By JO RICHARDS
Hello to Lucerne Valley.
Hope everyone enjoyed the Easter holidays. I reckon the little ones will be back in school before long. Hope they found all those eggs, and now it's just a matter of deciding how many times you can have deviled eggs, egg salad and potato salad. Hope you all counted when you did the hiding. Nothing like finding a pretty blue egg in May!
Just passed a milestone in age. I think 80 can be called a milestone. Agree that as we age we also spend more time thinking of our past, especially our youth. How many times have we talked with a grandchild, or in my case a great grandchild, and started the conversation with, "When I was your age ...."
We always think they are missing so much, and I can remember my grandparents feeling the same way.
But, come on now! Who had more fun than we did in that game of kick the can? My sis was one year older than me so I always had someone to play jacks with or pick-up sticks and had a special relationship with my paper dolls.
We each had our own shoebox, and every Sunday the comic section had two new dresses we would cut out and add to our collection. I remember lying on the floor in the living room listening to “The Shadow Knows.” Mom would let us turn off the lights and the effect was really superb. “Inner Sanctum” was another favorite and Charlie McCarthy was real — even if we couldn't see that dummy!
I remember the rules being so different, too. We could stay outside until Mom or Dad turned on the porch light. No one worried about the kids being outside after dark. I think my Mom had rules unknown to others.
We were not allowed to roller skate on Sunday. It was disrespectful! I couldn't go outside after I washed my hair until it dried — I'd get quick TB. Couldn't eat fish unless we had a piece of bread on the plate. Guess it was the solution for choking! We weren't well off and we had a lot of beans and weiners. If anyone complained, Mom would say, "Pretend you're on the trail!"
I remember coming into the kitchen in the morning and seeing someone sitting at the table having breakfast. Grandma would introduce Mr. Smith, or whoever, and say he was going to help us get some wood stacked or paint the front fence, etc. Those men were treated with the greatest respect, and I was probably 10 or 12 before I realized they were “hobos.” That was the name for the transients at that time.
Many years later, we learned that our front gate was marked telling the hobos that this was a house that would provide a meal. In the late 1930s there were a lot of men looking for that meal. Funny part of the whole thing was that we were probably as poor as any of them. Never heard the word poor though. My Dad was a WPA worker and he went to work every day and collected his check at the end of the week. Think that was the welfare program of the 30's.
Looking back is always fun and so much has changed it's like a different world. I learned to iron by doing pillow cases and hankerchiefs. No wash and wear then. Mom would take the wash off the line and sprinkle it, roll it up and put it in the laundry basket til the next day. Then it was time to iron.
If you got a tummy ache you got the castor oil and orange juice remedy. I was 40 before I could handle orange juice. Remember the mustard plaster?
I always enjoyed watching Mom darn socks. How many youngsters today even know what darn is. Oh yes, it's a word you say when you're mad.
Be sure and look back with your grandkids. Don't let all of our fun times be forgotten. They may think it's all strange and it will be to them but they will remember it. I remember my Dad saying they would run up on the hill next to the farmhouse when they heard a car coming and how the farmers disliked the cars because it scared the cows.
Progress, good or bad, we've come a long way, huh? Where did I put my cell phone?
Jo Richards is a longtime Lucerne Valley resident who muses about life in this bi-weekly column. The name of the column comes from something Jo often says after telling an anecdote: “That’s Chapter 14 in the book I’m gonna write!” Email her at fishbait1933@yahoo.com with questions or comments.