Too Curly

When my hair got so curly that it became bushy, I put bobbypins all over the back to make it lay down. I wore them to school that way.

Armadilla Pie

Mom often made a delicious sauce out of rhubarb and raisins, and lots of sugar. Hoyt called it "Armadilla Pie."

Hair

Mom washed our hair by laying us on the sinkboard and letting our hair down into a dishpan. She rinsed my hair with lemon juice "to keep it blonde."

After my hair was washed, I could go outside in the sunshine to let it dry. As I was walking back and forth in front of my house at 12927 Rubens Avenue, a man and woman in a car slowed down and stared at me. Then they drove by again and stared at me. I got scared and went in the house. Soon, these people were knocking on the front door. They were Hoyt and Bernice Futrell, Daddy's cousins from Texas. They had seen a photo of the family, and thought I was Rachel with her long hair.

Shep

We had a dog named "Shep"

Local Crawdads

We hiked through the fields to the railroad tracks, and caught crawdads in the ponds. When we had a bucketful, Mom let us crack off their tails, and she fried the tails for us.

Chris the Rodent

My brothers Paul and Andy caught some tiny field mice and brought them home. Mom let us keep them in a cage on top of the Maytag washer. Andy built an exercize wheel for them, and a little wooden house with steps up to it.

I named my mouse, "Christopher."

Ball From China

We always knew when the mailman was coming, because we could see him drive down Alla Road to all the Japanese houses, then come back to Rubens. We waited for him at the curb. One time he handed me a big rubber ball. I just knew it must be from Aunt Esther, because Mom always looked forward eagerly to mail from Aunt Esther in China.

Weather Or Not

Where we grew up it rained in the winter, but seldom got below freezing. One time, there was ice on all the puddles. On my way to school, I pretended to ice skate on one and slipped and fell full length, and had to go home and completely change everything. Daddy had to drive me to school so that I wouldn't be late.

Mom came into our bedroom one morning and said not to be afraid, but come look out the window. There had been a cloudburst during the night. Water was everywhere as far as we could see, and clear up to our doorstep. My sister Mary took a picture of 12920 Rubens Ave.

Another time, Mom came into our bedroom one night, and said not to be afraid, but come look out the window. The slaughter house barn was on fire down on Alla Road. We put our shoes on and walked down Rubens to watch it burn.

No Show

At Girl's Camp at the Presbyterian Conference Grounds in Pacific Palisades, I gave my first public testimony. It was at the campfire meeting.

When I claimed that I was a Christian and would "never go to shows" everyone laughed. I thought they laughed because they didn't think that going to shows was sinful, like I did.

Maybe it was because I was the littlest girl there.

Good Morning to You

Kindergarten was held in the same building as Sunday School. We learned to sing:

Good morning to you!
Good morning to you!
We're all in our places with sunshiny faces,
And this is the way, we start a new day.