Part 9 (2/2)

I was about nine years old when I had such an experience One day I was riding in the back seat of our Reo car Papa was driving at about his regular speed of twelve miles per hour down a country road I was sleepy but still ae crossed Dry Callie Creek on a noisy bridge

Then I fell asleep and dreas that would have taken a couple of hours in real life When I woke up, I thought I had slept all the way to town and almost all the way back home I was disappointed because I had planned to buy some candy while ere in town

I looked around to see how far ere from home only to find that ere about two hundred yards froe, and were still on our way to town

CHAPTER 6

PROSPERITY, ANIMALS, GROWING UP

We were about the luckiest kids in the world We always had as hborhood And of course, we had each other Butus how to get pleasure fro ait

For instance, we played a ga the ga It consisted of one beat-up tin can and a mesquite stick for each player We spent ame, especially e had a bunch of other kids to play it with us

Many of our playthings were not bought with a lot of enuity and willingness to build things for us, as well as playing with us and teaching us how to live o-round all our own It was a big one-a four-seater, big enough for grown people And we had to hold on tightly or be slung off There was a special seat for the s off And of course it was propelled by boy power

At Christot candy and fruits too We had apples during the entire year, and we got bananas a few ties except at Christhts, before ent to bed, we placed chairs around the living room with a name in each one Gifts fros in the chair withno one was allowed to go into the living rooht that our faether to make a inning to see fa a better life to all in the community

The Stevens faot hborhood knew that the neere spending the night there at his parents' home

I was only about nine years old, and I can't remember much about that one and only chivaree I ever attended In fact, I don't think there was much to remember about it But when they explained to me just how a chivaree was carried on, naturally I wanted in on the action Any country kid could beat a bucket with a stick And it seerow people were there with buckets and pans and sticks

We waited until all the lights were out in the Stevens' house Then we silently surrounded the house and when the signal was given we allup all the noise we could make

After a few hted kerosene lantern Then the needs cao away until they ca like, ”Ah, coh noise, leave us alone” The older ones in our bunch exchanged a few friendly words with theht and went home

Like all farm families, we had animals And when a cow found a new calf out in our pasture, one or the other of us kids would clai, ”Papa, can I have it?” or, ”Mama, can it be ed to one of us kids

Just about everyone of us had a calf or a colt all our own-until it cauess whose it beca enough to believe it was really ours in the first place, were young enough to forget our loss easily After all, there was no harm done It had been ours while it was little and cute

We had one old mare that we called Old Ribbon She was not only called Old Ribbon, she was old and her naentle and slow and patient with us young ones and didn't seem to et up on Old Ribbon we had to lead her up beside a stu else we could cli with her other admirable characteristics, Old Ribbon was also smart When she didn't want us to clih that, e tried to juround between her and whatever it e jumped from

If we cheated on Old Ribbon and helped each other up without her having to get near soentle with us She wouldn't pitch us off She didn't have to She knehere there was a low-hanging limb on a tree that she would walk under And when she did, there was no way anyone could stay on her back What's more, there was no e little kids could keep her from that low lio sideways to the limb Then we had a choice-ju onto the limb; the others would all fall in a pile behind Old Ribbon We soon learned it was best to bail out beforehand

But one day, I reave us a little trouble

However, I'm sure she didn't do it intentionally

When the Abilene and Southern Railroad was being built into Haht-of-way And it was Mama's job to take Papa's lunch to him Pardon, in those days it wasn't lunch-it was dinner, at or near midday Then we had supper at the close of day Anyway, May and take Papa his dinner every day One day we took Papa's dinner to hi down trees where the railroad was to cross Dry Callie Creek While ere there, he sawed into the hollow of a big elushed out After the tree fell, the hollow stuot to be a little kid for so like that to impress you And that's what I was