Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Time to Move On...
Time to put my fingers to work and decide what I want to say. I have had an awful time getting to this blog so there's no telling where it will go from here.
The carnival is over and we, as most kids would, think every thing will be normal for us again. However, Mom has different ideas. Daddy was able to work with the people putting the carnival back in the trucks and getting ready to go, so we had a little money. Mother decided that we should all go have our picture made as a family while we could pay for it. Hence, we have a family picture of when the baby was about 18 months old and what a card he was!
The Bues had moved to California about the time the carnival first came so we really didn't have any relatives close by; not that there weren't plenty of neighbor kids to play with, but Mother began to get restless.
One day she had a talk with Daddy and decided she would go to California where she could get a job. Daddy wasn't too crazy about that but then, usually, when she got her mind made up, that's what she did. She took what money she could and she told Daddy she would take Buddy because he would be of some help to her.
So she put some clothes for her and Buddy and the baby in a cloth bag and decided it would be best to go in the evening so she told all of us goodbye and took Buddy and James and left. Mickey cried for the longest time but when Daddy was gone he would say, "Now you girls be sure and mind Mickey," and we did.
We learned long after that ,that Mom, Buddy and James had gotten on a freight train and rode all the way to Chowchilla, California in what seemed like just one night!! We were amazed!
I guess Daddy got a letter from her because he finally got tired of waiting and said, " Come on Girls, we are going to find your Mamma!" We didn't have anything that was not worth leaving so Daddy got a flour sack and put a change of cloths in it for each one of us girls and the next morning we started walking to California.
It was really hot on that highway! Once in awhile a car would stop and ask where we were going and Daddy would say, " California!!" They would give us a ride as far as they were going then we would start walking again.
One time we passed a small grocery store and Daddy bought a loaf of white bread. That was a novelty for us since we only had biscuits at home. He also got each of us girls a sucker; that was three more cents. He stuck three in his pocket and gave us one each and back on the road we went.
We walked 'till we got to a bridge. We went down under it and Daddy said we would have a picnic now. He had a little folding metal cup in his pocket which he took out and got some river water where it was running and looked clear. We really wouldn't have cared just so it was cool and wet. He showed us how to take a bite of the bread and then suck on the sucker a little to make the bread taste sweet and I guess we learned pretty well because we ate nearly half of that loaf of bread before we were done . It sure was good!
We rested till the sun started to go down then we started to walk again. Daddy had a little bottle in his pocket that he took out and touched to his tongue every so often.
I'll have to stop for now and finish this later.
Right now , I'm Prattling On...
A ride is a ride--However...
I have no idea how far we rode or where we were; just on the road. The man finally had to turn off the road so we got out and started walking again, holding the news papers over our heads.
It seemed like we walked miles before we came to a little grocery store. We went in and the shade sure felt good. Daddy bought a loaf of bread. It really looked big but I guess it was normal size. The man said, "Is that all?"
"No," Daddy said, "Give me three of those penny suckers, too." We took our bread and suckers and started walking again.
I kept singing and the other girls did sometime but they weren't as noisy as I was. It just seemed to pass the time faster.
We soon came to a bridge just off the road so we went down under the bridge and the dirt was so nice and cool. Daddy gave us each a sucker and a slice of bread. "Now," he said, "If you want to really make that taste good, just take a bite if bread and lick on that sucker real slow." Well, we so seldom had a sucker we wanted to just eat it up except I was always saving my sweets.
But Daddy was right, it did taste good so we ate two slices of bread with our suckers then Daddy said we better save some till next time. I wanted to know when was next time? I don't remember getting an answer.
Daddy said it would be good to drink some water out of the river so he showed us how to cup our hands and get some water to drink. That was good, too. Now back on the road to walk again.
By now it wasn't fun any more but it wasn't really that dull either. I kept seeing things that were new and Joan kept finding rocks that looked like birds or whatever she wanted them to look like. I guess you could say we kept things interesting. Mickey started crying because her feet hurt. We weren't used to wearing shoes all the time and the road was hot.
"Well,Mickey," Daddy said, "Come over here and walk on the dirt." That wasn't much better.
A big black car came along and gave us a ride. Daddy told the woman that Mickey would get sick if she set in the back seat so she sat in front with the driver.
Boy, did that car smell good! I didn't know what the smell was hen but later learned it was the smell of leather. Funny how much kids learn when they are small and don't even know it!
Got to go help Herman now and it's just as well because I am just prattling on now.
Shike, Prattling on...
more memories
Daddy put us to bed early that night and said,"Now, kids, get to sleep because tomorrow we have a rough day ahead of us."
Ever the curious one, I piped up with, "Why,Daddy?"
"Well," Daddy said, "We are going to your mother."
That made us happy but Mickey started crying quietly because she missed Mother more than the rest of us did. That was just Joan and me. Mickey was always her little woman. She was only 8 years old but she already thought she was big.
We finally fell off to sleep just to be awoke by Daddy right at day break. Daddy made his coffee and the biscuits and salt pork and we all ate breakfast. We still had some sugar syrup so that made the bread taste great. Daddy had boiled sugar and water till it began to thicken then put in a spoon of vanilla and we thought we were right up town.
When we finished eating, Daddy got a flour sack and told all of us to get a change of clothes and put them in the bag, so we all did. Of course Mickey had to tend to Joan's cloths. Daddy called her Janzy, but Mickey was always Mickey.
Daddy gave us three each a news paper and said, "Now hang onto that because it will be hot on the road and you can put it over your head." Mickey was glad of that but really Joan and I didn't care if we did burn. We walked right out of that tent and just kept on walking.
Daddy carried a little bottle in his shirt pocket all the time and every once in awhile he would take it out and touch his tongue to it then back in his pocket. One time I asked him what it was and he said it was his medicine. Well,Daddy let me smell of it.- Okay, just one smell though.- He uncapped it and let all of us smell of it. I would have sworn it was coal-oil. I didn't learn until years later that it really was. Daddy had T.B. and none of us knew it.
The longer we walked the hotter the road got. A big red pickup came by and asked where we were going? "To California," Daddy said. "Hop in," the man said, "and I will give you a lift as far as I am going."
Will publish this now before I lose it.
Shike,-Prattling on...
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