Most of my memories on the home place were the same as any young man growing up in the country in California's Imperial Valley. We didn't have really cold winters, and many Christmases were spent in shirtsleeves, something I really miss. My Mom was from Oklahoma, and my Dad was the first of his Texas family born in California, so I guess I was just a southern boy in that strange land called California. I was raised with the same values and traditions that my cousins in Oklahoma and Texas were. Both families had strong southern roots migrating from places like Tennessee, North Carolina, and such through the southern states like Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. My Mom's family did venture to Illinois then back south.
We ran barefoot , and shirtless in the summer, and in our case a large part of the Winter. Although we didn't have many creeks, the valley was crisscrossed with Irrigation canals, and ditches, which gave us plenty of swimmin holes, in fact ours were just outside our door. A large irrigation canal, the Townsend ran from the east to the west from the Highline until it dumped into the Alamo river. which was not much of a river at all LOL, but basically a drainage for the waste irrigation water from the fields. When the farmers were needing water they would request it and the Townsend would run full. at this point it was too swift and deep for the younger kids, but the older one had a blast. That was where the older kids had a rope hanging from a eucalyptus tree. They would swing to the center of the canal and drop into the water. Well I loved doing that also but had to have a bigger kid carry me. I choose Phyllis. And Phyllis got tired of having to take me every time she swung. She decided that it was time I learned to swim, and having been told that if you throw somebody in they will learn to swim or drown but usually learn to swim she threw me in. Well I didn't learn to swim, and one of my older boy cousins jumped n and rescued me from drowning.
When the farmers were not irrigating the canal ran much lower, and the lock in front of the house held back enough to make a neat swimmin hole for the younger kids. With the large eucalyptus trees for shade we had a blast. Also when the field we were in was being irrigated, the small ditch in front of the house was good for the younger kids. We had an old thrashing machine in the area in front of the house that made a great jungle gym, and flatbed trucks and other machinery to play on. We had pigs, and chickens and dogs and cats. Dad and Uncle Andrew hauled hay during the season, each having a flatbed truck and were quite often working on the loaders, trucks or other machinery in front of the house. Andrew got a kick out of grabbing grease and wiping it on me, and teasing me. Well one day they were working near the chicken pen, and I was i guess gathering eggs, I stepped in a pile of crap, and got a great idea. I carefully walked to where Uncle Andrew was and wiped the crap on him, laughing and yelling "Chicken shit, Chicken Shit" He took it quite well and everyone had a good laugh. Revenge had been mine!
I remember Sunday dinners, Mom cooking and baking everything. I remember learning to wring a chickens neck, boil the water and pluck the feathers. I remember Mom humming and singing old gospel while she cooked and did house work. My favorite was "The Old Rugged Cross". She was a typical southern house wife. Great at crafting, sewing, and cooking. These are my fondest memories of my mom. I remember watching Dad and the others killing pigs, and butchering them in the yard. Going fishing to the Colorado river on the Arizona Border. Or to the Salton Sea camping swimming, and fishing. Maybe a camping trip to Glencliff Campground in the Laguna mountains.
Another memory I cannot leave out was starting school at "Good Ole PU", Pine Union elementary school was 1/2 mile down Townsend from my house, We could ride the bus but mostly walked. We didn't do kindergarten, and on a hot September day, Meredith, Douglas and I all entered school together. The only other name I can give you from that class is Paul Denton. Paul was a big boy for his age and was a great friend. Of those four boys I am the only one still alive , Meredith left us in 1972, Douglas in around 1984, and at some point I heard about Paul, he was working at the "Top Hat" bar and was shot by a customer.
Just as school was starting, my sister Patsy and I were fighting around the house and she started chasing me with a butcher knife, I ran out the kitchen door, pulling it closed behind me to slow here down. Well in the process I caught the middle finger on my right hand in the door latch cutting the tip off. Mom came home and we had found the tip and she ran me quickly to the doctor in town. He couldn't save the tip, but bandaged me up, and sent me home. That night we were just sitting down to eat, and I had loaded my plate with mashed taters and gravy, fried chicken green beans (Not canned). and a biscuit when the phone rang. It was the doc, and Mom said "Son don't eat anything we are taking you to the hospital so they can do surgery on your finger"! They took me to the hospital and I had plastic surgery on my finger and spent a day or two. I started learning to work with my left hand as I had a huge bandage and splint on my finger but it healed and does not affect me today.
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