Reminiscence

Today's high temperature was: 80 degrees--a bit too warm for me

Sunny all day

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I remember, when I was around seven or eight--I became really interested in living off the land.  I had notions of how to live in the woods, between our farm and my grandma's farm.  I had a big Black Lab/Chow mix dog, "Tuppy", and I knew she would keep me safe and I envisioned how we could live together.

My folks got her when I was 18 months old.  I could not say "Puppy", so her name remained Tuppy. That dog was devoted to me!  She actually saved my life two different times.

For my 7th birthday, my Mother made me a TeePee.  She made it from tent canvas.  It was quite tall and quite authentic.  I had thought to pitch that in a clearing in the woods and that would be "our" home; Tuppy and me.

Oatmeal and Shredded Wheat were the only cereal we had in our house.  Mother used to make an indentation in my shredded wheat biscuit and pour a little bit of boiling water into the hole.  It steamed the biscuit and made it more comfortable for me to eat--with milk (straight from the cow) and sugar.

I loved the Shredded Wheat box--not because I loved shredded wheat, but because, in between the layers of biscuits were these marvelous cardboard Injun Joe-Straight Arrow, informational sheets of things to build--ways to live off the land and many exciting mysteries.

Because, if I wasn't playing this:

 I was playing this:

On one of those cardboard separators was a way to make a stove to use when camping.

Take the label off of an empty Crisco can.  Mother didn't have one, but Grandma had an empty one in her pantry and gave it to me.

Mother cut a small opening  at the bottom (which was the original top) of the can and a few smoke vents in the top.  She and I used some small dry twigs and straw to start a fire under the can and when the can got hot, we fried two eggs on the top.  It worked great!!!

Mother had already taught me how to make a blade of grass whistle, but it didn't last very long and it wasn't all that much fun.

On one of my Injun Joe cards, it showed how to make a whistle out of a reed.  When I showed it to Mother, she said, "Oh, I know how to make one of those."  and off, down the road we went.  She found some reeds in the ditch and broke off a couple and back up the driveway we went.  We sat at the picnic table and she started making holes and with each new hole, tested the sound of the whistle. I'd sit inside my TeePee and play that thing for hours--making what I thought sounded like Indian music.

I had that whistle for years.  The more dried out it got, the better sound it made.

Mother also showed me how to tap the Maple trees to get syrup.  Of course, the Maple sap isn't syrup until you boil it down, but I had a little tin pail suspended from this "tap" and did get sap, which tasted like yuck!!



I thought for awhile, that my Mother had some sort of magical knowledge.  We could be walking across the lawn and she'd stop, reach down and pick a four-leaf clover.  I'd search for a long time and never find one.  She could just be walking along and there would be one at her feet.

I did make the "drag-along" for my big dog and we used it, but, after a few minutes, Tuppy got tired of dragging stuff along and would lay down.  Mostly, I used my bike.  

I never had a horse.  Didn't want a horse.  Didn't like horses (still don't.)  I was on a horse that we were keeping for our neighbors (my later step-mother) and Daddy wanted me to ride it to exercise it a bit.  

The horse's name was Buster.  He was black and had "watch-eyes" so he looked kind of scary to begin with.  Daddy rode him a lot and said, Buster was gentle.

I had been giving Buster sugar cubes, corn and curried him every day.  When he heard my voice, he would nicker.  So, Daddy saddled Buster up for me and I got on.  That dang horse took off--wouldn't stop when I said Whoa and pulled back on the reins.  My Daddy had to run through the barnyard and across the field, as fast as he could, to catch up and grab that horse because--the dang thing was headed toward the woods!

I got off, Daddy rode him back to the barn and put him in the stall.  That night, I went out into the barn, sugar cubes in hand, and held out my hand.  Buster came up to get them and I dropped them--just out of his reach.  HAH.  Never spoke to that horse again in my life.

I have been horse back riding twice since then and both times, although I was assured I had the slowest, gentlest horse available, the horse I was on took off and would not stop.  Horses are sneaky.  They will kick at you if you walk behind them.  If you have your back turned to them, they will reach out and nip at you.  I hate horses!!!

We got Pammie a horse when she was 16.  She took good care of him.  Mucked out the stall every morning before school, curried him, rode him, loved him.  Then one day, a couple of weeks later, for some unknown reason, when she took him out to ride, he went a bit nuts.  Tried to buck her off.  Tired to brush her off on the barn, the tree in the yard.  I heard her yelling at him, looked out and saw what he was doing, so I ran out, grabbed my "snake killing" shovel that always stood on the back porch and ran out and gave him a good knock, between his eyes, with the shovel head.

It stunned the horse enough for Pammie to slide off and lead him back into the barn.  Our neighbor, the 4-H leader for the horse club, came down to train the horse.  He rode him out into the field.  Ran him up and down that field until that horse was white with lather.  He came back the next day and did the same. He couldn't get the horse to take any commands, and when Pammie got back on him, he tried to buck her off again.  The neighbor said the horse had probably been drugged when we bought him and that's why he seemed gentle for the two weeks we had him.

We sent him to the horse auction. I hate horses!

Anyway--back to my wanting to camp in the woods--I never did.  I did however, spend many a summer night, sleeping out in my TeePee with my dog.  Years later, I'd sleep out on the back lawn alone, or with my kids.  Wonderful!