How I Passed My Time as a Child

I remember when I was two or three years old that I wanted to cut out pictures but my Mom was afraid to let me use scissors. So she taught me how to tear around pictures. In time, I became quite proficient at tearing out recognizable shapes from old newspapers and magazine pages.

It was fun to watch my Mom make bread -- she always scolded the bread and pretended she was "spanking" it when she formed the loaves to put into the pans.

There was nothing to compare with spending time at Grammie Muriel's House. She knew the heart of a child more perfectly than anyone else I’ve ever known. What neat stuff to do! She was quite a story-teller. We loved to hear her talk about the "olden days" and her childhood adventures. And we were always wanting a "Mousie Story". Gram ad libbed those. The little mice talked, wore clothes, and learned the hard way to obey Momma. There was always a hair-raising, narrow escape from a CAT.

Other things were playing dressup with old fashioned clothes from a trunk in the attic; stringing buttons on twine; making mudpies with real eggs from the hen house (yes, she would allow it); sitting in the hay loft and watching a humungous spider dine on flies; playing with the cows in the pasture. We treated them almost like dogs! As we got older, we ate a LOT of popcorn and played Rook and other games with much laughter. And we LOVED being invited to go on a drill job and sleep in the "Chuck Wagon" with our grandparents. The Chuck Wagon was a little house that Grampie Ellery built on the back of a truck. It was the 1940s version of a travel home, I would say. It had cupboards, stove, a table, and beds. Crowded for the workmen, but such a beloved retreat for children. We plan to move the Chuck Wagon down to the lake so that ALL the families can go there for a nostalgic visit.

At home I loved wandering on our farm. I had a favorite spot where I liked to sit and dunk my toes into the brook. Until I was ten, there was no t.v. so we always liked to play games, read, etc. When I got a little older, I liked to cook whenever Mom was gone -- some new surprise. She had the Joy of Cooking by Rombauer and I still have one on my shelf. My original was worn out, but Valerie found one for me a few years ago at a yard sale.

I loved playing under our plum and cherry trees. This was a thick grove with blackberry bushes around the edge and one truly had a ceiling of leaves. That was our "house", dirt floor and all. I can remember spending hours sweeping up the sticks and leaves off that hard-packed mud "floor".

As a teenager, I loved to spend time at our little camp on Cary Lake. How we loved to go there and enjoy the serene beauty. It was only three miles or so from home, but it was another world -- it was a haven. We loved to spend time on the lakeshore and in the water, roast hot dogs, toast marshmallows, play games, or just "be there".  We are planning to build a little cottage there so that you and all the families can visit the very place that Grammie Ruth provided for her own children more than 50 years ago.