When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #60

60-High school is over – the ride down the rock slide and my neck really hurt!

Have you ever done something daring and it didn’t turn out so well? Maybe you did something really stupid!

Well it was summer; we had just graduated a month earlier from high school. My friends had some free time and wanted to go swimming. We had this neat little place just outside of town in the foothills where the water tower stood. There was a little stream below. Just a little up the hillside was an irrigation ditch, which flowed with water. It had a small wooden dam (gate) that you could move up and down. If you put the little dam down the ditch would fill with water and over flow.

There was one particular spot that had a natural rock slide formation and the water spilled over the top of the ditch and down that rock slide. It was probably about 30 feet long and about 30 feet wide and at the bottom was a little stream. You could let the irrigation ditch overflow and the rock slide was wet and you could slide (like a water slide) down to the stream and splash! It was a lot of fun! The problem was that I was ‘afraid to slide’ down the rock slide. There were about 5 of us that went there. They were all sliding and having a great time and tried to coax me down the rock slide.

Looking down from the top of the rock slide to the bottom on the left side there was about 3-feet wide and 3-feet longer than the rest of the rock slide. The stream at the bottom had about a 2-foot sand bank. There were rocks in the stream. Well everyone would slide down the center of the rock slide to land in the stream. I finally got the courage to do it. However I didn’t balance quite right and leaned a little bit too far on my left and I slid from the middle over to the left and you slid down pretty fast! Where the extra piece jutted out was where I went and it projected me too far and I did not land in the stream. I was thrown forward into the bank and my forehead smacked onto a big rock! OUCH! I had quite a knot on my forehead and it hurt pretty badly. I felt sick to my stomach and had quite a bad headache.

My friends ran over to me to check to see if I was okay. I remember getting up and saying something like, “Ouch! I don’t feel so good.” My friends saw the knot on my forehead and walked me back to their car and took me straight home. My mom took me to the town clinic. Doc Klump checked me over and said I had quite a knot and slight concussion. There was another doc in the same clinic that knew chiropractic adjustments as well. I remember lying on my back and he came in and said I needed a neck adjustment. He popped my neck and you could hear this loud ‘crack’! My mom jumped up and Doc Klump rushed in. I guess they were checking to be sure my neck wasn’t broke. It felt okay but later that night I was sick to my stomach. They never once took an x-ray of my neck and back. I look back on that now and I was quite fortunate that I did not have a serious injury from that adjustment.

A few weeks went by and I was still feeling sick. I went to a chiropractor in the next town. He took an x-ray and I had a bad neck injury. Two discs were jammed together and the small little (I call it a q-tip bone) bone that rests between the discs was shoved forward and nerve had popped out of one end of that little bone. There was a curve at the top of my neck and rather than it curving into my body, it now curve like a backward ‘c’. None of this was good. I had to have chiropractic treatment for years after. It took 15 years for the curve in my neck to finally curve back toward my body.

To this day I have to be very careful. I get vertigo very easily. I have to be careful when being in a car if we are in a turn, I have to look straight, close my eyes, or follow the curve. When lying on my back and then to get up, I have to turn my head to the side before getting up.

I’ll always remember that ‘fun day’ on the rock slide. It was an injury for life. Oh well. Life goes on. My injury could have been far worse. It just happened to be one of those dumb luck accidents!

Pictures of Graduation

Graduation Time!

I thought for this ‘99th’ post I would have some fun!

All these pictures are of my children at graduation time. I also added two military pictures for fun. One of Neil in the Air Force and one of our son David in the Navy.

I hope my children would have some fun seeing ‘who’ they look like! I see my children and think I know who they look like, but now they can see for themselves!

Of course I am prejudice and they are all beautiful as well as handsome! They are the jewels in my crown!

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #59

59-High School graduation - dance – a drive-in movie

Today most high schools have a senior graduation party or some type of event following the graduation. Back in my day (1968) they did not have things like that. However, we had a parent of one of my high school friends who owned a drive-in movie theater. He showed a double-feature movie that started at mid-night and went until 4:00a.m.

I guess I should mention here that my high school was The Tularosa Wildcats! When my older brother Douglas was in high school he was on the yearbook staff and he drew cartoons for the year book and one was of the wildcat. Our school colors were maroon and white. Our school and student body had 'plenty of school spirit!'

We had graduation on the football field. We all sat on folding chairs. The parents sat on the bleachers.Our school colors were maroon and white. The boys wore maroon gowns and the girls wore white gowns and the graduation caps matched. In my day, you had to dress in Sunday best. The boys could not wear jeans and boots or sneakers (today they call them athletic shoes). They had to wear black slacks, a white shirt and dark tie. Their hair had to be short and nicely combed. Their hair couldn’t touch their shirt color. They could not have any facial hair either. They were pretty clean cut looking. The girls had to wear a dress or nice skirt and blouse. The skirts had to come to the knee. You had to wear nylons and heels. We also looked very nice.

I don’t remember anything about the speech given. I do remember that my friend Barbara Payne was the class valedictorian and my other friend Sally Spengler was the Salutatorian. I remember going up to receive my diploma. I felt triumphant! I made it! I was done! (I was a B average student-not bad.) The time came when we were to take the tassel on our mortarboard (graduation cap) and move it from the right side over to the left side of our board. We were officially graduated! When the ceremony was over and the prayer was said (Yes! We had school prayer when I went to school!) many of the students threw their gradation caps into the air! Not me. I didn’t want to lose mine. However, I don’t have it today!




When graduation was over several of our friends went on double dates and we went to dinner and then on to the movie. I don’t remember what the movies were but I do remember we had a lot of fun laughing and having such a wonderful time! My date that night was Robert (we called him Bobby) Yerby. We grew up in the same town together and all through school. After the movie, we all went to a restaurant for breakfast and I got home at 5:00a.m. Boy did I think that was neat! My curfew was midnight, but since I had graduated I could be out late. My friends and I thought we were pretty hot stuff being graduated. We were no longer high school kids. We were out in the big, wide world! Whoopee!

I look back on that now, and having 5 of my own children graduate, we weren’t such hot stuff. We were on the threshold of young adulthood and now had to face reality, jobs, marriage, college, etc. Before graduation we were the big fish in the little sea. Now having graduated, we were back to being little fish in the big world!

Ahh, but what great high school memories, friends and nostalgia! I did not particularly enjoy high school. I was always older thinking and behaving and worked at 15 years old and up and serious about my religion. I was glad to be out of school and in the work force making my way. I did enjoy the school friends, dances, sports, but glad to be on the outside and not so interested in looking in the fence anymore. Life had a new place for me.

Here are those pictures I couldn't find!

This is my senior picture for my high school year book. I was 17 years old. This was the picture my dad showed the young airman who worked in my dad's office. He was my date for my senior prom. See previous post for story.

This is a picture of me on the night of my senior prom. I was 17 1/2 years old. Again see previous post regarding story.

This is a picture of me on the night of my Junior prom. I was 16 1/2 years old. See previous post regarding the story.

My how I have changed since these pictures were taken! They were taken 40 years ago!

When Grandma Was A Little Girl- #58

58-High School Prom – Jr./Sr. Prom

Our high school was rather small so when it came time for the prom, it was a joint prom for both the juniors and seniors. I went to both my junior and senior prom and had a blast (fun) at both of them!

My mom sewed clothes very well. She sewed my junior prom dress. It was a pale mint green satin with an overlay of chiffon the same color. It was knee length, had a waistline, sleeveless and shallow scoop neck, just to the collarbone. She also made a cape out of the pale mint green chiffon fabric. I wore one of my mother’s necklaces, rhinestones in a gold oval setting linked together in sort of a chain link fashion. She also had matching earrings. I wore gold high heels that had glitter on the top half of the shoes covering the toes. They were gorgeous. I still have those shoes today! They are 42 years old as of 2008! I remember my date too. I invited a friend of ours from church, Ron Hill. He was 7 years older than me, but we had fun. Now when I look back on that I think, ‘Wow, he sure was a good sport to go to my 16-year old junior prom! He could have been one of the teachers or chaperons! I do remember getting a few odd stares. My friend Larry Beach said, ‘How old is that guy? He’s a man!’ I laugh about that now!

I remember my senior prom too. My mom made me a very pretty long formal gown. It was white satin brocade. It had a waistline, sleeveless and not too full in the skirt. It was a straight skirt, but not form fitting. I wore a pretty rhinestone necklace with a pretty wide rhinestone gold bracelet. I wore white satin heels and had elbow length white gloves and a very small white satin purse with a dainty gold handle. I felt so elegant! Our prom (and in my junior year) was held in our high school gymnasium. The music was loud and wonderful! There was a photographer there (also at my junior prom) that took pictures. The gym was decorated so lovely. It was all so elegant!

My date was an Airman First Class Danny Robinette who was stationed at Holloman Air Force Base. He worked in my dad’s office in the Civil Engineering Dept. He was 21. He was 4 years older than me. At least this time, closer to my age! He was so handsome! I needed a date for my senior prom and my dad asked Danny if he would like to be my date. He showed him my senior picture and said, ‘Yes!’ I was okay looking. We had a ball! We dated for a few months after I graduated. He was transferred to Germany and that ended that!

I will always remember both my proms. They were special. I had a wonderful time! I was also with wonderful friends!

Kirsten gets crafty with Christmas!

The first picture is a class invitation Kirsten's tutor helped her put together. They are having a Christmas class tea on Thursday, Dec. 18th, in the morning for parents and class students in her class. [The teacher went to Ben Franklin and had the Christmas tree lights punched.] The tutor put the glue on the invitation and Kirsten hand over hand pressed them onto the invitation. The whole class made these. I thought it was so cute!

This is a picture of a snowman that I made. I am going to teach Kirsten's class to do this in January. It's Kirsten's Life Skills class and they are handicapped so this is a fun activity for them to do. I have the hat and scarf already cut out for them. They will put their own cotton balls on their snowmen.

This picture is of the Santa I just showed them in class last week. I had precut the holly for them. The kids cut around the line of the Santa hat I had for them. They can do some cutting, but not fine and tedious cutting. The kids loved the coloring portion and loved the glue and cotton balls! They were all so happy with their finished Santas! Kirsten's tutor colored her picture and put the glue on and Kirsten put the cotton balls on hand over hand. She's fussy about her hands getting anything on them that is remotely sticky or messy!

This last picture is of a Hand Christmas tree that Kirsten and I just did this afternoon. I saw Emily Guptill's blog and I was so impressed with the Hand Christmas Tree that I just had to make one today! I traced over Kirsten's hand onto green construction paper. Again, Kirsten doesn't like her hands messed with. I put the glue on her paper hands and she pressed them together with my hands over her hands. Then I just used ribbon that I had, cut it and put glue dots all over her tree. I used the eraser end of a pencil to pick up the bits and pieces and put them onto her glue dots on her tree. I then put some glue on a picture frame I copied from a program I have. Kirsten pressed her tree onto the frame. When we were finished she had the 'biggest smile' on her face! :o) She loved her tree!

I love to look at Emily's blogs for her crafts and food. She does such an awesome job with Mathew!

Kirsten and Santa Claus

Neil's company had their annual Christmas party in Seattle at the Westin Hotel in two of their ballrooms. They have a very nice buffet dinner and at the end they have a raffle. They always have a children's room set up for coloring and activities. In another room they have a Santa and everyone can have their picture taken. This is all free.

I took Kirsten to have her picture taken with Santa Claus. She did very well. Sometimes Kirsten won't go to people she doesn't know. They always have gifts for the kids. The biggest thing for the girls was a Hannah Montanna backpack. I declined. They gave her another gift. Kirsten enjoyed the dinner party and ate a lot too!

The company gave everyone the option of staying one night free at the hotel but we didn't want to stay. It was snowing when we left. We got up this morning and we got about one inch but the temperature dropped and it's a sheet of ice outside. We were glad we didn't spend the night in Seattle. Seattle is also icy. It's icy everywhere!

The next two pictures are of the pretty snow and Mt. Rainer as the sun is coming up.

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #57

57-My first car wreck – oops!

Wait until you have your first accident, whether it is your fault or someone else’s fault, it’s pretty scary!

One day I was going out of our drive in the little car and I was on cloud 9! I just got off the phone from being asked out on a date! Yippee! I can’t remember who it was with, but I remember being quite excited! I jumped into the car and was headed out the driveway when ‘wham!’ I got hit! I remember the time precisely! It was 3:55p.m. Just half a block past our house to the right the road divided into a ‘Y’and there was also a small curve to the road. I forgot to stop at the drive before entering the roadway and I also forgot to look to the left. I knew the gal who hit me. She graduated from H.S. about 3 years earlier. Her name was Bertilla Brusuelas. I was so shocked and scared when I got hit. She was in a maroon, four-door sedan, the car size was like a Chevrolet Impala. I was in a little bitty bug car, a little Renault; the color was a pale aqua blue. Bertilla had swerved to the left and caught my rear fender and tore in half way back. I was so scared. I knew my dad would be home in less than an hour and boy I knew I was in big time trouble!

Bertilla jumped out of the car and started swearing at me. ‘You dumb kid what were you thinking!!!’ I apologized. When I looked up at her I said, “Oh Bertilla I am so sorry.” By this time my mom was out to the street to see if I was hurt and what had happened. She called the police chief and his name was Julian Martinez. He was about 6’ tall and thin and about 55 years old. Well, it turned out Bertilla was related to the Chief of Police. Bertilla was driving way too fast down that road. It’s a miracle I wasn’t killed. Had she not tried to slow down she would have hit my driver door and I wouldn’t be here today.

Police Chief Martinez checked everything out and no tickets were issued and everyone went home. By this time my dad had arrived home from work. I couldn't drive the car and the fender blocked the left rear tire. He pulled the left rear fender of my car back and I was able to drive it up into the driveway. That accident had me so scared that I was afraid to drive for awhile.

I had explained to everyone that it was my fault that I had not stopped and looked left and just pulled out. Well it was also Bertilla’s fault for speeding way over the 25 m.p.h. limit. We think she was doing 40 to 45 miles per hour.

My Dad grounded me for two weeks. I was not allowed to drive and my date was cancelled! Darn! That’s the only thing I was really sad about. But two weeks later I went out on that date! My dad fixed the fender on the car and other than the welding scar, it was fine!

This reminds me…
of another story…
I taught all five kids how to drive. Poor Michelle, our oldest, was the first to learn. I was so paranoid about accidents. I would reach over with my left hand and squeeze her right thigh just above her knee if I thought she was going too fast. One time she put the gas on instead of the brake and the car jumped up onto our lawn and went into the hedge. We didn’t’ drive that day. We were both upset. She did have a heavy foot. (Took after her mother, hmmm.) She liked to put the gas pedal to the metal! If I thought she was going too fast I would ‘snap’ the key off in the ignition. It gave immediate results! Not to her liking either! I would get nervous teaching her to drive. Her dad was too busy. He thought that driving around the parking lot at church and pulling into a parking spot was good for a driving lesson. None of us agreed with that. She did get her driver's license.

All the kids did really well. But by the time I got through the 5th driver, I was done. I don’t want to teach anyone else to drive. The older kids helped the younger ones at times to drive and I really appreciated that. However, one day Michelle decided she was going to teach Julie how to drive. Julie was 10 years old for goodness sake! Michelle had a little Ford Escort. It was a fun little thing to drive around.

…This is what Michelle recently (2008) told me what she remembered about this incident…. I (Michelle) just remember thinking it would be fun to teach Julie how to drive. My car was a stick shift and getting it into reverse was always a little tricky. I put it in reverse and told her to just press on the gas. Nothing happened and we didn't go anywhere. I told her to press it a little harder and it lurched forward over the flowerbed and into the front of the house. Luckily it hit below a bedroom window and not hard enough to do any real damage. It bowed the wood on the front of the house though I remember that. It also left some black smudges from my bumper and tore up the flowerbed a bit. I remember grabbing a bucket of water and sponge to scrub off the black marks and I think I sent Julie for a rake to fix up the flowerbed. I remember being scared out of my mind that I was going to get so busted. I do remember saying we were washing the car but I can't remember if you found out then or later about actually hitting the house. It hit right under the bedroom window to the right of the front door (if you are facing the house). I don't know what I was thinking! I guess I wasn't and that was the problem!

…Well, I (mom) am in the house and I see Michelle and Julie coming in and they have a bucket and a sponge. They told me they were going to wash the car. I thought to myself that was rather surprising that they would wash the car without being asked. I said something like ‘Oh, okay.” I dismissed it and went on about my business with whatever it was I was doing in the house. Michelle later asked me if I had heard a noise outside. I told them that I hadn’t heard anything.

Julie told me just recently (2008) what she remembered of that incident. She told me that it happened in such a flash, it was like a half second and it was over! She remembers that when the accident happened she heard someone inside the bedroom and she thinks it was Doug. I’m sure he was wondering what had happened just then! Julie said that she told him to ‘Shut up and don’t say anything to mom!’ Well…the ‘car they were going to wash’…was Michelle and Julie scrubbing a black mark off of the front of the house. There was no damage to the house and all was well. It sure could have gone badly and they might have ended up with the front of the car ‘in’ the bedroom wall and they could have been injured! They were lucky! That was the end of Julie’s early driving lesson from her sister!

All decked out for Christmas! - The house that is...

Neil took this picture a few days ago. I put up the garland and bows and they look so pretty! It took Neil 3 days to put up the outside lights. The reason being, it gets dark so early that he only had time to put up one section at a time and there are three sections of lights. The best part is...with the touch of a remote switch they go 'on' and 'off'! I bought this neat remote/plug-in thing from Costco. It's beautiful how it works! No going outside to unplug stuff. We put the small deer in the front yard and the big buck and the doe on the back patio next to the sliding door and even they are on the remote! Ahhh, remotes, wonderful things!

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #56

56-Driving Lessons – the old cottonwood tree – pedal to the metal!

Probably every teenager lives for the day when they ‘learn how to drive a car!’

I grew up in New Mexico. You had to be 15 years old to drive. Back then there was no ‘required Driver’s Ed’ to obtain your driver’s license. There were no limitations as to when you could drive, how many daytime hours and how many night hours, or how many could be in the car and if they were related to you. None of this applied. You got your license and off you went! However I did take Driver's Ed in High School. I was a sophomore, 10th grade, and it counted as a credit toward classes for graduation. The course was a breeze and I already knew how to drive. I scored 100% on the written test and aced the driving test.

My mom had the blessing (or curse?) of teaching all of her children how to drive. My dad was always busy with work and did not have the time. (Or, maybe he just didn’t want to do it, hmmm. Maybe it’s a mom thing. I taught all of our children how to drive.) We had a small Renault. It was smaller than a Volkswagen Beetle. It had a stick shift, which means you had to shift gears and engage (put your foot on the clutch pedal on the floorboard) the clutch on the floor.

About one mile up the road from where we lived before it took a hair pin corner, off to the right there was a small field and next to the road there was a very big cottonwood tree. This big old tree was a great shade tree. Unfortunately that spot was also where people went on Friday and Saturday nights to park their cars and get drunk. The field had a large oval dirt path worn in it. That’s where I learned how to drive. My mom said I learned very quickly and probably was the best of the four kids she taught to drive. I remember being so excited the day I got my driver's license! For the first few weeks I would ask my mom if there were any errands that she needed me to run for her. Like all things, pretty soon you tire of ‘running those errands.’ I had a job so I had to help pay for gas. My parents paid for the car insurance but I had to help pay for gas money.

I drove my parent’s little car to school. That was so wonderful! I had a job after school so I took the car to work. One day my dad came home a little early. He was usually home around 5:00p.m. He was looking out the kitchen window toward the front drive. I came sailing in the driveway and my dad about had a heart attack from fright! He asked mom, “Does she always come in the driveway that fast?”

My mom said, “Oh yes, the cats run for cover when she comes home. She comes in on two wheels and comes to a stop!” I came in the house and my dad had this odd look on his face and my mom didn’t seem different. My dad told me, “Don’t come in the driveway that fast. You need to slow down.” Funny, but I didn’t think I was driving that fast. Well the next time I came in the driveway I glanced up on the porch and there went our cat named Esmeralda (a Seal Point Siamese) and she dove off the porch and under the car in the carport at the end of the porch. I couldn’t believe it! I guess the cats were afraid when I came in the driveway! Wow! I slowed down after that. I didn’t always slow down, especially if I was in a hurry or running late.

Years later I had my own teenagers to teach how to drive. What an experience! Some of the times were fun and some were hair raising! Like most teenagers, they all liked to drive fast. Some of them got a few tickets for driving fast! I don't like driving fast now and it makes me nervous if I am in a car and someone drives fast. Funny how things turn around!

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #55

55-My first job – Tastee Freeze

I guess I should correct myself by saying that my newspaper job was my first job. I did that job when I was about 12 years old. But my first real job, we’ll call it that, was at age 15 ½. I remember being nervous about asking to be hired. The owner’s name was Mr. Ferris. He made his living from that business. I know he was married. I don’t know if he had children. He was probably about 50 to 55 years of age when I worked for him. He eventually retired years later and sold his business to someone else.

I remember being nervous about starting. I was excited though! I remember making my very first banana split. He would show me and then later on watch me. Well a customer came up to the window and ordered a banana split. I put the three scoops of ice cream in the banana dish and then poured, strawberry preserves over the first scoop, then chocolate syrup over middle scoop, and pineapple preserves over the third scoop. Then I sprinkled coconut over the strawberry and pineapple toppings. I sprinkled chopped nuts over the chocolate ice cream. The man paid for it and started to walk away from the window. I looked down at the counter and realized I ‘forgot’ to put the banana that I had sliced in two halves in the dish. I called out to him, ‘I forgot to put the bananas on your banana split, please come back.’ I had just made a ‘banana-less’ split! He brought it back and smiled and said that he had not noticed the bananas missing. I put them in the dish and was so embarrassed I forgot! Well, I never forgot again!

My family was supportive and came down to order an ice cream and I was so proud to make it for them! I also would give my friend an ‘extra squirt’ of cherry flavor in his cherry sprite.

In the summer we had a flavor of ice cream that was orange pineapple. That was so good. It always sold well. We would only have it for a month. We always had vanilla and chocolate ice cream. I remember learning how to add the ‘mix’ that you poured out of one-gallon milk cartons into the ice cream machine. It was thick like cream. The ice cream machine froze it into soft ice cream. We had to take the machine apart at closing and clean all the parts and put it back together again. I wasn’t crazy about cleaning up but I did like serving the public. I rarely had a grumpy customer, but once in awhile you would get one that would not be satisfied with the order no matter what you did. They were far and few between all the good customers.

I only had one not so good experience. This is where the ‘Holy Ghost’ prompted me and ‘I listened!’ We had deliverymen who would come and leave off our supplies. This one particular afternoon I was working by myself. Mr. Ferris had to run an errand and I was alone. It was a slow afternoon and there were not very many customers. I had just been in the back of the store and had put some stock back in the walk-in refrigerator after having refilled containers up front that needed refilling. A delivery guy came and left stuff in the refrigerator. It was like a big walk in closet refrigerator. I kept up front. The delivery men usually did their thing and left. They were usually done in 10 minutes or less. However, this on this particular afternoon this one guy seemed to take longer. He called out to me, ‘There is a spill on the floor back here and I need you to come back here and clean it up.’

My heart pounded in my chest because all of the sudden ‘I knew’ he was lying. I had just been back there and I knew there weren’t any spills. A ‘BIG RED FLAG’ went off in my brain, and a little voice shouted in my mind, ‘Stay up front!’ Unfortunately the telephone we had was in the ‘back’ of the store. So I couldn’t call for help. There were no customers out front to ask their help. So I said a quick mental prayer, ‘Oh help me please!’ So I picked up the pipe that we used to take apart the ice cream machine. It was made of steel and was about 3-feet long and about one-inch in diameter. It has two short prongs on the end. I told him in my bravest voice, ‘There is no spill back there and you better leave. I told him customers were going to come up to the window.’ He left.

Mr. Ferris came back about 15 minutes later. I told him what happened and boy was he mad! I was relieved that he had come back because I was panicked! He called the company where the man worked and told them of the incident. We learned a short time later, perhaps one to two weeks, that company fired that guy.

So here’s the little lesson to share with you from that experience, ‘listen’ to the promptings of the Holy Ghost when it warns you and tells you what to do and ‘do it!’. Things could have gone bad had I ignored that warning. I am just thankful I was protected!

On a happier note, I stayed at that job for about a year. I liked working there and liked the money I earned. I loved spending it too!

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #54

54- The Sound of Music – 8 times!

Is there an all time favorite movie that you could just watch over and over again?

When I was 15 the movie ‘Sound of Music’ came out. The two main stars were Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Julie was so pretty and Christopher was oh, so very handsome! His role of a Naval Captain for Austria was wonderful! He was so very handsome!

We had a movie theater called ‘The Sierre Movie Theater’ in Alamogordo, which was about 10 miles south of where we lived. We lived in Tularosa, N.M. The owner of the theater called my father and asked him if he would accept a job with him in the evenings and on weekends to play a musical score from the movie ‘Sound of Music.’ I don’t remember the exact amount he got paid. Dad accepted and we could use the extra income. Dad was to play the organ just prior to the movie beginning and during the intermission. Dad bought the music for the movie and practiced and we loved hearing it at home. Another perk was that he and his family could watch the movie for free admission. We went to see it and I ‘loved’ the movie. I think my mom went to see it twice. I don’t think my brothers were interested after the first viewing. Oh, but I saw it ‘8’ times! I practically memorized the script and all the music! It started out that my dad would ask if anyone was interested in going to see the movie. He liked the company. I went as often as I could! He was always surprised I wanted to see it again and again and thought I would tire seeing it. Nope! Even today I love that movie! I have a DVD that grandpa gave me. I love it!

On another note…
Perhaps my all time favorite movie of all movies is ‘Shenandoah.’ The main actor is Jimmy Stewart. It takes place during the Civil War and he is a widower with 6 strapping, handsome sons. The oldest one is married, played by Michael Wayne (John Wayne’s son) and Katherine Ross. I was about 18 when that movie came out. I went to see it 3 times. I had just started dating grandpa. He asked me to a movie and asked me if I would like to see ‘Shenandoah,’ unless I had already seen it. He had not seen the movie yet. Well, I told a ‘little white lie’ and said, ‘No, I have not seen it, but I would love to go see it!’ We went to the movie. We both liked it. Then I told him I needed to make a ‘little confession.’ I blurted out, ‘I have seen the movie before, three times! I love it!’ He said something like, ‘Oh, so you’ve already seen it and you lied to me.’ He laughed when he said it. I have a DVD of that movie. I do love it!

I have other favorites that I like, but the two mentioned above are perhaps my most favorite.

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #53

53-The closet, the match and the fart!

Have you ever farted and lit a match to see what happens? Don’t try it! It’s too dangerous!

I think my twin brother Gayle and I were between 8 and 10 years old when this incident happened. My three brothers shared the same bedroom. Their bedroom closet did not have a door on it. Instead, a curtain was hung there. My mom had made a curtain and it was hung on a curtain rod. You could pull the curtain or slide it back and forth to get into the closet. When you pulled the curtain back there were shelves top to bottom on the right side and also on the left side. The boys were assigned shelves to put ‘their things’ on.

This one particular time my brother Gayle was in their bedroom and my parents and I were out in the family room. I don’t remember if the other two boys were in the bedroom with him or not. Well, Gayle ran out into the family room with this wide-eyed expression and then ran back into the bedroom and then out to the family room again. We were all wondering what was going on. Then I think it was Geoffrey, our oldest brother, who ran out and said that the closet curtain was on fire!

We ran into the room quick and someone pulled the curtain down and put out the fire. The back wall of that closet was scorched and some of the ceiling. Fortunately the house did not burn down! Only a few things got ruined in the closet and there was a smoke smell for a while. My dad fixed the closet and repainted and my mom made a new curtain for the closet doorway.

We asked Gayle how the fire started. I remember how sorrowful Gayle was about the whole affair. We had all been told that we were never to play with matches. Gayle explained that he wanted to know what would happen if he lit a match after he farted. So he had gone into the closet and tried this experiment.

Well, he found out really fast that gas is flammable, even human gas! He said that the fire happened so fast. He ran out of the closet to get help but was too overcome to say anything. That’s why he just ran back and forth from the bedroom to the family room. In seconds the fire caught the curtain on fire and then up to the ceiling and along the back wall of the closet. I can remember the black in the closet and the smoke smell. It’s something I’m sure we all will remember for a very long time!

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #52

52-Mrs. McDaniel – a sweet old lady that had a house that smelled kind of funny

Do you know a sweet elderly lady that you enjoy visiting or talking with her?

My mother loved this sweet little old lady, a widow, who used to live in our town of Tularosa where I grew up. Later they moved to Alamogordo, 12 miles south of us. Her husband was a doctor. I don’t know exactly how my mom and Mrs. Mac Daniel became friends, but they were very good friends. My mother always found a lot of joy in visiting with her. They only had one child and her name was Olive Jane. Olive grew up and married and her husband’s name was Romeo. How charming! She too only had one child, a daughter named Jeanette. Mrs. Mac Daniel was like a surrogate mother for my mom.

Mrs. Mac Daniel was the sweetest little old lady. She was about 5’ tall with gray hair and she wore it pulled back into a loose bun at the nape of her neck. She always had some stray whisps of hair around her face. Her eyes were blue and she wore glasses. She had an older persons kind of gravelly voice but it was a sweet voice. She had the kindest face and eyes. She was a gentle person and full of love. I loved to hear her laugh and it seemed as if her eyes had a twinkle. My mother would go over and visit her. In the summer months, sometimes I would go with her. Her house always smelled funny, like an old person’s home does, kind of musty and funny. Mrs. McDaniel had a wicker basket that had a few toys in it. I always like to go see what was in it to play with. She also had a little black and white Boston Terrier. It barked sometimes but for the most part was quiet and a very good little dog. Mrs. Mac Daniel loved her little pooch. I can’t recall the dog’s name. That was another thing about her house; it also smelled just a little bit like a dog.

My mom would visit Mrs. Mac Daniel a couple times a month. Usually before or after mom went shopping. She’d just drop in a visit her. My mom would visit Mrs. Mac Daniel because she said that this sweet, dear old lady was lonely. Whenever she saw us come up to the door to visit she always smiled and welcomed us in and was always ‘so glad to see us!’ We would visit for an hour or two and then go home. I don’t remember too much about most of their conversations. Sometimes it would be about us kids and how we behaved. Mrs. Mac Daniel would laugh her sweet laugh and tell her, “Jane their just kids. Enjoy them!’ Later my mom would tell me how much she enjoyed her visits with Mrs. Mac Daniel and how she always felt better after visiting her. She was like a mother to her.

One day my mom got a call from Olive Jane, Mrs. Mac Daniel’s daughter, and she told my mom that her mom had passed away. I can’t remember exactly how old she was, but I’m pretty sure that she was in her 80’s. I remember my mom crying and that she was sad because she was really going to miss that dear sweet soul.

I think it is sweet and special to love someone like her. She was special to my mom. When I am old I hope that I can emulate that kind of elderly person Mrs. Mac Daniel was and that people would want to remember me like my mom and I remembered her. It helps remind me not to grow old and crotchety and be unhappy and be a grumbler. I hope that I grow old being kind and sweet.

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #51

I am using my granddaughter LaRue Newby as a model for this story. I don't have a picture of myself when I cut my hair at her age. So 'Thank You' LaRue for being my model! :o)

51-It’s time for a haircut – not my own version this time!

At some time or other, most little kids will cut their own hair. It’s a sad experience for their parents.

I was about 5 years old when I cut my hair. I remember it vividly like it was yesterday. It was a Sunday morning. Now when I was little I had very blond hair that was thin and stringy. At least I had hair. I remember getting up that morning and I wanted to cut my hair. I was going to surprise my mom and cut it. I think church started at 10:00A.M. In those days you went back to church for Sacrament Meeting at 4:00P.M. My mom said she was still in bed deciding whether to get up to go to church that morning.

Well…I had just finished cutting my hair and was so proud of myself. I remember reaching up and cutting it all around my head. I put all the hair in a pile on a big envelope. I knocked on my parents’ bedroom door and walked in and was so pleased with myself and presented this pile of hair to my mom. She was in shock, gave a little scream…and we did not go to church that day! She said she almost fainted.

I was scared and thought I was in trouble. She had me look in a mirror at my hair. Up until then it had never occurred to me to look at the haircut I had just given myself. I just remember being so pleased about it all. I looked into the mirror and started crying. It was awful! My hair looked like it had big bites of hair missing. I did a superior job ruining it! It looked like a mouse had chewed holes in my hair as there were patches missing and short pieces here and there and mighty short bangs. It was awful, just awful! I did this all over my head too! (*I have to say that my granddaughter LaRue did a fairly good job cutting her hair 'evenly' and only left a few big stragly long pieces.)

I remember my mom saying over and over…”it was finally growing and it was thin but it was finally growing and now she’s cut it all off!” Then she cried some more. I vaguely remember my dad saying it would grow back. My mom said that now everyone would think I was a boy. She had to cut my hair really short. I do remember some people calling me a boy. I hated that and vowed I would never, ever, cut my hair again!

One good thing came out of all this. When my hair started growing back in, it came in thicker and grew a little faster! I was so relieved when it grew in again. So was my mom! She also hid her scissors; well at least she thought she hid them. I knew where they were but had zero interest in wanting to cut my hair!

When my oldest daughter Michelle was about four or five years old she cut her hair and showed me her terrific work while I just stood there. I couldn’t say anything and I wasn’t going to scold her because I immediately had a flashback to the day I cut my own hair! The memory was vivid! I just looked at her and said something like, “oh my, you gave yourself a haircut.’ I’m sure if I ask her to recall the moment, she’d have a much better explanation. I took her to the hair dressers and had her hair cut. But she only cut a few pieces of her hair, nothing like the job I did on my own hair. She was much more conservative. Oh I was sad, because she too had very thin hair and it grew slow. Again, something good came of it; her hair grew in thicker and a little faster too.

Then Julie cut her hair. She wasn’t quite four years old. She loved her Grandpa Darrell Guptill and wanted to have her hair look like his. He had a crew cut also called a flat top. Well she wanted to look just like him. She took the scissors and cut her front bangs off to the scalp! Again, no scolding, my vivid flashback to my first haircut. Oh well. She too had a visit to the hair salon and had a hair trim. I’m afraid it took some time for her front hair to grow back in and it wasn’t too fast either.

Lisa took a little snip off the side of her hair, but no trip to the hair salon. It would grow back in a few months.

David also took a little snip out of the top of his hair near the front, but not too much. So all my kids have had a hand at cutting hair!

Doug never cut his hair, however…read the following story!

My daughter Julie was watching a friend of ours, their little girl Tiana. I think Tiana was about 6 or 7 years old. Michelle used to baby sit her but was not around at this time and Julie babysat her. She babysat her at our home this particular night. Tiana was in the bedroom playing with Douglas and David and I think it was Lisa that came out and said Doug cut Tiana’s hair. How nice of him not to cut his ‘own hair.’ However, we never thought he would cut someone else’s hair! Tiana had two ponytails, one on each side of her head. She too had slow growing thin hair. Fortunately Doug did not cut the ponytail off at the scalp. He only cut about two inches off the end of the ponytail. I think he told me they were playing barbershop. Doug told me that Tiana said that it was okay for him to cut her hair. I’m sure he probably convinced her it would be okay to cut her hair. She was a shy, timid girl.

Julie was so upset at Doug for doing this. My worry was to tell Tiana’s mother Cindy when she came to pick her up. Well she came to the door and I told her that Tiana had a great time but Doug cut her daughter’s hair. I just decided to spit out the truth and get it over with. Cindy’s face immediately changed from a smile to horror! Her eyes and facial expression said everything! Tiana was afraid to come out and face her mother. Doug was afraid to come out and face her mother! I assured Cindy it wasn’t that bad. She said that Tiana’s hair had grown so slow and was so thin and that Tiana’s hair was finally getting some length. Well, Tiana’s ponytails were only about 5 inches long, although the one side was now only three inches long. I had Douglas apologize to Cindy and he was so sad and said he would glue her hair back on and felt awful about it. Cindy was so sweet about it but told Doug it wasn’t okay that he cut her hair but it would grow back and not to ever do that to anyone again. I don’t think he ever did that again. The next week I saw Tiana and her hair was cute. Cindy had taken her in to get a haircut. They cut it and it framed her face and came just under her chin and she looked so cute. Her mom was still sad she didn’t have longer hair with ponytails but came to accept it and in time Tiana’s hair grew back but it was never very thick.

And now...my grandchildren are cutting their hair! So the cycle is now complete!

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #50

50-Paper routes – yuck!

Have you ever had a job you thought would be such great fun and it turned out that you hated it?

When I was about 12 years old I was a papergirl. I had a paper route of about 25 customers that I took the Alamogordo Daily Newspaper to them on my bicycle. At first I thought this would be a fun job. I would do it after school. I was the first papergirl in my town to deliver papers. My brother Geoffrey had a paper route too and had way more customers than I did. I only lasted about 6 months and gave that job up. It was something you had to do every single day, rain or shine. I didn’t mind delivering the papers so much; it was the ‘collecting’ for the paper. It was 75 cents per month. You’d think that would not be such a financial burden on people to collect would you! Some people wouldn’t answer the door and I had to go back several times and ug, I hated it! Most of my customers were so nice and would always pay and a couple of them would tip me a quarter. I liked that part!

Well I had a bad experience one day. One customer we had lived a quarter of a mile down the road from us and I went up to the door as usual to collect and he invited me in (he was about 50 years old) and I said, ‘no thank you.’ I was there to collect for the paper. He got out his wallet and gave me a dollar but then he said he wanted to give me a hug. I wasn’t too sure of that and hesitated and started to back away from the door. He sort of grabbed me and gave me a hug and then pinched my chest and started for my top button and I wrenched away and ran for my bike and went home and told my parents. That scared me to death! My mom told my dad when he got home from work and boy oh boy was he mad! He called the man up (my dad knew him and they were friends) and I will not repeat the conversation on my dad’s end of the phone, but I stopped delivering papers and that was the end of that job.

I can remember having to walk to school and I was so afraid to walk past his house. I remember I would run like the wind for several blocks going past his house and I never saw him again. My dad later told me that the man’s wife really gave him a bawling out for what he did!

My brothers, Geoff and Doug, and Gayle all delivered the El Paso Times and Herald Post and Alamogordo Daily News. That El Paso Times was a morning paper and the Herald Post was an afternoon paper. The Daily News was an afternoon paper. They had over 300 customers. They delivered papers on their motorcycle. It was a source of income we all needed to help buy school clothes and gave them spending money. Our family did that for 4 years. We all HATED having the paper routes! The morning route the boys got up around 5am to deliver papers, 7 days a week! I remember it was so cold one winter morning and it had snowed and my brother Doug came back on his BMW motorcycle and he was almost froze and so cold. That did it. We ended the paper routes shortly after.

All my kids had an interest at one time or other to deliver papers. We strongly discouraged it because we knew what was involved! I think it was Douglas who helped his friend Amelia Holland one summer deliver a weekly paper for a month. I had to go with him and I could still wrap a newspaper in 3 seconds and rubber band it! It was a skill that never left me. Once you’ve folded newspapers, you never forget how. After a month of doing Amelia's route for her, when she came back, he did not want anymore to do with it.

Lisa took on a paper route while she was pregnant with LaRue and had it a few months and gave it up. It’s a thankless job. Very few people appreciate the effort and many like to complain about the service, but they do enjoy reading their paper.

* Correction! Oops! Glad someone reads these to keep me on task!
This just in from Lisa--
Well LaRue was actually about a year and a half old, I don't think I would have had the energy to get up in the middle of the night every night for five months if I'd been pregnant. No way.

Way to go Lisa!

Wow! That's wonderful news about your Brobee monkey and the invitation. You are so talented! I'm excited the Talent Producer wants to know if you'll make the whole Brobee family! You're awesome!
Love ya!
Mom :o)

I'm in awe!

This post isn't about me. I usually don't have anything exciting to write about. I read all my daughters blogs and several others and they are always such a joy to read!

I know they read mine and I just want to say 'Thank You' girls for being such wonderful people! I also want to say 'Thank You' to all your friends who read your blogs and support you! I am so touched.

Lisa has a darling 'Monkey Business' where she makes hand sewn monkies. I'm in such 'awe' at all the support she receives from everyone all over (in and out of our country) that post and support her monkies!

I just want to say 'thank you, thank you, thank you' to everyone. It really touches my heart down deep. :o)

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #49

Can I make choklat milk?

When I was about 6 years old I wrote a note to my mother asking if I could make some chocolate milk. She actually kept that note I wrote in one of her cookbooks. Above is a scanned copy of that original note. It’s a little hard to read. But it says:

Dear, MoMMY you are swet.plesey May I have some cocemote cose you nise and MoMMY I like you to

I wrote that on Wed, April 16, 1957. I was 6 ½ years old! I cannot believe my mom kept that note! One day I was visiting her (I was married and had 3 little girls) and was going through her cookbook and ran across that note. I told her that I couldn’t believe she kept that note that I had written. She said that it was sweet and was a wonderful little memory and she kept it in her cookbook!

I have to say that I don’t recall any of my children writing me notes to make anything. If they had, I would have kept it. One thing that 'I DO HAVE' are some clay figures and plaster handprints that they made when they were in elementary school and about 9 years old. They are sweet and a wonderful memory!

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #48

My parents had a 1949 Plymouth. It looked very much like the picture above.

I think my parent's car color was a light green. My brother Doug was 17 years old at the time and could drive. He was probably a junior in high school. My dad let him drive that car around. He wanted to make a hot rod out of it and my dad let him do it. The car wasn’t running top notch and it was old and my dad just let him have it to do whatever he wanted with it.

My dad said that the ’49 Plymouth had some kind of engine trouble and they couldn’t fix it but the car did run. My brother Doug said that cars back in those days did not last as long as the cars today. Back then after 80,000 miles you had to replace the car or overhaul the engine. My dad had bought my mom a little Studebaker so they weren’t driving the ’49 and let Doug have it. That car had a wind visor across the top of the windshield. It was a four-door car.

My dad had his own welding machine. It was a Sears Craftsman. Doug cut the roof off the top of that old coupe and then it looked more like a convertible. The problem was that being a four-door car the roof supported the doors so they would open and close. Doug welded the doors shut and that solved that problem. Then he took spray paint and painted the car black and he also spray painted ‘oval’ shapes over the white wall tires. It was so funny to look at when the car was going down the road because the wheels looked like eggs rolling over end-to-end and it looked crazy! It was funny! People would stare at it going down the street.

One day the town sheriff came by and asked my dad to take the car off the streets. It wasn’t safe driving a car around without a roof and the wheels were a distraction to people on the road. He thought it would cause an accident from people not watching where they were driving due to looking at the funny wheels on that car. It wasn’t running really great so Doug so just parked it. Later it was hauled off to the junkyard. It sure was a lot of fun seeing that ‘modified’ Plymouth driving around!

(*I called my brother Doug and he told me what he remembered about this car and I have incorporated his comments in the above story.)

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #47

47-Kites and box kites – Higher! Higher! Higher!

When I was little, we made our own kites to fly. Have you ever made your very own kite? It’s fun!

Since we didn’t have a lot of extra money to spend, we were resourceful. We would buy a kite and then we made a pattern off of it (after it had crashed to the ground!) and make our own kite. The store bought kites we had were made of paper and so if they got caught in a tree, the kite was pretty much wrecked!
I loved to see how high the kite would go up in the sky. Sometimes we put an extra long tail on the kite.

My brother Geoffrey liked to build box kites. He was probably about 15 years old at the time. They were the shape of an oblong box. He started out with small box kites and they flew very well! He would use balsa wood because it was sturdy but lightweight. You had to use lightweight material so it would fly. If you used heavy wood it wouldn’t fly. Geoffrey likes to think ‘BIG!’ So he decided to make a box kite that was about five feet tall! He was quite skilled when he built things. He got all the materials and built his BIG box kite. You have to have ‘wind’ for kites to fly. He waited and there was enough wind. He would have us hold the kite up, it took two for that size of kite, and he would run as fast as he could and ‘up’ it went! It was quite something to see it fly! He used nylon string to fly it. Most of our kites just had cotton string. Cotton string can knot and get tangled. The kids in the neighborhood would be in awe to see that big kite fly. He would fly the kite in an empty field next to our house. Kids would try to throw rocks at it and jump up and touch it. He wouldn’t let it get that low for them to do any damage to it. Geoff had a lot of fun building kites.

He also had another fascination. He liked to build T.V. antennas and the ‘bigger the better’. He would build them from aluminum pipes that were the thickness of your fingers. Back when I was growing up you had to have a T.V. antennae in order for your T.V. to get any reception. Today you just hook up to a cable network. The problem with antennae was stability. If you have a strong windstorm, they were often blown down, bent or damaged. Geoff built them and put them on poles that would take a cyclone to blow them down! He believed in ‘over the top!’ He built them to last for a long time! My dad and mom would get after him about building ‘too big’!

Picture of our home, finally! :o)

So I am finally uploading some photos. They are long overdue! I also decided to use a new photo, me, for my facebook photo.

anywho...
If you go to dropshots.com/degup you can see the other photos Neil took today of the house.

I hope you will forgive our 'mess' as we are still figuring out where to put everything! We downsized from 2,060 sq ft to 1,440 sq ft. The garage is full! So we have all winter to glean and clean out stuff! Neil has already left off several things at DI! :o)

We love the area, the new house, the 'one level' and 'no stairs!' That's a major plus! The yard is flat so it's easy to mow. We had a tiered back yard at the other house we sold.

Neil put up his shed yesterday. David and Angela were over so David helped his dad shingle the small roof and did a few other things as well! They did a great job! The only thing dad has left to do is put the trim on the shed and he will be done! He has already moved the things into the shed that were under a makeshift canopy, which is now dismantled and gone! Neil is now wishing he had gone with a 8x10 shed and I said, "Then you would have wanted a 10x12 or 12x12!" We always want 'more' don't we?!

On a side note . . .
As you can see from Kirsten's picture, she is recuperating from being sick all day yesterday. She's like a wilted flower. We had a member down the street come over last night and assist Neil is giving Kirsten a priesthood blessing. Another one of God's tender mercies. This was about 9:20p.m. last night. Our ward had a big harvest dinner affair and so nobody was home until late. Within 5 minutes after the blessing, Kirsten started to perk up an did not throw up anymore. I'm sure she dropped a few pounds, which she absolutely cannot spare! It will take a month to recover those pounds!

Thank you for being patient!

Well we have been in our new home for 1-1/2 months and I am ashamed to admit I have not posted any photos! It was my intent to do it today. But it won't happen until next week. I was on the clean up brigade all day today because Kirsten has been throwing up! She either got exposed to some bug yesterday between school, her appt with the Dr. or our errands after school. I kind of think it was just taking her in and out of the car for a few errands and it was a little cold. On the other hand, she's not usually sick this long. She gets over it in a half a day, but this has gone on all day and not much change.

Dad and I were scheduled to talk in our new ward in Sacrament tomorrow, but it will only be me. (I'm farther ahead on my talk. He graciously volunteered to stay home with Kirsten, although he gives 'great talks!) Kirsten is in no shape to leave the house tomorrow.

David and Angela were here today. David helped dad shingle the roof of his shed and hang the door and a few other things. Dad and I propped up the walls on the floor this morning and dad finished nailing them together and put the roof on. The shed matches the house. It was actually a beautiful day today and sunny and about 62 degrees. Perfect weather to get a jump on putting up his shed. While the guys were outside, I was showing Angela some new crafts and we worked on a few things and I so much enjoyed her company!

We've had some nasty rain. You may have heard our area had flooding. We did not in the area we live, but farther out the Puyallup River flooded and took out 100 feet of the dike. We had an enormous abundance of rain over the past few days. We have flood insurance, a requisite of mine before we moved here.

We have an attorney now and are under way filing for legal guardianship to be our daughter Kirsten's Co-guardians. Imagine that! We are the parents but have to file for legal guardianship because Kirsten in handicapped! The process takes about 2 to 3months. So hopefully by February it's a done deal!

I promise to post pictures of both the inside and outside of the house next week. Thanks for being so patient! :o)

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #46

46-The ride to the sawmill – someone falls out of the car!

My dad built a trailer to haul wood and other stuff. It had high sides, which were made from about one-inch pipe he welded together. The trailer was big enough to hold about three cords of wood. We had a fireplace in the living room and a coal oil stove in the kitchen. These were our primary sources of heat until years later when my dad had gas heat installed. In Alamogordo they had Prestrige Saw Mill. They cut tree logs into lumber. The lumber was hauled down from the mountains in Cloudcroft above Alamogordo. They would have long rows of slag and log ends, etc. left over after cutting the logs into lumber. Sometimes they burnt this stuff but mostly they let the public come down and buy this slag, etc.

My dad would hitch the trailer to the back of his car and off we went to load wood. I can’t remember how much he paid for a trailer load. It was cheap and you had to load it yourself. We wore gloves. There is nothing that hurt worse that getting jabbed with a piece of wood and having a big fat splinter in your hand or fingers. It was rough cut so it was jagged and you had to be careful. I was somewhere between eight to ten years old at the time. My dad would have all four of his kids help him load the lumber. I liked going as it was an adventure and it fun to explore and climb around on these piles and throw the wood into the trailer and my dad would stack it so he could get in as much as he could. The not so fun part was when we got back home and had to ‘unload’ the wood and stack it into piles. I always hated to go get wood for the fireplace because spiders like to hide in that cozy woodpile. Yuck!

One Saturday we were on our way down to Alamogordo hauling the trailer to get another load of wood and we were about half way there. My dad had a Studebaker. It was a light bluish green car. The back doors were call suicide doors because they opened backwards. The doors did not open and swing out to toward the front; they opened from the middle post and back toward the back of the car. We all had seat belts on. My mom gave specific instructions that Gayle, my twin brother, was to sit ‘in the middle’ and ‘not’ near the doors. He had a fascination about opening car doors while the car was moving. Well dad was driving and we were chatting and somehow Gayle reached past his brother (I can’t remember if it was Geoffrey or Douglas-I was sitting near the door on the right side) and got the door ‘open’ while we were going down the road. Well surprise of all surprises when Gayle opened the back left door, the door opened and it ‘took him with it!’

I screamed, “Gayle fell out of the car!’ I immediately looked out the back window, as I was horrified that he would get thrown under the trailer and get run over and to see if other cars were behind us and they might run over him. Well, God was watching over Gayle that day. He did not get thrown under the trailer and no cars were behind us. We watched him roll like a log down the highway. Dad stopped the car. He had to stop carefully as he did not want the trailer to jackknife or fishtail. We saw Gayle get up and he started running toward the car. He was so afraid we were going to leave him behind. When he was rolling he had brought his arms up (like you were go to lift weights) and that protected his face. When we got him he was crying and his arms were badly burned from rolling on the asphalt highway. Instead of coming right home, dad cleaned him up and asked if he was all right and Gayle said that he was and off we drove to the sawmill! He was just so glad we didn’t forget him! We loaded up the trailer with wood and home we went. We took Gayle into the house and told my mom the whole story and she was horrified and upset that dad did not turn around and bring him home!

Mom cleaned his burns and put tannic acid powder and salve and bandaged his arms. You cannot buy tannic acid now. Back when I was a little girl, you could buy it. It was a brown cocoa colored powder and you got it from the pharmacist. Now they use it in creams, etc. That helped heal Gayle’s arms and he didn’t have any bad scarring. He never touched the car door ever again. We also watched him like an eagle!

This reminds me---
of another story--- with the same Studebaker.
We were about the same age, around ten. We were washing the Studebaker one morning. Gayle was on the top of the roof cleaning it and I was washing the doors of the car. I can’t remember why I needed to go into the house, but I went to shut the car door and slammed it shut but it didn’t close, so I slammed it again. By this time Gayle let out a blood-curdling cry. I turned around to see what the fuss was about. His foot was hanging over the edge of the car roof and I had slammed the door on his big toe! OUCH! I felt awful. I don’t think his toe was cut but I was worried I broke it. He got down off the roof and mom came out and examined it. I don’t think she took him to the doctor. But Gayle has always had a slightly bent big toe. It doesn’t point straight like his other toes. I’m sure it was because I shut the car door on it!

One last thing this reminds me of---
When we lived in Hawaii---
We had 5 kids and I took them to have their pictures taken at K-Mart. I had a 4:00P.M appointment and was running barely on time by the time we got there. The kids got out of the car and Julie was the last to get out. I can’t remember if she shut the door or someone else shut the door but her fingers got trapped in the door and the door jammed and ‘would not open!’ A security guard came and tried to open the door and he couldn’t get it open either and poor Julie was in tears and her fingers hurt. I got inside the door and kicked that door as hard as I could and it dislodged it just enough that the security guard got the door open. We went into K-Mart and they had a little eatery just inside and I asked for a cup of ice for her fingers. They gave me the ice. Like my father and the ride to the sawmill---I took them into the photo studio and took the pictures. Then I took her over to Kaiser Emergency and they x-rayed her hand and thankfully she did not have any broken bones. Julie was a little mad at me for going through with the pictures being taken. I do remember telling her,'Smile and pretend your hand doesn’t hurt!' She smiled. How awful of me as a mother! My goodness! I did the same thing my dad did, a chip off the old block! I think back on that and can't believe I did that! I just cringe when I think of that incident.

When Grandma Was A Little Girl - #45

45-The hayride - Snipe hunting!

Have you ever been ‘Snipe hunting? I have! It’s a lot of fun!

When I was about 13 years old I had heard about ‘snipe hunting.’ You go out into the wilderness; we called it boondocks or boonies, when it is dark and you take a small gunnysack or bag and a flashlight. You called out into the dark…'here snipe, snipe, snipe’ and shine your flashlight to spot them and then you capture them and put them into your bag. Well I asked my brother Douglas about going snipe hunting and he said, ‘Don’t ever go.’ and then he told me about snipe hunting. I laughed.

Well, our church youth group was having an activity that was a hayride and snipe hunting close to Halloween. It was going to be at a church member’s home. They lived a little ways out of Alamogordo and there was desert and shrub and mesquite, etc., a perfect spot for snipe hunting! I invited my girlfriend Elaine to come with us. I told her how she had to bring a flashlight, and a paper bag. She was exited! I loved going on the hayrides and told her how much fun it was going to be. When everyone had arrived we told them what snipes looked like. They were white and had red eyes and ran quick but if you shined a flashlight at them it would blind them and stun them and they would sit still and you could just scoop them up and put them into your bag. They were quite harmless and about the size of a big rat. The older teenagers took out all the ‘greenies’ to go snipe hunting. The rest of us stayed back on the hay wagon.

We were all so excited for the others to get their snipes. Then after the older kids had led them out about 50 yards from the house, they all quietly snuck back to the hay wagon. You could hear the other kids out there calling, ‘Here snipe, snipe, snipe. Here snipe, snipe, snipe.’ We were all rolling in laughter! Pretty soon I heard my girlfriend calling out, ‘Diana, come and get me, I’m going to die out here! I can’t find any snipes! Where are we?’ We were just howling with laughter! It was so funny! Right about now you are probably thinking, ‘How mean!’ Well, at the time we thought it was pretty funny.

After about 15 minutes the older kids went back out to find the others and brought them all back. We were all very serious and asked how many snipes they all caught? No one had found a single one! Then we let them in on the joke. They didn’t find it very humorous. They are no such things as snipes. However, they couldn’t wait to try it out on their friends later on!

We had doughnuts and cider and sang songs on the hayride and everyone had fun. Then we all went home. What a fun and memorable night! I have never forgotten it!