Baby Talk

In the good old days, we traveled quite a bit. In those days, a gas station attendant did the gas filling at the pump. Self-serve was unknown. The driver remained in the car and requested one of the two choices, unleaded or regular. "Fill it up," was a common phrase of the time. While the tank filled, the attendant would wash the windows.

Once after one of these pit stops, our daughter, who was 3 or 4 at the time, asked her mother, "Is his name 'Regular', Mama?"

Chicago

We lived in Chicago in approximately 1935 while our dad was doing research for his Ph.D degree in political science at the University of Missouri at Columbia. Our family rented a small apartment in Chicago. The apartment was built in a row of tenements. It was the poorest and cheapest housing in the windy city. The cold gets below 0 degrees, but it was summer in Chicago, hot, many degrees over 100. We just walked five blocks from Lake Michigan. We would pester Mom to let us go swimming at lunch, but she would refuse until an hour after eating. She believed you would drown.

Remember these were the early days, took place during The Great Depression, but Dad always fed his young family by working as a linotype operator, which was a semi-skilled job, and he was well paid.

Yellowstone Weiners

When we were on vacation in Yellowstone Park, we drove into a campground to eat and sleep. We only had a tiny canvas pup tent, and we slept in that and the back of our pick-up camper. When we arrived at dark, we had to fix our supper over a camp fire. We had boiled weiners in a cooking pot.

When we started to eat them, we realized we had cooked them with camping fuel, and they tasted terrible.

So my oldest daughter and my 3rd oldest daughter would not eat the fuel-tasting weiners, but my 2nd daughter and I gobbled them with relish. We were so tired and hungry, the fuel taste didn't bother us in the least. But the next time we ate, we were very careful not to mix fuel in our cooking pan.

John Martin Reservoir, Colorado

Dear Kith and Kin,

Last night, after sunset, I walked out to the road to fetch the mailbox. I always bring it up to the house at dusk to protect it from the vandals. Behind the barn I noticed a pile of brush that Bennie had gathered so I decided to burn it. As I sat watching the fire, I could see the dark outlines of clouds and the tops of our tall cottonwoods and elms against the last light in the sky. A light breeze was moving the treetops and the fire in the burning brush pile. The air was warm. The cicadas were buzzing and the crickets were chirping. The whole scene before me evoked strong memories of the John Martin Reservoir. The Reservoir is located a short leg west of Lamar, Colorado, on Highway 50 then a few miles south. It was always our first overnight stop on many beautiful Colorado vacations that I treasure dearly and always will. Those were the days my Friend. We thought they'd never end....etc, which means life goes on with or without us.

Love to all

October

October, the best month of the year. You've had your supper. The sun has set so you take a cup of coffee and relax on the backporch to enjoy a light, cool breeze. The insects are chirping and singing away. Reminds you of those days you spent on vacation when the kids were young and so were you. Cooking your meals over a campfire. Hiking through the woods and up the mountains. How sweet it was! Golden days. Those were the days , my friends. We thought they'd never end.