And you already know what happened next, don't you! Mr Bullfrog saw his opportunity for freedom and leapt from my confines. Josephine screamed and ran around in terror ordering me to catch that monster and get it to hell out of the house. Ah, that I could, but he was very good at escaping. Even better than on the creek bank. Under the bed, and as soon as I got there, he was out and under the dresser. By this time Josephine had found the broom and was urging me onward. What followed has probably scarred me for life, but to make a long story short, eventually the frog was caught and set free outside. I think the cat finally killed him. Jake got tired of waiting and returned to the house just as the frog was launched out the front door. He spoke not a word.
Josephine confiscated our money and the movie trip was cancelled. My dress was removed and I was scoured clean in the stock tank with the cow and horses looking on in bewilderment. Life returned to normal.
Across the road lived two sisters. Well, we thought they were old maids, but they probably were not that old. We used to hide in thier forest and watch them set in their back yard and drink tea. Wasn't that exciting? On up the road lived Mr. and Mrs. Rumble. Mr. Rumble always wanted me to sing Buttons and Bows and told me that when I learned all the verses he would give me a nice shiny dime. Then he would hold it up for me to see. I dreamed of that dime all the time we lived in that house. I could not learn the words because I could only hear part of the song sometimes and isn't like now when I can type it in the browser and there are the words. I remember him.
There was a family friend named Ed Chrisman. He and dad share cropped for many years. This one particular time I recall, dad had gone off drinking in Hutch. Mom was home and Ed Chrisman came by to see him. A storm was expected and he did not want to leave a woman with a bunch of kids there alone and no one knew when dad would return. So we closed all the windows and waited. Jake and I went to the pump house to fill the tank before the storm, so we were out there when it hit. We felt the shed begin to shake so we turned and ran as fast as we could into the house where mother waited with the door open.
I still remember that wind and how scared we were. And when it was over and we went outside it was like a war zone. The haystack that had been so neatly piled for the winter was every where. The only building left standing was the house. The barn was gone. The hen house gone and the chickens wandering around like little lost souls in the yard. The tool shed was in shambles and the old milk cow lay dead in the field. The horses had escaped and were Lord only knows where. Later dad would come home and go "round them up." We learned later that it had been a cyclone. I think a cyclone and a tornado are basically the same thing, but I am not sure. There was a lot of controversy over the proper term at that time. I just couldn't see what difference it made, the results were the same. I guess it is just like when you are in total shock, you reason things out and put all the facts in their own little places and then you can make sense of the situation.
I started school on the Ailmore place. First grade and Miss Donough. She later married Mr. Breece. The circus came to town and I had a free ticket. When I went to the circus and presented my ticket, the man told me I had to pay 5 cents. I was devastated. Mr. Breece stepped up and gave the man a nickle. I was so happy and every day after school I stopped by his house to see if I could do some chores to pay him back. He always said no and finally I stopped asking, but I never forgot. I often wonder if I have ever done anything as I wandered through this life to make some little kid remember me.
Funny the things that stick in your mind as a kid.
Josephine was in charge of us, as usual. Her job was to clean the house and make sure we did not get into trouble. One day mother had left us money to go to the movie. I think it cost 7 cents each. Only Jake and I could go. So off we went. I had on my good dress. In those days a wardrobe consisted of a dress and a good dress. Good dress was for town and church. We never wore shoes in the summer. We were bought a pair of shoes before school started and we better hope those stayed the right size until the ground thawed out in the spring. Of course we handed our clothes and shoes down to the next kid, but remember I was a girl and Jake was my "hander down". I digress.
So off we went. Between the house and town was a bridge that spanned Bull Creek. Cow Creek was farther from town and much bigger, but Bull Creek fed into it. Bull Creek carried just enough water to make seining for Crawdads a lucrative chore. We would take the big wash boiler which was used to heat water for the laundry and a seine and catch a bunch of crawdads. If we were real lucky we would catch big ones. We pulled thier tails off and boiled them. Then we would remove the shell and eat the meat.
(It was shaped and tasted much like a teeny, tiny, little bitty lobster, I think. But today was movie day! I must add here that since those days I have tasted crawdad and it was not nearly as good as back in those days when daily fare usually consisted of potatoes, corn, beans and that sort of thing served up with a loaf of bread that cost less than a nickle at the store.)
As luck would have it we were almost over the bridge when Jake spotted a big Bull Frog. Nothing would do but to catch that bull frog. Down the bank we scrambled and after that frog! He was fast, but we were faster! We had visions of froglegs soup for supper! Mother would be so proud! At last Jake stood in front of me with the biggest bullfrog in the world clutched in his two hands. Now what? He was covered with mud. I had not fared much better myself. A plan emerged. He would go down the creek a ways where the water was not so muddy and I would carry the bullfrog in my skirt back to the house and have Josephine put it in something. Then I could put on my old dress and come back and we would go on to town. Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men some times go awry. And such was the case with the bullfrog in the skirt.
As I approched the door, Josephine ripped it open with her eyes very, very wide and her mouth drawn up in a tiny, tiny, very tight scowl. "What have you done?" Ah, but my pride of what I carried could not be contained as I stepped in the door and opened my skirt. "Look what we can have for supper! " And you already know what happened next, don't you! Mr Bullfrog saw his opportunity for freedom and leapt from my confines. Josephine screamed and ran around in terror ordering me to catch that monster and get it to hell out of the house. Ah, that I could, but he was very good at escaping. Even better than on the creek bank. Under the bed, and as soon as I got there, he was out and under the dresser. By this time Josephine had found the broom and was urging me onward. What followed has probably scarred me for life, but to make a long story short, eventually the frog was caught and set free outside. I think the cat finally killed him. Jake got tired of waiting and returned to the house just as the frog was launched out the front door. He spoke not a word.
Josephine confiscated our money and the movie trip was cancelled. My dress was removed and I was scoured clean in the stock tank with the cow and horses looking on in bewilderment. Life returned to normal.
Across the road lived two sisters. Well, we thought they were old maids, but they probably were not that old. We used to hide in thier forest and watch them set in their back yard and drink tea. Wasn't that exciting? On up the road lived Mr. and Mrs. Rumble. Mr. Rumble always wanted me to sing Buttons and Bows and told me that when I learned all the verses he would give me a nice shiny dime. Then he would hold it up for me to see. I dreamed of that dime all the time we lived in that house. I could not learn the words because I could only hear part of the song sometimes and isn't like now when I can type it in the browser and there are the words. I remember him.
There was a family friend named Ed Chrisman. He and dad share cropped for many years. This one particular time I recall, dad had gone off drinking in Hutch. Mom was home and Ed Chrisman came by to see him. A storm was expected and he did not want to leave a woman with a bunch of kids there alone and no one knew when dad would return. So we closed all the windows and waited. Jake and I went to the pump house to fill the tank before the storm, so we were out there when it hit. We felt the shed begin to shake so we turned and ran as fast as we could into the house where mother waited with the door open.
I still remember that wind and how scared we were. And when it was over and we went outside it was like a war zone. The haystack that had been so neatly piled for the winter was every where. The only building left standing was the house. The barn was gone. The hen house gone and the chickens wandering around like little lost souls in the yard. The tool shed was in shambles and the old milk cow lay dead in the field. The horses had escaped and were Lord only knows where. Later dad would come home and go "round them up." We learned later that it had been a cyclone. I think a cyclone and a tornado are basically the same thing, but I am not sure. There was a lot of controversy over the proper term at that time. I just couldn't see what difference it made, the results were the same. I guess it is just like when you are in total shock, you reason things out and put all the facts in their own little places and then you can make sense of the situation.
I started school on the Ailmore place. First grade and Miss Donough. She later married Mr. Breece. The circus came to town and I had a free ticket. When I went to the circus and presented my ticket, the man told me I had to pay 5 cents. I was devastated. Mr. Breece stepped up and gave the man a nickle. I was so happy and every day after school I stopped by his house to see if I could do some chores to pay him back. He always said no and finally I stopped asking, but I never forgot. I often wonder if I have ever done anything as I wandered through this life to make some little kid remember me.
Funny the things that stick in your mind as a kid.
