Being raised on a 360 parcel of land in NW Arkansas in the 40's and 50's, money was scarce and making a living meant hard work for everyone in the family. We rode the school bus several miles to school everyday, often having plenty of time to notice every detail along the dusty roads in our community. As soon as we were off the bus, we were running down the lane towards home, eager to see familiar sights and to tell Mom about our day at school.

The day was not over and we had tons of chores to do around the farm. We had animals to feed and water, cows to milk, eggs to gather, lawn grass to mow, rocks to pile and garden work of weed pulling, tilling and watering. It seemed never ending. Over the years the lawn kept getting larger as Dad would clear another portion of the brushy areas and make it into a lawn.

After milking the cows it was almost dark, or after, and time to go in to eat supper and take our baths. We bathed in a small round, galvanized wash tub that only a kid could get into. Mom would boil water and mix it into the tub with cold, well water. Three of us boys would use that for bathing. We never realized the importance of “going first”. In fact, we used to say things like, “No! Let him go first!” Looking back, if now I was to bathe in the same water as two other boys, I would certainly want to be first! Ha! But, I guess that’s the mindset of kids!

Following baths, we would do our homework if we had any to do. In the farming community there was probably less homework to do than in the city. The farm kids had so much to do after they got home and the teachers were encouraged to avoid taxing us with too much, as it took away time from our chores and other work. In fact, as I recall, school was out for the summer around April 20th. There is always much to do on a farm.

I was about 7 or 8 when we got electricity in our home. That was nice! The Coal Oil lamps we used, otherwise, put out a dim yellow light that we had to read by. The smell of burning oil was something we were used to. You can imagine how your family dynamics would change if you did not have electricity or batteries to use! We were no different, except that much of what’s available today was not around in the 50’s. So we never missed what we didn’t have.

We raised much of what we ate. Our garden was large enough to produce enough food to sustain our large family of seven. Mom and Granny spent many summertime hours preparing foods for canning into quart jars that would be put away in the old log house on shelves for our winter supply. We didn’t eat meat like we do today. We had a chicken on Sunday once in a while, especially when we invited someone over for dinner after church.

We did eat wild Squirrel and Rabbit in those days. To us kids, it was very good and we always found the time to hunt for our food. Dad was out of the area working as a pipeline welder, putting in Natural Gas pipe across most of Arkansas during those days. He would come home on the weekends and spend time with the family. Saturday was the day we would drive into town and do our grocery shopping for staples like flour and sugar, coffee and such. We rode in the back of Dad’s pickup and that was fun! We would always stop by our Insurance Agent’s office to do business. He was a very nice old man who always came outside to see us boys and talk to us. He kidded with us for a while then would pull out a plastic coin purse from his pocket, carefully squeeze it open and search for 3 dimes. As he removed the coins, he would ask, “Have you boys had your ice cream today?” Naturally, all three of us would say “no” at the same time, and he would hand us each a Mercury Head dime. We would be very shy but grinning like a ‘Possum in appreciation. This happened EVERY time we went into town and stopped to see him. I didn’t realize until years later, how much of an impact he had on my life! That is probably the single most act of kindness that has caused me to be generous to kids in my life today.

The reason I write this down is because I wanted to record something I had almost forgotten. During one of Dad’s Rabbit hunting trips, he took me along as a “helper”. I was just a little guy, probably 7 years old. It was winter time and we were dressed as warm as we felt like we needed to be. We were out much of the day and I was carrying the “game”, until it got too heavy, then Dad would take it from me for a while. We stopped near the old homestead property to rest. I began to get cold and shivered a few times. Dad rubbed my head and asked if I was cold. I told him I was. He removed his warm coat and put it around my shoulders. When he zipped it up, I was like toast!

I’m glad I remembered that about Dad. He passed away in 1975. Like anyone, I like to recall the good memories and bring them in for a closer look. It’s just part of the goodness we found during hard times, that we didn’t know were hard back then.