Lawd have mercy, the years have certainly gone by so quickly. I was thinking about this today and a few may find this short story a tad funny, but I have learned to laugh at myself as I have gotten older. There was a particular period that my imagination would run rampant alongside me as I ran rampant. I was about 12 years old and we lived so far out that sunshine, rain and air had to be piped in.
We had a Shetland pony named Tony my Grandfather had gotten, somehow, from the ranch he was working at. My grandfather had a knack for wheeling and dealing. He was allowed to bring the horse to our place for us four younger boys to ride. All we had to do was take care of it. The two houses on the property where we lived was also part of another deal he had made with the owner. What that come down to was we became share-croppers. We lived there for "free" as long as we (everyone) helped harvest whatever crops the "landlord" had planted that particular spring. Sometimes it was tomatoes, or okra, but most times it was watermelon. But we were also allowed our own acre of land to plant what we wanted to. It was some mighty fine eatin' back then...lol...I guess the only thing we ever had to buy from the grocer was milk, sugar and coffee...oh yeah, and tea. Point is, we had most everything we needed for food right out our back door. All we had to do was work it and work for it. We got our water from a bucket drawn well. We went swimming in the pool down in the pasture. We even had an outhouse.
At a previous shack (for real, the inside walls were cardboard instead of sheetrock) we lived in, my Grandparents had a wood cook stove, complete with a thermostatically controlled oven and our Sunday breakfasts were to die for. There was homemade everything, from biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon and sausage. Even the jams and jellies were homemade and canned by my grandmother. We were dirt poor but we were never hungry. I really miss those days, my Granny's cookin'. (back to the original house...lol)
My brothers and I would take off into the woods, taking a few quilts, some snacks and some coffee, and we would camp out in those woods. We would stay the whole weekend sometimes. We would just set up camp somewhere within a one mile radius of the house and just simply hangout. I remember the night skies back then. Being so far from a city of any size at all enhanced the brightness of the night sky. The stars were so bright and clear, especially on nights of a new moon. It was absolutely beautiful! I still stop and see the stars when I have an opportunity. I would be driving in my Jimmy heading away from the city lights until I could see no lights for miles, open my moon roof and just kill the engine and look up. Funny, it's a moon roof at night and a sun roof during the day...lol...Ok, back to my memories.
I remember my childhood hero, Tarzan! He was huge, back in the day! Yeah, I like all the others, but they were no match for Tarzan, the monkey man. He was not animated like the rest so I guess that was the appeal. I remember, and laugh if you want, I would run around the sandy pastures in nothing but a loin cloth I made. I still laugh when I picture my skinny ass running around God's half acre like that. I was Tarzan for the few times. I almost got caught one day, though. We had company comin' up the road one day and I didn't know it. It was just gettin dusky dark when I saw the headlights of the car. To this day I couldn't tell you who it was. All I know is I knelt down behind a bull-nettle bush until the car went away. I am so glad they didn't stay long, whoever they were. Sad thing is, I didn't have anyone to play Jane...lol
We had a Shetland pony named Tony my Grandfather had gotten, somehow, from the ranch he was working at. My grandfather had a knack for wheeling and dealing. He was allowed to bring the horse to our place for us four younger boys to ride. All we had to do was take care of it. The two houses on the property where we lived was also part of another deal he had made with the owner. What that come down to was we became share-croppers. We lived there for "free" as long as we (everyone) helped harvest whatever crops the "landlord" had planted that particular spring. Sometimes it was tomatoes, or okra, but most times it was watermelon. But we were also allowed our own acre of land to plant what we wanted to. It was some mighty fine eatin' back then...lol...I guess the only thing we ever had to buy from the grocer was milk, sugar and coffee...oh yeah, and tea. Point is, we had most everything we needed for food right out our back door. All we had to do was work it and work for it. We got our water from a bucket drawn well. We went swimming in the pool down in the pasture. We even had an outhouse.
At a previous shack (for real, the inside walls were cardboard instead of sheetrock) we lived in, my Grandparents had a wood cook stove, complete with a thermostatically controlled oven and our Sunday breakfasts were to die for. There was homemade everything, from biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon and sausage. Even the jams and jellies were homemade and canned by my grandmother. We were dirt poor but we were never hungry. I really miss those days, my Granny's cookin'. (back to the original house...lol)
My brothers and I would take off into the woods, taking a few quilts, some snacks and some coffee, and we would camp out in those woods. We would stay the whole weekend sometimes. We would just set up camp somewhere within a one mile radius of the house and just simply hangout. I remember the night skies back then. Being so far from a city of any size at all enhanced the brightness of the night sky. The stars were so bright and clear, especially on nights of a new moon. It was absolutely beautiful! I still stop and see the stars when I have an opportunity. I would be driving in my Jimmy heading away from the city lights until I could see no lights for miles, open my moon roof and just kill the engine and look up. Funny, it's a moon roof at night and a sun roof during the day...lol...Ok, back to my memories.
I remember my childhood hero, Tarzan! He was huge, back in the day! Yeah, I like all the others, but they were no match for Tarzan, the monkey man. He was not animated like the rest so I guess that was the appeal. I remember, and laugh if you want, I would run around the sandy pastures in nothing but a loin cloth I made. I still laugh when I picture my skinny ass running around God's half acre like that. I was Tarzan for the few times. I almost got caught one day, though. We had company comin' up the road one day and I didn't know it. It was just gettin dusky dark when I saw the headlights of the car. To this day I couldn't tell you who it was. All I know is I knelt down behind a bull-nettle bush until the car went away. I am so glad they didn't stay long, whoever they were. Sad thing is, I didn't have anyone to play Jane...lol
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