Book Entry 106: 1973 Texas...and Beyond

         Other than trips to Yosemite, Santa Cruz, and a short trip to Tijuana once I had never been far from home.  We set out for a great adventure to Texas.  Our furthest point from home would be Branson Missouri.

          We spent three days at Uncle Raymond’s home.  We went to one of Walt’s football games one evening and to an amusement park one day.  We had a great time.  

             We were in back of the house one afternoon talking.  The ground was hard and cracked.  I’m used to grass in everyone’s yard so I asked Uncle Raymond why he didn’t water the yard.  “I’ll show you,” he said.  He took the end of the hose to the middle of the yard, returned to the faucet, and turned it on.  As the water began running down into the cracks bugs and scorpions started crawling out.  “That’s why.”  He said laughing.

           In the evening Raymond, Larry, and I were standing in the kitchen.  Raymond said, “Don’t move!”  I froze.  He picked up a telephone book and quickly dropped it right on top of a 5-6 inch scorpion in the middle of the kitchen floor.  He warned us sometimes they come out after dark and said we should be careful if we get up in the middle of the night.

          Larry and Heidi have always had a very close relationship.  We both sang to her from the first day she was home.  We’d make up songs as we sang or sing familiar ones.  It was a short time before Heidi’s second birthday when she seemed to get a sentimental streak.  It was about the time we went to visit my Uncle Raymond and Aunt Nancy in Texas.

          For some reason any time Larry started singing You Are My Sunshine Heidi would stick her bottom lip out and begin to cry.  It was a real cry with tears and a runny nose!  When Larry quit singing she quit crying.  He could sing other songs and she’d laugh and clap along with him. 

          He tried singing the tune to You Are My Sunshine with other words and that made her cry too.  There was just something about that tune.  It bothered her for a couple of years.  Any time Larry wanted a hug all he had to do was sing, “Your are my” and she’d run to him with arms outstretched and tears in her eyes. 

          Larry and I got into the guest bed and put Heidi between us.  We figured we could keep her in the bed if she was between us but she kept trying to get up.  I refused to turn off the hall light just in case I needed up but it provided enough light for Heidi to want to get up and go find Uncle Raymond and Aunt Nancy.

          She was teetering on the edge of the bed ready to jump when I heard a familiar tune.  It was Larry.  “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.”  Heidi turned and dove into Larry’s arms.  He held up the blanket.  She crawled under and hugged him tight.  Each time she started to push the blanket down he started the song again.  She fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

          The next day we had a great time at an amusement park.  We went on a few rides and Heidi got to sit on a turtle.  Walt and Stevie went too.  They had fun on the rides with Heidi.  They both seemed to enjoy playing with her and she loved every minute of it!

          
         When we got home Uncle Raymond played catch with Heidi in the back yard.

        When we left Ray and Nancy’s we headed for Branson.  We stopped once in Muskogee.  We played in a park and found a quiet motel.

         While we were in Branson we saw the “Bald Nobbers” music and comedy show.  We all laughed hard and really enjoyed ourselves.  Heidi even enjoyed it.  I think part of the time she was laughing at what was happening on stage and part of the time she laughed and clapped because the entire audience was laughing and clapping.  

          Branson has grown.  When we were there it was so small we had a hard time finding a place to eat and a room for the night.  I hear now it is a big city.

         

         On our way home we stopped at the Grand Canyon.  I’d never been before.  I remember our first look the canyon was full of clouds so we couldn’t see anything.  We went into a little shop to kill some time and have a little refreshment.  When we went back to the canyon it was sunny and beautiful.  I was amazed at all the colors.  Between the gorgeous sky and the colorful canyon it was really a feast for my eyes.

          Although the whole trip was wonderful the thing I remember the best is Heidi got potty-trained on that trip.  She practically trained herself.  The first time I needed to use the restroom I told Larry I needed a gas station.  When we got to one I took Heidi with me. 

I took in her little portable seat, she was successful, and after that about every two hours she would announce, “I need a gas station.”  She did so well so quickly we found a store where I bought some cute little panties.  The front was just plain but the whole backside was rows of lace.  Once Heidi saw the lace she insisted on wearing them backwards! She would do anything to keep those pretty panties clean and with the lace in front so she could see it!

Book Entry 105: 1972 Worms in the Tomatoes and Slugs in the Strawberries

          Even in those early years when we had to watch every penny we spent somehow we had everything we needed.  Even the year of our hail catastrophe we were determined to succeed.  I set my mind to do my part in providing for our family.  Larry bought me an inexpensive little Singer sewing machine and an instruction book.  I taught myself how to sew by making a couple of really odd looking garments.  Soon I got the hang of it and kept myself and Heidi, and later Robin, in some cute outfits.

          Larry fenced off a small portion in our backyard for a garden.  We bought tomato and strawberry plants.  Every day while Heidi was playing in the yard I would weed and water my little garden.  It was fun to watch the tiny plants begin to grow.  Pretty soon our plants were loaded with blossoms and tiny fruit began to appear. 

          I was vigilant.  My mom and grandmother had given me some empty jars and pectin.  We bought the sugar and the lemon juice and waited for the strawberries to ripen. 

          I learned too much water makes the tomato plants grow too fast.  I learned when it is too hot the tomatoes get sunburned.  I learned if you irrigate and the water gets on the strawberries they rot.  Larry had made mounds for the strawberries to keep the plants dry.  I learned a lot about farming from my little garden.

I think we had about twelve tomato plants because we had the room and they kept growing and I wanted them all!  I started taking tomatoes to mom and grandma every week.  Everyone said how good they were.  My Grandpa raved about them.  One time when I was visiting he called me to the back porch where he was sitting.  He had sliced three huge tomatoes each into about five slices putting each tomato on its own little plate.  He then scooped out a huge pile of mayonnaise onto each sliced tomato and handed me a fork.  Grandma joined us with some Iced Tea.  I remember the juice running down our chins and the funny slurping noises we made trying to keep the juice in our mouths.  I was happy to announce I would be having ripe strawberries in a day or two.

 

I don’t know if I’d never had cherry tomatoes before or not but we had a few plants of them.  When they got ripe I would stand and eat them straight from the vines.  I loved them.  When grandpa saw them his eyes lit up.  He called them, “Tommy toes.”  I can’t eat cherry tomatoes without thinking about my grandpa.

I was so excited to make jam for my family.  It was Saturday.  Larry had figured Monday the berries would be perfect for picking.  I had the jars and lids ready and waiting on the kitchen counter.  

When evening came I put Heidi in her swing and went into give my berries one last irrigation before their harvest.  I wanted them as plump and sweet as I could get them.  I set the hose running in one of the furrows and began picking the ripest tomatoes for the day.  I found my first tomato worm!  Those are really ugly little creatures.  I grabbed an old pickle jar and put the worm in it.  I put the jar on the picnic table so Heidi could watch it.  I had placed a couple tomato leaves in the jar and that worm just kept eating like he didn’t know he was even caught.

When Larry came out and saw the worm he got kind of a worried look and headed into the garden.  I followed right behind and heard him say, “There is no such thing as a single worm.”  He was right; he began looking under leaves and stems and started finding lots of worms.  They were so well camouflaged I hadn’t noticed.  It was like they appeared overnight.  We found damage to a few tomatoes and we found several stems with no leaves left.  We stayed in the garden picking worms for at least an hour.  When we were finished Larry sprinkled the whole garden with Seven Dust.

I was double upset by the time we finished.  Not only had my garden been invaded by worms, but I’d not paid attention to my irrigation and the water was touching my strawberries. 

 Monday morning I took three big bowls out to pick my strawberries.  The very first strawberry I reached for was a huge red juicy one.  As I lifted it from the ground it felt damp on the bottom.  Sure enough, the bottom of that beautiful berry was rotten.  To make matters worse I found when a berry rots like that it is a magnet for slugs.  I picked four huge bowls of berries but about a third of them had to be thrown out or have a section cut and discarded. 

Even so, I managed to have a successful first canning session.  I remember what great pleasure I felt each time a jar seal would pop signifying it was successfully sealed.  I remember lining up rows of jars according to their size.  I had quart jars and pint jars.  I even filled empty baby food jars with jelly and sealed those with paraffin wax.  That summer I supplied my family, my grandparents, and my mom and dad with enough strawberry jelly to last us until the following year.  What a great feeling!

Book Entry 104: 1972 Hail

        It was a gorgeous day.  The sky was filled with clouds of all colors.  There were grey, white, black, and yellowish colored clouds all mixed in patches of blue sky.  It was afternoon.  Larry was in Hughson picking up a project from the welder, Heidi was napping, and I was in the kitchen.  It began to rain.

At that time we had a carport in our backyard with an aluminum roof.  As the rain came down harder I could hear it from my kitchen.  It got louder and louder.  It became so loud I knew it could not be just rain.  Sure enough, when I looked out the kitchen window I could see hail bounding on the grass and sidewalk.  I ran outside to get a closer look.  It was huge, the biggest I ever did see. 

         

Larry wasn’t home.  I was so excited about the hail I wanted to be able to share it with him when he did get home and I wanted to show him.  I hurried back to the kitchen and grabbed by biggest bowls.  

When I got back outside the hail on the grass was about 6 inches deep.  I didn’t need to gather hail all I need to do was scoop it into the bowls.   I put two huge bowls full of hail into our chest freezer in our little red shed.

          I sat on the hood of the car watching and listening to the hail.  It lasted for about ten minutes.  When I returned to the kitchen I called my dad to tell him what had happened.  I told him it was about 8 inches deep and everywhere.

I woke Heidi and took her outside to see the hail.  It was spring but I put a sweater and gloves on her.  She loved it.  We threw it at one another.  We were having a great time when Larry drove in.

          By the look on his face when he saw me I thought something awful must have happened in Hughson.  I was laughing and playing when I stood to greet him.  “Look, isn’t this great, I’ve never seen anything like this before.  I saved some in the freezer for you to see in case this all melted before you got back!”  

          Larry looked like someone had punched him.  He looked me square in the eye and said, “Good, I hope you are enjoying it.  It just cost us our whole crop!”  With that being said he stormed into the house and grabbed the phone.

          I followed him in disbelief.  I stood at the door with Heidi in my arms.  Her gloves and sweater had big balls of hail stuck to them.  I started picking the hail off Heidi and putting it into the sink as I listened to Larry talking to his dad on the phone.

          “It got everything dad.  It got from our road to Lombardy.  It’s all gone!”  He started calling out familiar names of different families who live on our road.  He would say the name and it got them or it didn’t get them.  He looked sicker and sicker as he talked.  The storm had dropped hail only on our ranch and two or three others.  It had bypassed neighbors and jumped farms.  It reminded me of how tornadoes hit and miss in a neighborhood.  It had taken some of a few orchards but it had taken all of ours!

          Larry said as he drove through the storm to see our orchards the hail was coming down so hard it stalled our car by filling in the drain and drowning the engine.    

There was a big write up about the hail storm and the path it took in the Turlock Journal.  Anytime we get hail here it is no larger than a BB or a pea.  It is usually so soft it melts immediately when you touch it.  This storm had dropped hail the size of a fifty cent piece and even bigger and they were hard like chunks of ice.  

Before the hail hit our trees had the biggest bumper crop we’d ever had.  When the storm was over we had nothing.  Our crop was gone!  We were devastated!    Gone was an entire year of Larry working, of hired workers, of pruning, irrigating, renting bees, weed control, and fertilizing.  Our crop loan money had been spent for the year.  We were counting on harvest to repay the bank but we had no harvest.   
The hail storm was a wake up call for me about what it means to be a farm wife!

Book Entry 103: 1972 Moving to Harding Road

Our First Little Home Before the Lawn Was Planted

Our Home On Harding Road

Heidi was just two years old.  Del and Alpha decided to put a modular home up on the Linwood ranch.  They offered us their home.  It was the smart thing to move to their house.  It was by the sheds of machinery, the gas tanks, and the almond huller.  It was a bigger house than ours with about 1200 square feet.  We were all excited about the move although when we left I left a piece of my heart and my new bride memories on Lombardy Rd.

We had taken a camping trip to Santa Cruz. As the moving day approached I began feeling ill.  Everyday I felt worse.  Everyone was saying I was sick because I was scared to move.  Each time I heard that I packed faster and worked harder to be sure our things were ready to move on schedule. 

As it happened John Hoino and his wife, friends of ours, moved into our house the day we moved into the home place.  Del and Alpha moved out of the home place and into their new home the same day.  People were going in and out of both of my houses!

I remember putting Heidi’s playpen outside the front door and emptying all our dresser drawers, kitchen drawers, blankets, pillows, and bedding into it and Larry and John carrying it to the pickup.  John showed up with a load of boxed things.  He emptied the boxes into one of our bedrooms and we loaded the same boxes up in the other bedroom and took them to our new place.  When we got there we unloaded them in the living room and Alpha loaded them again in the bedroom with her stuff.  We all helped one another when we could and we all completed the move and slept in our new homes that same night.

About three days later I finally gave in and went to the doctor.  When I had gotten up my eyeballs were yellow, my skin was clammy and itchy, I couldn’t keep anything in my tummy and I was peeing the color of an orange color crayon.  

I had Hepatitis A!  Dr. Bigelow said I had gotten it in Santa Cruz eating in a restaurant that was not clean.  We took note of where we had eaten and didn’t ever eat in any of those places again.  There is no treatment for Hepatitis but rest.  Working as I had with all the packing and moving and taking care of Heidi was absolutely the worst thing I could have been doing.

Alpha had taken me to the doctor's office.  Our orders were to move Heidi from our house to Alphas for at least a week and to buy some hard candy on our way home.  I was to stay in bed and suck on candy until I could keep some food down. 

I’d never been separated from Heidi before. Alpha brought her two or three times a day to visit.  Each visit started with her crying when she’d see me.  She’d get on the bed with me and we’d play and hug.  Each visit would end with Heidi, Me, and Alpha all crying.  I really don’t know which of the three of us had a harder time.  We were quite a sight!

When Heidi did get to come home my grandma Stevens came a few times in the daytime to help.  Larry pitched in all he could too but he was working so many hours a lot of his watching Heidi was done from the couch with his eyes closed.  

Book Entry 102: 1971 The Accidental Trap

          

          I’m finding it amusing how many of my little “peeks” involve chickens.  We did live pretty far from town.  We only drove into town on Sundays or if there was a real need.  Our lives revolved around one another, our home, our farm, and our animals.  That’s farm life!

          Behind Larry’s little shop there was more shed.  I remember at least two sections.  Each section had a garage door so implements could be easily stored.  During the day often our chickens would roam freely through the area around the sheds.  They didn’t go far but they were curious and did like to investigate new places to look for bugs.

          Larry and I had been in one of the sheds looking for a tool or a car piece.  When we found what we wanted we left closing the door behind us. In the evening the chickens would all go back into the coop and we’d close the door.  We didn’t count the chickens to be sure they were all in.  Counting chickens would be like trying to count bubbles.  They move around so quickly it would be very difficult if not impossible. 

          We didn’t know when we’d been in the shed earlier one of our hens had followed us.  She had been busy looking for bugs when we left and we had locked her in the shed.  We didn’t miss her when we closed the coop for the night.

We didn’t miss her the next day either.  We never missed her.  It was about ten days later when we were out by the shop we heard an odd sound.  We turned all machines off and walked next to the shed doors.  Larry slid the big door open.  A very faint “peeping” was coming from the back of the shed.  We entered the left side of the doorway very slowly and quietly. A chicken slowly walked from the darkness in back of the garage to the light of the doorway.  Once outside she sprinted toward the chicken coop.

We investigated the back of the shed.  There was a small dirt nest the chicken had scratched and carved with her feet and beak.  It was really just a small indention in the soft dirt.  In the nest were ten eggs.  My first instinct was to gather them for use.  Larry stopped me by saying, “That chicken has been locked in here for ten days.  Some of those eggs are old.  We don’t want to gather them.”

I started picking the eggs up and putting them in my apron.  I was going to dispose of them.  As I picked them up I noticed they were all different sizes.  Of the ten eggs two were normal size.  The remaining eight were all smaller.  Of the smaller eggs, some were even smaller than the others.  We lined the eggs up on Larry’s workbench from biggest to smallest.  The ten eggs made a perfect stair step in size.  The biggest ones on the left end were large.  They had nice hard shells.  The ones in the middle of the row each got smaller.  The three on the far right were only about a third of the size as the big ones.  Their shells were thin and pliable.  The one on the far right was the tiniest of all.  Its shell was paper thin.

We felt horrible for our chicken.  She had been locked in that shed for at least ten days.  She had no food, no water, and no light.  Although it was not her choice to do so, she continued to lay an egg a day.  It was easy to see how hard the egg laying had been on her.  When we got to the coop she was easy to find in the flock of chickens. 

The other chickens all stayed away from her because she had lost her familiar smell and now seemed a foreigner to them.  Her head and legs were the same as the others but her body was about half the size as of the other chickens.  

By the next morning all the chickens were eating together and clucking away.  The lost one was again part of the group.  Every time I saw her for the next two or three days she was at the feeder or drinking water.  She regained her body weight quickly and soon I couldn’t tell her from the others.

Book Entry 101: 1971 Mr. Hamner... Times Up!

           Larry was raised attending church every week.  His family was very active in the Turlock First Baptist Church.  I had been raised in the Hughson First Baptist Church where we attended every service.  We met one evening where our churches, along with a couple others gathered for a youth night of singing and games.  

 

During the refreshment part of the evening Larry came to me, handed me his styrofoam cup, and asked if I’d get him some more punch.  He made some excuse about his hands were full or he was doing something else at the time or something.  We were young and flirting was awkward.  I was embarrassed but excited a boy was even speaking to me.  I was only fifteen. 

I stood at the punch bowl while the server began filling the cup.  I remember watching the group of kids Larry was talking with and wondering how he’d had the nerve to ask me to do this for him.  I knew his name but I didn’t know him. 

It seemed like I stood there for a while.  The server began to giggle.  When I looked at her she was pulling my hand and tilting it just a little so she could see Larry’s cup better.  I followed her gaze and looked into the cup too.  There was a hole in the bottom.  As fast as she would ladle punch into the cup it came out the bottom and back into the punchbowl.

I felt my face flush.  I looked over to Larry and his group of friend.  They were all laughing.  I’m not sure if I gave his cup back or not.  It was a good joke.  Everyone had a good laugh including me.  The best part of the night was a boy had flirted with me!

Mr. O.C. Hamner was a big part of Larry’s life before we met.  When we married, he became a big part of my life too.  He had been one of the caring folks who helped Larry’s family start going to church many years before I met him.

Mr. Hamner was an avid youth leader and bible teacher.  He was gracious enough to lead a bible study in our home.  I say gracious because our homes were about fifteen miles apart.  He had to take time and make the effort to get to our house every week.  It was just a small group of six.  Mr. Hamner made the group count seven. 

I was always impressed how Mr. Hamner insisted on wearing a button-up shirt and a tie when he was teaching our little bible study.  I remember telling him he could wear a more casual shirt and no tie any time to our house.  He said he liked to dress with a tie to show respect to the class as well as to the subject of the class.   He said, “I just wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t try my best and give my all.” 

Bible study was from 7 o’clock to 8 o’clock in the evening.  One evening it was nearly time for the study to end.  Heidi, in her walker, made her way to the chair where our guests had put their sweaters.  She was always dragging something around the house.  She picked up the sleeve of Mr. Hamner’s sweater and drug it to where he was standing.  It was not her intention but it sure seemed on purpose.  It was exactly 8 o’clock. 

We all laughed when Mr. Hamner said, “I think she is trying to tell me something!”  Mr. Hamner and his wife, Lucille, were a huge influence on many lives.  Mrs. Hamner died several years ago.  Mr. Hamner died in 2010.  He was 100 years old.

Book entry 100: 1971 The Peeping Surprise

Larry has always been an avid jokester.  When I noticed our supply of chickens in the freezer dwindling I came up with a joke of my own.  I found an outfit in a farm catalog that would ship baby chicks in the mail.  I called and ordered four dozen chicks to be delivered to the Turlock Post Office for Larry. 

I paid for the chicks with a cashiers check so Larry wouldn’t be able to find a record of my purchase in our checkbook.  The fellow I ordered them from agreed to be sure there would be no information about who had sent the chickens included with the delivery.  I felt so clever.  I just knew I was on the verge of providing Larry with a great mystery.  I was determined not to give my plan away.  

I waited in silence for word to come of the chick’s delivery.  About ten days later there was a notice for Larry in the mailbox saying he had a “live delivery” waiting for him at the Turlock post office.

Larry had the most puzzled expression on his face.  He just couldn’t believe he was getting something alive in the mail!  We jumped in the car and headed for town.  Our ride was exciting.  It was the biggest mystery we’d faced together so far.  I waited in the car while Larry went into the post office.  I could hardly stand it.  I hoped he would be happy to get the chicks.  

When he came out he was carrying a big “peeping” box of chicks.  Everyone he walked by turned to look at him and the box.  If I live to be a hundred years old I will never forget the look on his face!  For years Larry questioned everyone he knew.  He never did figure out who sent him the chicks. 

Book Entry 99: 1971 Grampa Starn is Killed

Larry and I were camping in Yosemite with Dave and Janis.  Heidi and Jenny were both babies.  It was such a fun trip.  Janis cooked spaghetti for all of us.  She cooked and cooked those noodles.  We weren’t used to cooking at such a high altitude.  Our spaghetti was still not soft when we ate but boy was it delicious!  

We bathed the girls in the dish pan after dinner.  They looked so cute and clean and cuddly as we held them by the fire that evening. 

Early the next morning a ranger came to our camp telling us we needed to call home.  Larry called his folks who told them to call my folks for some news.  My grandpa Starn had been hit by a car as he and Sarah were walking home from the Turlock Centennial celebration at Turlock High School.  They were in the crosswalk.  They were one block from home.  Grandpa was thrown thirty or forty feet when he was struck.  Grandpa was hit as they were returning home after a night of celebration.

Of course we packed up and went straight home.  Grandpa lived until the next day.  He had massive injuries throughout his body and his head.  Dad said when he went to see him he couldn’t recognize his own father.  The doctor said he would have died a lot sooner but he had a very strong heart. 

 I sat waiting for dad to call me with an update on grandpa.  All I could think of was his wife and how the two of us had never really gotten along.  I thought of how when I had come to grandpa to tell him I was pregnant the second time Sara had made an odd comment to me.  She said, “Maybe a baby isn’t what you need.  Maybe you need to be in school.  Don’t you ever want to amount to anything?”  I thought the comment was extremely rude and an insult to both Larry and me.  

Dad called late in the afternoon to tell me grandpa had died.    I thought of all the time I had spent on walks with him at his cabin in Mission Springs.  We weren’t as close as my grandpa Stevens and I were but I loved him, he was my grandpa.

Dad told me the driver who hit grandpa was drunk and speeding.  He had spent the night in jail but was released the following day, hours before my grandfather had died.  He did go before a judge at some point where the judge sentenced him to time served.  He paid for my grandfather’s life with one drunken night in jail.

I heard one of my aunt’s say they had gone to see the young man that killed my grandpa.  She told him the family forgave him.  She said she didn’t want him to feel guilty the rest of his life.  

I have to admit I was angry when I heard she did that.  She spoke for the family which meant she spoke for me and I hadn’t forgiven him.  I don’t think I’ve ever totally forgiven him and I blame the judge for my feelings.  In his statement he said he factored my grandfathers’ age and future productivity in the sentencing.  I always felt the judge was saying my grandfather wasn’t worth anything anymore.  He was wrong.  He was my grandfather!

Book Entry 98: 1971 The Beetle Attack!

           Larry was gone for the night to Modesto.  He and his father were taking classes to become Real Estate agents.  I was home with Heidi and Romeo.  I didn’t mind being home alone as the Dodge’s were just up the driveway.  If anything broke or I got scared I knew I could go to them.

          I was playing with Heidi and watching TV in our living room.  The weather was perfect.  It was a warm summer evening.  The sun was just setting.  I heard an odd tap on the front window.  I didn’t pay any attention at first.  Then, there was another tap and another.  It started to sound as if hail was pelting the window pane.  

          I walked over to the front door, flipped the light switch on, and peeked out the door.  The sidewalk in front of our house must have had two hundred or more huge black beetles on it.  They were everywhere and more were still hitting the window!  They were stuck on their backs.  As they wiggled trying to right themselves their hard shell-like wings sounded like sandpaper rubbing against the cement.  

        
          I knew if the sidewalk was covered in beetles the trees must be full of them too.  I switched the outside light off but the beetles kept hitting the window for about another hour.  They must have been seeking the light from inside the house.  They were longer than the width of my palm.  It was disgusting.

          It must have been a beetle migration or something.  I had never seen a swarm like that before and have not seen one since.  I have seen a single beetle of that type a time or two.  When Larry got home I told him about the beetles.  There were still a few in the front yard but most of them were gone.

          

Book Entry 93: 1970 Heidi is Born

I remember being pregnant with Heidi.  I never worried for a moment about what had happened in our first pregnancy or that it could happen again.  It just never crossed my mind. 

In those days new fathers were not allowed in the delivery room so Larry waited in the next room while I delivered our daughter.  I can remember the first instant I saw her.  She looked like a miniature Larry.  When I saw her thirty minutes later in my room she looked completely different.  Heidi was by far the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen! 

Car seats were not a law at that time so I held Heidi on our drive home.  I remember riding up our driveway.  It was our first time going home as a family of three.  Larry opened the door of the car for me.  He took Heidi from my arms and carried her next to me.  When we got to the house he opened the door and let me enter first.  There were flowers on the table and the kitchen counter.  The house smelled of Pine sol.  The carpets were freshly vacuumed and everything was in place. 

I sat in our comfy little rocking chair as Larry placed Heidi in my arms.  He brought several vases of flowers in from the car, my luggage, baby gifts from the hospital, and the diaper bag.  Our living room quickly filled with items both familiar and unfamiliar to our little home.  From that day forward the condition of the house lost importance.  

            Our baby was our main focus.  Hair fashion didn't matter.  Sleep didn't matter.  Laundry didn’t matter.  Dust didn’t matter. Nothing about the house ever mattered like it did before we had Heidi.  As more children came into our family the pristine little dream home we’d once kept perfect faded from memory and was never missed!

Book Entry 92: 1970 Belly-flop on Land

             It was October 25^th.  Our baby was five days overdue.  We were both excited beyond words to meet our baby.  The doctor had increased my monthly visits to weekly visits in order to monitor any beginnings of labor.  When he increased our weekly visits to Tuesday and Friday visits we knew the time was getting close.

          Every night we went to bed anticipating waking to labor and rushing to the hospital.  Every morning I woke to make my way up from bed and “waddle” through my daily routine.  My tummy was finally as big as it had been with our first pregnancy.  

My back ached and my belly itched.  I was glad to be semi-secluded with Larry at home where I could wear comfortable clothes and be bare footed.  

We took long walks through the orchards trying to get labor to start.  Someone told me long hot showers would work so I took long hot showers.  I got really clean but labor didn’t start.  We finally gave up.  We decided to enjoy the last few days we would have just being the two of us.  We knew life was going to change.  We hadn’t even met our little one yet and all our future plans revolved around our baby.  These last few days were just ours.

  Larry was in his little shop working on his Model T.  I took my pellet gun and a handful of Bazooka Bubble Gum outside.  I walked toward the canal behind the house in search of an easy target for my cats’ dinner.  I mention the bubble gum because I craved three things during that pregnancy.  I craved bubble gum, bologna sandwiches, and Eskimo Pie ice-cream bars.  

I chewed bubble gum like a chain smoker smokes cigarettes.  The funny fact is until I was pregnant I hated bologna and refused to ever eat it.  I have eaten it ever since.  Even now Larry will go to National Market, our favorite little grocery store to buy their bologna.  We will eat sandwiches made of white bread, bologna, and potato chips.  I still love them!

 I stopped by the shop to let Larry know where I was going to be for the next few minutes.  When I turned to leave my calico cat ran to greet me.  She had seen the gun and knew a treat was soon to be hers.  I bent down to give her a quick pet across her back.  As I bent down she walked forward just out of arms length.  I stretched to reach her and lost my balance.  I tried my best to regain my balance but, kerplop, down I went like a bowling pin!

 I landed on my belly.  My belly landed on a huge patch of puncturevine stickers.  My belly was so big I was like a turtle stuck on its back.  I called Larry but he was already reaching down to help.  When he got me to my feet we dusted off my clothes. We raised my blouse to dust off my belly.  I guess I had rolled forward when I landed.  The very top of my tummy was covered in goathead stickers and they were stuck in good and tight. 

Larry helped me pick the stickers out of my feet and we hurried to the house.  I can’t remember which of us called the doctor.  We were afraid the fall might have hurt our baby and asked the doctor what we should do.  

I like to imagine the look on the doctors’ face when we told him my tummy was covered with stickers and asked him what we should do.  His answer was priceless.  “Well, I’ll see you in three days at your appointment but I think if I was you I’d pick the stickers out today!”   

Dr. Bigelow was a very wise man.

Book Entry 91: 1970 Homemade Ice-Cream

             

             Another recipe calling for lots of eggs is homemade ice-cream.  The summer of 1970 we made lots of ice-cream.  We made vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, chocolate chip, and banana.  I always followed the recipe exactly how my mom had given it to me.  It always turned out perfectly delicious!

          James Weathers, a friend, and our cousin Reggie Jantz were visiting one hot August day.  We decided to make homemade ice-cream.   While the guys went to get the ice and cream I started the mixture.  I chose to make banana because I had a big bunch of bananas ripe and ready to use.  

The recipe calls for three ripe bananas.  I had eight ripe bananas.   I kept adding one at a time until all eight were in the blender with the sugar and a little milk.  I figured if three bananas give ice-cream such a yummy flavor surely eight bananas would make it even better!  When the guys got back I added the cream to the mixture and they started turning.

 

When the cranking was finished we covered the mixer with burlap and more ice to let it ripen.  The hardest step in making homemade ice-cream is always the hour or two of letting it stand before scooping it!   When the waiting was over we uncovered the container moving ice and salt carefully away from the lid so none would get in the ice-cream and ruin it.  

I was proudly scooping heaps of ice-cream into the three giant cereal bowls the guys were holding.  When it was my turn I scooped mine, covered the remaining ice-cream with the lid, and started eating.  I had noticed while scooping the consistency of the ice-cream was different from usual.  It usually felt a lot like a Foster Freeze soft ice-cream cone.  I figured it was because of all the bananas I’d put in this batch it felt and looked a little thicker.  It was sticky!  I’d had trouble getting some to come out of the scooper.  

When I took my first bite it felt odd on my tongue.  It felt like glue!  It tasted like sweetened mashed bananas.  That doesn’t actually sound too bad but it was.  I looked at the guys.  They had all left their lawn chairs and were standing strangely close to the back fence.  The all had their backs to me.  They were talking and laughing but they weren’t eating ice-cream!  

They were all so sweet.  I think they were afraid to upset me.  I was after all, in a delicate condition, seven months pregnant.  We were all young and inexperienced with situations like this.  When I spoke to them they slowly turned toward me with sheepish looks on their faces scrapping their empty bowls.  

 

When I offered them a second helping they were all kind enough to put their bowls forward and let me fill them again.  I took just a little bit more for myself.  When I took my bowl and the ice-cream mixer into the kitchen I looked back at the guys as the glass door was sliding closed.  They were all standing at the fence again.  I saw ice-cream dropping from their bowls to the ground on the outside of the fence!

I put my dishes on the counter and hurried back into the yard.  All three of the guys had a little ice-cream left in their bowl.  They made sure I saw each of them putting big bites of ice-cream into their mouths.  They smacked their lips and bragged about how good the ice-cream tasted.  We all sat in the shade for a few minutes while they cleaned their bowls.  When I offered them a third helping they said in unison they were full.  

I already loved Larry but I loved James and Reggie too after that day!