Page 20 - TalesoftheParadiseRidge-Fall2020_Neat

The young man was a friend of a friend of ours. Dad had around the yard. There was also a small fox terrier-type
invited him to come to the farm and stay awhile. The dog by the name of Lady and of course the ponies and the
Marine told mom that he had been stationed in China, cows, which we also considered pets. Lady had puppies
that he was returning there, and that when he returned to while we lived there. Dad got rid of most of them, with
China, he would send Mom a panda bear. the exception of one that I claimed as a special pet. We
named him Ring. I am not sure why we named him
The military paid us a visit one other time. They came to Ring, either because he had a white ring around his neck
tell Dad that Leland, Dad’s son from a previous marriage, or around his eye. At any rate, I claimed him as mine.
was missing in action. Dad was very distressed for a long However, when we moved, Mom and Dad would only
period of time and perhaps never really got over it until keep Lady. The rest of the animals were either sold or
Reid located Leland in San Diego in the 1950s. given away, including Ring. I was not happy, but I had no
choice.
The boys walked to Fairplay School over the hill from
the farm. There were numerous mines in caves in the CHAPTER 3
area, which they knew about. They sometimes explored
these caves, of course, without the parents’ knowing We moved from the farm in either late 1944 or very early
about it. On one journey home from school, James heard 1945 to Plymouth, California. The house we moved into
some noise coming from one of the caves, went up, and was located up the hill behind Wheeler’s market. The
explored to see what was going on. He discovered a building is still there but is now a deli. There is a house
number of Japanese people hiding in the cave. It turned located where our house was, but I do not believe it is the
out that they were Japanese from the Bay Area. They were same building. Much of Main Street Plymouth is the same
hiding from the government so they would not be picked as it was then. One difference is there is a town of Park
up and put in a relocation camp, possibly In Utah. Again, where once there were mine tailings. We called the area
I don’t remember what happened to these people. “the blue dump” because all of the shale was a dark gray-
blue. There was an ice cream parlor (now gone), a fire
When the weather was extremely bad, the boys would station building (still there), two bars, and an old hotel.
walk home from school via the road. The road was a The bar buildings are still there, but not as bars. The hotel
longer walk but was much cleaner, and they had hopes is there, and with a slow effort, the owner is trying to
of picking up a ride. One day when they had just left restore it. A number of other buildings remain intact and
Fairplay Road and were walking up Five Mile Hill toward in use. Just outside of town on Shenandoah Valley Road
our driveway, they spotted a big box unopened down off East is the Plymouth school that my brothers attended. It
the road. Of course, boys being boys, they had to find out is in use today.
what was in that box. They were pleased to find a box
full of white bread and rolls. The four of them took turns We had not lived in Plymouth for long when, to our great
carrying that full box of bread all the way home. White surprise, my dog Ring showed up at our doorstep. Dad
bakery bread was a very big treat during those times. checked with the people he had given Ring to. They said
Most of the time we had biscuits or homemade bread. he simply left and found his way some 15-20 miles to
Mom was glad to have a break from making bread. Plymouth and located us. We still had Lady, but Mom and
Dad allowed me to keep Ring.
That year, 1944, Fairplay School hosted a Halloween party
for all the families in the area. We all went in costume. During the war, the small foothill communities had a
Mom dressed all five of us boys up as girls, and we went hard time finding teachers for their schools. The young
to the party. I had on a bright orange silk blouse. The only able-bodied were either in the war or working in war
thing I really remember about the party was that we had plants. The teacher the boys had at Plymouth was a little
pumpkin pie. I had finished mine and asked if I could erratic to say the least. If he became very angry, he would
have some more. Mom told me to go up to the serving scream out, “Great Caesar’s ghost” and then punish the
lady and ask. Well the lady refused to give me any more students. Brother Reid, who was always a little feisty in
pie. I went back to Mom and I cried. Mom was disgusted school, had irritated his teacher. The teacher ordered him
because there was a lot of pie. She went up and asked for to lay his hand in the teacher’s hand. The punishment
a second piece. The serving lady gave it to her. Of course, was a slap with the ruler. Reid obeyed, he put his hand in
Mom came back and gave me the pie. I was very happy, the teacher’s, and when the ruler came slamming down,
and the pie was very good. Reid removed his hand and the teacher slapped his own
hand. With that, the teacher became enraged. Reid saw
We had several pets living on the farm. We had two ducks the handwriting on the wall and ran for home.
we named Rodo and Dodo. They would follow you all
18