In the fifties, it was not illegal to shoot off fireworks in the city. We always had sparklers and firecrackers. Of course the sparklers were saved to light after it was dark when they would show up better. The firecrackers, we got to shoot off during the day. Actually we shot them off for a few days. I paricularly liked lighting a bunch of them together for greater effect. lol My favorite thing to do with them though was to light one and then put a can over the top of it. When the cracker popped the can flew up real high. The bigger the firecracker the higher the can would fly!! We did this out in the street.
We usually had a barbecue in our backyard or a picnic in a park and always had ice cold watermelon. At night we would all go somewhere to watch the big fireworks display. We would sit up on top of the car to watch them--dad didn't care if we did that. We always had a great time.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Tornado Warnings
As I explained in my last post, there are a lot of tornadoes in Kansas. We lived in a wood frame two bedroom house with no basement. The houses across the street were made of brick and had basements. Whenever the tornado warning sirens went off, usually in the middle of the night, mom or dad would wake us up, we'd put on our robes and shoes and run across the street to take shelter in their basement. The grown-ups were mostly just visiting and were listening to the radio for updates on the storm. Us kids were having a ball. Afterall, we were up in the middle of the night and we were over at our friends house playing!! What a rare treat to little kids!
Fortunately, we never got hit by any of the tornadoes.
Fortunately, we never got hit by any of the tornadoes.
Aunt Toot's Tornado
My Aunt Toots (of Danny's pie baking fame) and Uncle Ken lived on a farm in Kansas. It was somewhere near the Wamego or Manhattan area.They had three kids, a girl my age named Debbie, a girl Michelle's age and I can't remember her name right now, and a smaller boy named Eddie.
Kansas is in the tornado belt of the U.S. They have always had more than their share of tornadoes. I think one of the reasons is that the terrain is so flat, there is nothing to stop or divert them.
One summer when Uncle Ken was not home, there was a tornado headed right toward their farm. Aunt Toots took the three children (real small at the time) to the basement for safety. They all huddled under a small dining room table in the corner of the basement. The tornado hit their place head on and completely wiped their farm away. Everything was gone except for a little rubble left behind. Even the big, heavy farm machinery was gone--tractors, combines, cultivaters ect. The barn and silo were gone.
Aunt Toots and the little kids came through it all just fine. There was not a scratch on one of them. Aunt Toots was looking around to find anything that might be salvagable. The only thing she found, lying on a pile of rubble, was the white christening gown that all three of her babies had worn to be baptized in. It was as clean as the day she bought it and not a rip or any damage to it at all. God was certainly looking after and protecting them that day.
Imagine how Uncle Ken felt that day on his way home and seeing his farm was completely wiped out, hoping and praying that his wife and kids were there somewhere and safe.
Kansas is in the tornado belt of the U.S. They have always had more than their share of tornadoes. I think one of the reasons is that the terrain is so flat, there is nothing to stop or divert them.
One summer when Uncle Ken was not home, there was a tornado headed right toward their farm. Aunt Toots took the three children (real small at the time) to the basement for safety. They all huddled under a small dining room table in the corner of the basement. The tornado hit their place head on and completely wiped their farm away. Everything was gone except for a little rubble left behind. Even the big, heavy farm machinery was gone--tractors, combines, cultivaters ect. The barn and silo were gone.
Aunt Toots and the little kids came through it all just fine. There was not a scratch on one of them. Aunt Toots was looking around to find anything that might be salvagable. The only thing she found, lying on a pile of rubble, was the white christening gown that all three of her babies had worn to be baptized in. It was as clean as the day she bought it and not a rip or any damage to it at all. God was certainly looking after and protecting them that day.
Imagine how Uncle Ken felt that day on his way home and seeing his farm was completely wiped out, hoping and praying that his wife and kids were there somewhere and safe.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Cannibal
Sometime after Kathy got her new bedroom, Michelle and I were switched from the bunkbeds that we had to a double bed. I don't know why, we just did. We slept good together and had no problem---usually. One night, in the middle of the night, when I was sound asleep, Michelle came over to my side of the bed and bit me in the middle of my back!!! I mean she bit me hard!!! Of course I let out a loud howl and mom came running in to see what happened. She checked my bite and comforted me, and then all she said to Michelle was something like "don't bite your sister in the back sweetie, that hurts her". I mean come on----beat her or something, she hurt me!!!! Nope that was it. I got over the bite and went back to sleep. I didn't get over the fact that Michelle got off so easy.
I felt that Michelle should have been punished. Mom had not done enough to her. So the next morning on the way to the bus stop I told her "if you ever bite me again I will knock out all of your teeth!" I did not say this nicely either. She swore she would never do that again. I would never have done this of course, we never inflicted pain on each other---usually.
In our later adult years when we would talk about this she said that she didn't know what came over her to bite me. She said she just had this strong urge to bite--so I just happened to be the target.
I felt that Michelle should have been punished. Mom had not done enough to her. So the next morning on the way to the bus stop I told her "if you ever bite me again I will knock out all of your teeth!" I did not say this nicely either. She swore she would never do that again. I would never have done this of course, we never inflicted pain on each other---usually.
In our later adult years when we would talk about this she said that she didn't know what came over her to bite me. She said she just had this strong urge to bite--so I just happened to be the target.
The Roller Skating Rink
We started going to the roller skating rink on Friday nights. Mom and dad would drop us off and then come pick us up later. We were about 8, 12 and 16 years old at this time. I of course was the middle one, 12! When they would have a couples only song, Kathy just about always was asked by a boy to skate. She had grown into a lovely young lady, and I was ugly and chunky! I thought and felt I was anyway. Nobody ever asked me to skate with them.
Overall though, couples skate aside, I loved to go to the rink. I loved to skate and was fairly good at it. Mom had bought some material and made Kathy a skating skirt. There was enough material left over that mom was able to make me one also. Kathy didn't particularly like this, me having a matching skirt. We had received our own white shoe skates for Christmas and we had fur pom-poms on them. We were pretty cool alright.
Oh, I did eventually slim back down and was cute again. It took long enough---at least two years!!!
Overall though, couples skate aside, I loved to go to the rink. I loved to skate and was fairly good at it. Mom had bought some material and made Kathy a skating skirt. There was enough material left over that mom was able to make me one also. Kathy didn't particularly like this, me having a matching skirt. We had received our own white shoe skates for Christmas and we had fur pom-poms on them. We were pretty cool alright.
Oh, I did eventually slim back down and was cute again. It took long enough---at least two years!!!
My Middle Child Complex
It was along about the age of 11 or 12 that my middle child complex kicked in. My body was getting a bit bulky getting ready to bloom. I was no longer little and cute, Michelle was though! It seemed to me at the time that Michelle could do just about anything and not get in trouble because she was the baby of the family. It also seemed to me that Kathy was able to go and do so many things. I, of course, was jealous and resentful because I wanted to go and do these things also. My sisters and I have joked about this middle child complex all our lives but at the time I was very frustrated. It is such a difficult age to go through anyway, emotions flying in all directions and then you have a cute little sister and a big sister that can do everything!!! They were like a fly in my ointment.
I couldn't do the things Kathy could do because I was 11 or 12 and she was 15 or 16. Being told that and even understanding that, didn't help diminish my frustration. I did eventually outgrow this stage and was able to do all kinds of things. Life was good again!!!
I couldn't do the things Kathy could do because I was 11 or 12 and she was 15 or 16. Being told that and even understanding that, didn't help diminish my frustration. I did eventually outgrow this stage and was able to do all kinds of things. Life was good again!!!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
My Second Career Choice
Up until about the fourth grade, I wanted to join the circus and be part of a trapeeze act. I knew I would be very good at that---I practiced a lot on my swingset. lol
Around age nine I started thinking about changing my career choice. I decided I wanted to be an airline stewardess. It appealed to my adventurous spirit and desire to travel. I even fantasized about being on a trans-continental flight, working first class on our way to Europe!! I would be able to meet some very interesting and influential people.
Believe it or not, this was still my career of choice when I was a senior in high school. Four year college was not that important back then. Mom wanted each of us girls to at least go to a trade school. This was when I was living at our resort on the lake in the Ozarks. (I haven't blogged about moving to the Ozarks in southern Missouri yet). Kathy had gone to a business college but that didn't appeal to me at all.
I couldn't have gotten the training for being an airline stewardess in Springfield Missouri. I would have had to go to Kansas City or St. Louis--maybe even farther. I was still just seventeen when I graduated from high school. I was not ready to go off that far from home. I could go to a beauty college and learn to be a hairdresser and a manicurist in Springfield Missouri and it wasn't as far away as the other cities. So I gave up that dream, sold myself out so to speak. I was never actually sorry about this, but have sometimes wondered about what my life would have been like if I had followed my dream. That would be a whole other blog, to put it here would make this one too long.
Around age nine I started thinking about changing my career choice. I decided I wanted to be an airline stewardess. It appealed to my adventurous spirit and desire to travel. I even fantasized about being on a trans-continental flight, working first class on our way to Europe!! I would be able to meet some very interesting and influential people.
Believe it or not, this was still my career of choice when I was a senior in high school. Four year college was not that important back then. Mom wanted each of us girls to at least go to a trade school. This was when I was living at our resort on the lake in the Ozarks. (I haven't blogged about moving to the Ozarks in southern Missouri yet). Kathy had gone to a business college but that didn't appeal to me at all.
I couldn't have gotten the training for being an airline stewardess in Springfield Missouri. I would have had to go to Kansas City or St. Louis--maybe even farther. I was still just seventeen when I graduated from high school. I was not ready to go off that far from home. I could go to a beauty college and learn to be a hairdresser and a manicurist in Springfield Missouri and it wasn't as far away as the other cities. So I gave up that dream, sold myself out so to speak. I was never actually sorry about this, but have sometimes wondered about what my life would have been like if I had followed my dream. That would be a whole other blog, to put it here would make this one too long.
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