carter
I'll Lock Up
- Messages
- 5,921
- Location
- Corsicana, TX
I remember growing up on an extended-family farm in Virginia.
The farmhouse consisted of a long living room, a dining room and a kitchen downstairs. The living room was separated from the other two rooms by a long hallway that ran from one side or the house to the other. There were screen doors at both ends. Upstairs there were three bedrooms and one bath. My Grandparents slept in two twin beds above the living room. My parents slept across the hallway in a double bed. Someimes my dad would sleepwalk on the roof over the veranda by climbing out the bedroom window. My mom and grandparents were very careful getting him back inside. All four kids slept in one bedroom. It must have been large because we each had our own bed.
I remember the veranda that ran completely along two sides of the house. There was always someone on the veranda. The side overlooking a field that was alternately cprn, hay, or pasture depending on the year, ws shaded by two oak trees that we would climb and play beneath.
I remember washing daily but only bathing once a week unless we were really stinky.
I remember following my grandfather one day as he went out on the tractor. I was three years old. My mom was a wreck when I showed up a few hours later after circling the farm by climbing thru two gates and crossing three fields. I had two baths that week.
I remember My granddad, we called him Packy, butchering hogs in thefall with some neighboring farmers. The smokehouse outside the kitchen always had salt-cured hams hanging fromthe rafters above the second floor. I still love the taste of salt-cured Virginia ham.
I remember carrying irrigation pipe with my brother in the summer so we could irrigate the corn. At noon, my grandmother or my mom would bring us lunch in the fields.
I remember riding on the tractor with my grandfather when he mowed, raked, or baled hay. When we were older, my brother and I would load the hay wagon. One would pitch the bales on the wagon and the other would stack them. One time my brother was stacking on a neighbor's wagon. The bed wasn't secure and tilted when the load on the rear was too heavy. We had to reload and stack the entire load. What a mess.
I remember going out in the evening with my grandfather and the dogs to bring the cows in for milking.
I remember how sweet it was to lie on my back in the sun and chew on a blade of grass.
I remember fishing and swimming in the river. No swimming pools for us.
I remember watching water spiders moving across the surface of the cool water in the springhouse.
I remember opening the screen door on the veranda because my hands and the rear pockets of my bib overalls were full of eggs from the henhouse. All the eggs in my pockets broke when the screen door hit me in the rear. Talk about egg on your...My grandmother thought this was hilarious. I thought it an affront to my dignity.
I remember climbing cherry trees in the orchard and eating more than I put in my bucket. I still love cherry pie.
I can still taste unbelieveably sweet grepes from our grapevines.
I rtemember my grandmother serving rabbit for dinner. The kids wouldn't eat them because we had raised them in hutches by the henhouse.
I remember going hunting in our wood across the road with my dad and brother. We always had a thermos of coffee and hershey bars with almonds. We'd sit under a tree and be very quiet hoping a squirrel would show up and be invited to dinner. The only squirrel I can remember my dad shooting was one whose tail was sticking out a hole in a tree. The hole was too high to reach. What a pain in the butt.
I remember shearing sheep in the spring.
I remember falling in cow manure one spring when the men were loading the spreader. My dad told me to go in the house and clean up. I went inside and upstairs wher I washed my hands and face, dried/wiped off and headed back to the barn. My mom caught me in the yard and lead me back in for a bath. Then I had to take a nap. What a waste of a perfectly fine afternoon.
I lremember my aunt and uncle living in a trailer on the farm after he came home from the Korean War.
I remember incredible mouth-watering smells from the kitchen every day and ten people agthering around a big dining room table at breakfast and dinner.
I remember the smell of clothes dried on a clothesline in the sun and breezes of the day.
I remember milk with butter floating on top. I remember churning butter.
I remember our first television. It was deeper and taller than it was wide. It was made by Philco.
The first TV show I remember is the Grand Old Opry.
I remember my grandfather's White Owl Cigars. He died of cancer but no one knew he had it.
I remember two Border Collies named Maggie and Jiggs. They had to be put down when it was discovered that they were killing sheep.
I remember being outside from dawn 'til dusk and coming in from whatever adventure we'd been having when summoned by my dad's whistle.
I remember always having dogs to roam around with.
I remember being browned by the sun and worn out at the end of each day.
I remember fireflies.
I remember when my dad got a job in a factory and we moved off the farm.
Although we spent a lot of time at the farm until my grandparents sold it and moved to a house my grandfather had built, no memories of my life are any stronger or clearer than those of the first nine years of my life.
The world wasn't perfect but what did we know. We were just kids.
The farmhouse consisted of a long living room, a dining room and a kitchen downstairs. The living room was separated from the other two rooms by a long hallway that ran from one side or the house to the other. There were screen doors at both ends. Upstairs there were three bedrooms and one bath. My Grandparents slept in two twin beds above the living room. My parents slept across the hallway in a double bed. Someimes my dad would sleepwalk on the roof over the veranda by climbing out the bedroom window. My mom and grandparents were very careful getting him back inside. All four kids slept in one bedroom. It must have been large because we each had our own bed.
I remember the veranda that ran completely along two sides of the house. There was always someone on the veranda. The side overlooking a field that was alternately cprn, hay, or pasture depending on the year, ws shaded by two oak trees that we would climb and play beneath.
I remember washing daily but only bathing once a week unless we were really stinky.
I remember following my grandfather one day as he went out on the tractor. I was three years old. My mom was a wreck when I showed up a few hours later after circling the farm by climbing thru two gates and crossing three fields. I had two baths that week.
I remember My granddad, we called him Packy, butchering hogs in thefall with some neighboring farmers. The smokehouse outside the kitchen always had salt-cured hams hanging fromthe rafters above the second floor. I still love the taste of salt-cured Virginia ham.
I remember carrying irrigation pipe with my brother in the summer so we could irrigate the corn. At noon, my grandmother or my mom would bring us lunch in the fields.
I remember riding on the tractor with my grandfather when he mowed, raked, or baled hay. When we were older, my brother and I would load the hay wagon. One would pitch the bales on the wagon and the other would stack them. One time my brother was stacking on a neighbor's wagon. The bed wasn't secure and tilted when the load on the rear was too heavy. We had to reload and stack the entire load. What a mess.
I remember going out in the evening with my grandfather and the dogs to bring the cows in for milking.
I remember how sweet it was to lie on my back in the sun and chew on a blade of grass.
I remember fishing and swimming in the river. No swimming pools for us.
I remember watching water spiders moving across the surface of the cool water in the springhouse.
I remember opening the screen door on the veranda because my hands and the rear pockets of my bib overalls were full of eggs from the henhouse. All the eggs in my pockets broke when the screen door hit me in the rear. Talk about egg on your...My grandmother thought this was hilarious. I thought it an affront to my dignity.
I remember climbing cherry trees in the orchard and eating more than I put in my bucket. I still love cherry pie.
I can still taste unbelieveably sweet grepes from our grapevines.
I rtemember my grandmother serving rabbit for dinner. The kids wouldn't eat them because we had raised them in hutches by the henhouse.
I remember going hunting in our wood across the road with my dad and brother. We always had a thermos of coffee and hershey bars with almonds. We'd sit under a tree and be very quiet hoping a squirrel would show up and be invited to dinner. The only squirrel I can remember my dad shooting was one whose tail was sticking out a hole in a tree. The hole was too high to reach. What a pain in the butt.
I remember shearing sheep in the spring.
I remember falling in cow manure one spring when the men were loading the spreader. My dad told me to go in the house and clean up. I went inside and upstairs wher I washed my hands and face, dried/wiped off and headed back to the barn. My mom caught me in the yard and lead me back in for a bath. Then I had to take a nap. What a waste of a perfectly fine afternoon.
I lremember my aunt and uncle living in a trailer on the farm after he came home from the Korean War.
I remember incredible mouth-watering smells from the kitchen every day and ten people agthering around a big dining room table at breakfast and dinner.
I remember the smell of clothes dried on a clothesline in the sun and breezes of the day.
I remember milk with butter floating on top. I remember churning butter.
I remember our first television. It was deeper and taller than it was wide. It was made by Philco.
The first TV show I remember is the Grand Old Opry.
I remember my grandfather's White Owl Cigars. He died of cancer but no one knew he had it.
I remember two Border Collies named Maggie and Jiggs. They had to be put down when it was discovered that they were killing sheep.
I remember being outside from dawn 'til dusk and coming in from whatever adventure we'd been having when summoned by my dad's whistle.
I remember always having dogs to roam around with.
I remember being browned by the sun and worn out at the end of each day.
I remember fireflies.
I remember when my dad got a job in a factory and we moved off the farm.
Although we spent a lot of time at the farm until my grandparents sold it and moved to a house my grandfather had built, no memories of my life are any stronger or clearer than those of the first nine years of my life.
The world wasn't perfect but what did we know. We were just kids.
