Monday, March 06, 2006
A Walk in the Woods
1939
It was the first time we lived at Spring Grove,
when I was just a tot.
We lived in a trailer way out in the woods,
the woods Mama sure loved a lot.
I remember her walking with Dink on her back
as I tagged along close behind
through leaves that were golden and scrunched underfoot.
Delight was so easy to find.
One day I went walking alone up the trail
to see cousins Shirley and Roy.
Nobody was home but a big Collie dog,
and he danced around me with joy.
I reached up and put my fat arms 'round his neck,
and we became friends then and there
til Mama showed up with a long switch in hand,
and was she irate! I declare!
She switched my bare legs each step of the way,
and I learned a hard lesson well:
Don't worry your Mama, just stay close to home,
or you'll have a sad story to tell.
1939
It was the first time we lived at Spring Grove,
when I was just a tot.
We lived in a trailer way out in the woods,
the woods Mama sure loved a lot.
I remember her walking with Dink on her back
as I tagged along close behind
through leaves that were golden and scrunched underfoot.
Delight was so easy to find.
One day I went walking alone up the trail
to see cousins Shirley and Roy.
Nobody was home but a big Collie dog,
and he danced around me with joy.
I reached up and put my fat arms 'round his neck,
and we became friends then and there
til Mama showed up with a long switch in hand,
and was she irate! I declare!
She switched my bare legs each step of the way,
and I learned a hard lesson well:
Don't worry your Mama, just stay close to home,
or you'll have a sad story to tell.
Spring Grove was in North-Central Texas near where Mama was born and raised. Daddy's insecurity convinced him that keeping her in barren West Texas would doom their marriage, so he would move us down there every now and then until we starved out and had to go back west. This was during the depression, with few jobs available there. Dink (Jerry) was just a baby this time, and all seven of us lived in a tiny trailer with a rock for a doorstep. Shirley was Mama's niece and had kids our age, so I loved going to their house. Of course, at age 2 1/2, I had no idea I was "running away from home". A very educational experience.
