Page 21 - TalesoftheParadiseRidge-Fall2020_Neat

Another story goes that, on one particular day, the teacher The blue dump was a great place for the kids in the
was having a hard time with most of the students and neighborhood to play, much to the chagrin of their
was quite irritated. One student in particular was giving parents. The older boys of the neighborhood dug trails
him a very bad time, and finally the teacher lost it. He through the tailings where we could pull wagons or ride
yelled, “Great Caesar’s ghost,” picked the student up, bikes. The only problem was the blue shale dust got into
and threw him out the window, causing the student to our clothes and on us, making clothes and bodies very
break his arm. The teacher was then fired. dirty. It made it very hard for mothers of the community
to keep the kids looking clean. We continued to play
Up behind our house was an open grazing field for there. At the base of the tailings was murky, slimy water
cattle. James and Reid had been playing in that field one that collected from both winter rains and a small spring.
morning. James came running home to get the rest of us In that water, my brothers found a tricycle with two
boys to come with him. He had found a great thing. He wheels, the big front wheel and one back wheel. They
told us he had found waterproofing for our shoes. Sure scrounged around the neighborhood until they found
enough, he showed us a can of a gooey substance that, another wheel and put the tricycle together for me to
when you smeared it all over your shoes, kept water off ride. I was now five years old and could ride around
and out of our shoes. We were so proud when we got the sidewalks of Plymouth and have a great time. While
home and bragged to Mom about our waterproof shoes. riding in front of Wheeler’s market one day, I noticed
James had brought home the water proofing to show on the steps that came up the sidewalk from the street
Mom. Mom took one look at the can and became really something shiny in the corner. I got off of the tricycle,
angry. The waterproofing substance, better known as axle reached down, and pulled up the first dime I had ever
grease, was not Mom’s idea of a good substance to spread found. I mentioned earlier that there was an ice cream
all over the only pair of shoes we had. It took some time parlor in town. You could buy a single scoop of vanilla,
cleaning and conditioning to make the shoes wearable strawberry, or chocolate for a nickel. What I haven’t
without getting everything greasy and dirty. mentioned is that in my early years, I liked to save money.
During the war, you could buy war bonds as you do
Being boys and very adventurous, we were always savings bonds today, but we young savers could buy
looking for something to do, with my older brothers war saving stamps for a dime apiece. I had accumulated
leading the way and me, at four years old, tagging along. almost a full book of the stamps valued at $10. Now here
One such adventure started with an old buckboard the was a moral dilemma for a five-year-old. Should I buy a
boys found and put back together so it would roll around. double scoop of ice cream for a dime, or should I buy a
Not having a horse to pull it, they decided to push it war stamp with the same dime?
up the hill and roll down. The front wheels would turn
but did not have a wagon tongue to turn it. James and The support for the war effort and for our troops was well
Reid tied a rope to either side so they could steer the ingrained in our society, even to the youngest of children.
wagon. The ropes worked fine, and they took it up the I chose to buy a war stamp. I walked to the post office
hill. Everyone was on board but me. James and Reid, by myself, bought the stamp, and went home to put it
being the oldest, were going to be the pilots. As they in my book. Mom and Dad were both home. I told them
started rolling down the hill, the ride looked like great the story of finding the dime. They were both proud, and
fun. Everyone was yelling and screaming with laughter. Dad, in a rare gesture because of money’s being so tight,
However, they were approaching the bottom of the hill pulled a dime out of his pocket and told me to go buy a
faster and faster, and at the bottom of the hill the road double scoop of ice cream.
Y’ed. The wagon was moving quite fast now. Reid pulled
the rope to turn left. James pulled the rope to turn right. Cops and Robbers (remember we were just leaving the
Both pulled very hard. The party of four and the wagon gangster days of prohibition), Cowboys and Indians,
went straight into a ditch and a lot of brush and debris Gene Autry (a great singing cowboy hero of the movies),
beyond. Kids went flying everywhere. No one was hurt, and Americans and Japanese were games we played out-
and, after some discussion of how to steer together, we doors by the hour. One group of kids would be the good
all started pushing the wagon back up the hill for another guys, and the other group of kids would be the bad guys.
ride. Eugene and I were pushing from the rear. About We would spend the afternoons running around the blue
halfway up the hill, the rear axle and wheels collapsed, dump and the hillsides shooting each other down shot
breaking right at the rear of the wagon. I fell and was after shot. We would use cap pistols or homemade guns
unharmed, but Gene fell with his hands caught between or any stick we could find to pretend we had a weapon.
the broken portions of the wagon bed and the axles and One particular day I found a nice “rifle,” a stick about my
crushed the tips of his fingers. He was very sore for quite height that fit me very well. We were having a great day
a while. The wagon was no longer of any use. of Americans and Japanese, and I was a good guy. I was
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