Page 13 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

I was about three years old when I tried to walk
around my grandfather's gas station with my eyes
closed. I only made it halfway around when I
suddenly tripped on the rim of the oil pit which cars
drove over to have their oil changed. I tumbled into
the pit, landing head first into a tub of crankcase oil.
I scrambled up the concrete steps, crying as I ran to
my grandfather. My mother shortly was trying to
remove my blackened complexion by giving me a
thorough scrubbing in the bathtub. Not long after
that, I explored our medicine cabinet and
discovered the most delicious chocolate candy.

I couldn’t hide from my mother the fact I had eaten all of it. It was the laxative, Ex-Lax.
That was one time I was thoroughly clean, inside and out!

One day, I got a shovel and proceeded to dig a hole as deep as I could because I wanted
to see China! That was the hot summer day that my family laughingly remembers. At
dinner time they were all surprised when I got up from the dinner table and ran in
circles around the kitchen. My grandfather later learned from his bartender that several
times that afternoon I had been spotted going behind the bar a couple of times to the
beer tap, pouring myself a swig of the brew. Behind the house, between the bar and the
cabins, was an old Model A or Model T truck. It had a belt attached to the rear wheel
that was probably attached to a saw for cutting lumber. We didn’t pay much attention to
the rear of the truck, but it was just perfect for Richard and me to climb up into the front
seat to take turns sitting behind the steering wheel, pretending that we were driving.

We loved to visit our other grandparents’ farm in Mayetta. One of the most
unforgettable sights was watching my mother’s mother, Mamie Cranmer, whom we
called Me-mom select a chicken for Sunday dinner. She would select a plump chicken,
lay its head on an old tree stump, and chop its head off. I know she got a kick out of
watching us laugh our heads off as the headless chicken running around the yard. One
day Richard discovered that roosters were not friendly. He got pecked a few times as
the rooster charged him.

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