Following the crops.

At some point during or just after my 1st Grade year,  Mom decided we could make a better living being "Fruit Tramps", she talked Dad into quitting hauling hay and following the crops. We had two "trailer Houses",  and followed the lettuce from California to Texas I think, I know we wound up at a relatives in  Western Oklahoma, where Mom Dad and the older kids were picking Cotton to get the money to get us back to California.  I remember living in a trailer park where Patsy got bit by a dog. And I remember seeing what I think was my first rattle snake. I was leaving the cotton field and it was in the row laying across the row,I refused to keep going and a farm hand with a tractor picked me up and took me to the car. Phyllis got tired of pickin' cotton, so she grabbed a green boll and pulled hard, when it released it hit her in the nose giving her a bloody nose, so Mom sent her to the car to watch me.. LOL In the long run, Dad wound up calling his sister to borrow the money to get home.  I also remember huge Watermelons on the farm. bigger than I was. And it was the first time I saw a "Fraidy Hole"...  Funny but i could not put a time on these events until I started writing this,  I know when we returned to California, we set the trailers under a pole barn on Uncle Andrews place and lived there for my 2nd grade year.  The girls lived in one trailer and Mom Dad and I stayed in the other. 
     During my 2nd Grade year I faced the death of a good friend for the first time. Kenneth Waldrop was doing his news paper route when he was hit by a speeding driver and killed. He was my best friend at the time and has never been far from my thoughts. I also remember having my first "girlfriend" in 2nd Grade her name was June, I changed schools in 3rd grade and never knew what happened to her.  I changed schools every year after 1st grade until i went to 8th grade and 3 years of high school in one district. 
   Again the summer brought Swimming and fishing trips, and camping in the Laguna mountains between us and San Diego. 
    For a fact I cannot remember which summer things happened, but some of my summer memories include

     1. Coming back from a fishing trip to the Colorado River we stopped at an irrigation canal and caught over 50 perch.  
     2, Fishing at Weiss Lake near Brawley and catching perch off the pier, you could watch them in the water and actually see them take the hook. Caught a few Catfish there also. Usually went there with Uncle Leonard and his 14 foot runabout boat and lots of fun. Fishing Swimming and boating.
     3. Went to Glencliff Campgrounds for  week or two long camping trips, There was a small lake/large pond over the hill that we swam in. But I will cover Glencliff Memories in another Blog...
     4. long weekend and week long camping at the Colorado river, near Imperial Dam. 
     5 Cookouts at "Wienie Roast Hill" out in the desert near the old Navy Base. 

These were the same summer memories I had every summer. LOL Life was good.