Blue linoleum
This is a picture of some old blue linoleum found under a rug upstairs in a bedroom we are remodeling. When I uncovered it I remembered a story my mother and oldest sister had told me. In the 1930’s when my mother was married to her first husband, Hollis my dad’s cousin, times were very hard. There was no work for a farm hand and if there was work the farmer had very little to pay. The farmer usually would try to provide a place to live and something to eat for labor. If money was paid it was very minimal. Hollis, my mom, and my oldest sister therefore moved from place to place...
read moreBuried Treasure
Growing up 17 miles north of Gildford with 2 people who were 42 when I was born and a sister who was 10 years older I learned to entertain myself. I learned especially to use my imagination and played a lot of games by myself. I knew how to entertain myself for sure. One of the things I enjoyed was playing cowboy. Of course I had real horses around, and I had the cowboy hat, and the toy guns and holsters. When I could talk Dad into playing cowboy that was good, but most of the time it was me, myself, and I. One day I decided I would hide my guns or I was mad at them for some reason. I really...
read moreLaughter
Laughter they say is the best medicine. We need to not take ourselves so seriously and learn to laugh at our shortcomings and mistakes. I can do this sometimes, but I still work at doing this especially taking myself too seriously. My memory savors the laughter of others. My Uncle Don had the most wonderful laugh, it shook his whole being when he told a good story. He certainly had a wonderful laugh to go with the storytelling. I loved to hear him laugh. My friend on the Railroad that is gone now Bill A. had a fabulous laugh too. I can remember one morning on the train after we had been up...
read moreOld Cars/Chevys
I love old cars especially old Chevys. Guess I was raised with General Motors products such as Oldsmobiles and Chevrolets. I learned to drive on an old Fordson tractor and the second one I conquered was a Ton and half Chevy truck at the tender age of 6 or 7. The tractor caused so much trouble they took the coil wire off and disconnected the battery as I could start it by myself and run it around the yard. This love for old cars has followed me to adulthood, as they say the difference between men and boys are the size of their toys. I really enjoy driving the old ones. I don’t have...
read moreJohnny Cafe Knowledge
For many years on the Railroad I worked into Glasgow, Montana and spent more hours than I care to think about in the Johnny Café, eating and drinking coffee. Amazing what you learn in a Greasy Spoon on the other end of the Railroad line. The café had a lot of booths and some 2 person booths were attached to 4 person booths, so it was very hard not to overhear the next booth’s conversation even for a deaf person. One particular day I sat adjacent to an older man and a younger one. The younger one was from back East and visiting the older man who was from Scobey in northeastern Montana....
read moreMy Ma
My mother, as my youngest son Casey said was probably the strongest person who ever walked the face of the earth. She survived two husbands, raised 5 kids and had 3 more die almost at childbirth. She survived T.B. when everyone on her ward died of the disease. She always attributed her survival to not listening to the Dr. who told her to lay still in her bed for 6 months. When he left the room she crawled around and around her bed 20 or 30 times all day long till he came the next day. She had a hole in her lung the size of a pear from the T.B. but she survived. She went on to live another 50...
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