Yep, that’s Earnest when I still thought I might grow up to be a cowboy. That’s also the house with the broken door. I lived there from about age 3 to 12 or 13. There are a couple of things of which to take note (in addition to how cute I was). One is the tree behind me. That’s the apple tree that fed the June bugs I flew. Second is the open window. I don’t remember when mom and dad finally got window air conditioning, but it wasn’t while I lived with them. That open window and a large fan upstairs were all we had for cooling. It didn’t do a very good job but I didn’t know anything different so it was OK. I do remember laying awake in the summer tossing my pillow over and over to try and find a cool spot, though.
That was a great neighborhood for a little boy. Directly behind the apple tree is my dad’s garden. The picture isn’t good enough to see it. Once the growing season was over it became lots of things. It was allowed to grow high with weeds in the fall and it became a place for us to fight wars and build clubs out of cardboard boxes and generally pretend we were somewhere other than Kenova. There was another, larger garden across the alley and we would dig foxholes and tunnels in it. War was a big deal for little boys back then.
I wanted to be a cowboy or a soldier. I didn’t become either but it sure felt real when I was growing up Earnest.
This is one of my favorite pics of you. I have it hanging in my front room on the wall with a pic of Gary’s dad at about the same age. I love all of your old memories. It brings me back to my childhood and my times at Mammaw and Pappaw’s house. I LOVED his gardens but moreso the things from his garden that I would get to eat. I am one of those people who longs for the old days when we sat around on the porch with Pappaw on his glider sofa listening to a baseball game on the radio and watching him pop his false teeth in and out to make us laugh or walked to the five and dime with Ronnie to get a string of licorice or jumped off of the porch into the grass with Julie practicing our cheerleader jumps. There is just too much going on these days to keep us from having any of those relaxing, memorable moments that will stay with me forever. We never stop moving long enough for any of these things to happen. We have to really make those kind of memories happen for our kids because they don’t just happen on their own like they used to when I was little. Thanks for making me pause to remember. Keep the memories coming Dad!!
I agree with BA. Those visits to Pappaw and Mammaw are some of the best memories of my life. Especially when I visited Pappaw as an adult and just got to be with him one on one. Those are memories I will cherish forever.
Man, that porch. Pappaw and Mammaw did a lot of living on that porch, didn’t they? And I would say they learned to use those air conditioners, because I have a very distinct memory of walking into their house on a hot day, and FREEZING!!! I also have a memory of Pappaw popping out his teeth. Too funny.
Thanks, Dad and BA for the reminder to slow things down and just enjoy the people I love. I need to create that in our crazy world.
Buy:Zocor.Nymphomax.Wellbutrin SR.Seroquel.Advair.Female Cialis.Lipitor.Prozac.SleepWell.Benicar.Female Pink Viagra.Lasix.Zetia.Cozaar.Aricept.Acomplia.Amoxicillin.Buspar.Lipothin.Ventolin….
burr http://xsanusn04r3.AUTOPARTSTHAI.INFO/tag/Burr+burr+Grind/ : burr…
Burr…