As I Remember, Chapter 2

This entry is part 2 of 39 in the series Ted Bio

CHAPTER 2

      In 1914, World War I began. I guess lots of the men were joining the army. There were to jobs to be had. Dad and Mother moved us all over into the Emmett Valley. Dad went to work for Smith and Feldman. A couple of men that had just planted a lot of fruit orchards in the sandy slopes of the south side. For two years we stayed at what is now known as, The Earp Place.

      We were only about ten miles out of Emmett. Grandpa Dewey had bought himself a car. A two seated Flanders. About once a week, he and Grandma would come driving down with big, long, bamboo fish poles strapped to the side of the car. He also had a big sign for catching the fish that wouldn’t bite. How I loved those wonderful people. There wasn’t a fishing hole in the country that we didn’t try.

      As the years passed, Mother gave birth to more children: Ray, Dell, Jennie and Bob.

      Smith and Feldman, the owners of the orchards couldn’t get along and split up. They divided the orchards. Feldman, a rich Jew from Boise, built a new house up close to the hill. We moved in and Dad went to work for him.

      Dad had bought himself a new model T Ford. So had everyone else around the valley.

      I was now going to school at the one room school house, Mountain View. It had one teacher who taught all eight grades. There were about twenty pupils in all.

      Dad wasn’t happy just working for wages there on the ranch. He decided to go into something different. He traded the model T in on a new Maxwell truck. It was a one toner and had all hard rubber tires. One day, he and Mother took off for Boise. When they come back, they had great news. Dad had got a job with the Boise, Payette Lumber Co. delivering firewood. He would get paid a dollar a load.

      They had also bought a house. It was close to the mill at 307 South Third. We would move over right away. It took several trips with the truck to get us moved over. We even took along a cow. After her, there was one more load. Cecil and me were still at the ranch house gathering up the last remaining things. Such as; the chickens and the rabbits. Mother had left the house in tip-top condition. The floors all scrubbed and the windows washed. So that whoever moved in would have nothing to complain about.

      We had a lot of tame rabbits of may different colors. Some of them were in pens but most of them run loose. Living wherever they could find shelter. Catching them was going to be a problem. Then Cecil came up with a bright idea. We would leave the barn door open and put a lot of feed inside. While they were eating, we would close the door. Then they would be easily caught. As far as the chickens were concerned, when they went to roost, they would be easily captured.

      Everything went along great. We caught all the rabbits and put them in crates. Likewise,

the chickens. We had nailed slats on the tops of old picking boxes to make enough crates for everything. We crammed them in and waited. Early the next morning the phone rang. It was Dad. He had called to tell us that something had come up and he wouldn’t be over for a couple of days. We told him that there was still plenty to eat here and not to worry.

      The next morning, we looked at the chickens and rabbits jammed tight in those boxes. It would be impossible for them to eat and drink. We must do something about this we decided. There seemed to be only one sensible answer. Turn the chickens loose in the living room and the rabbits in the remaining ones. We could throw in a bale of hay for the rabbits and open a sack of wheat for the chickens. Leave plenty of water and everything should be lovely. Penned up in here, they would be easily caught when the truck arrived. Besides, the water had just been turned off in the farmers ditch and the fishing would be great.

      P.S. It wasn’t until about a year later that we returned. Mother could never figure out how she had acquired the reputation of being such a filthy house keeper.

Series NavigationAs I Remember, Chapter 1As I Remember, Chapter 3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *