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There were all kinds of snakes in Texas and we were always warned to stay
away from rattlesnakes. We often saw them on the highway smashed by a
car or undulating their way across the road as Edda and I would explore
farther and farther away from Rankin Court. We soon discovered that if we
walked down the highway that went by the front of the court for a distance,
another road would branch off and start climbing up the side of a hill. We
never had the temerity to follow that road all the way to its conclusion; one of
us would inevitably get cold feet and we would return to the safety of the
courtyard. Eventually, with another boy from Rankin Court, we did some
exploring away from that roadway and discovered a dry gulch. We were very
lucky, indeed, that we never came across a rattlesnake!

The Greyhound bus went right by the motor court and would, upon occasion,
stop on the gravel right in front of the court to pick someone up. I wondered
how the bus driver knew when to stop to pick up passengers. It could not be
by simply standing out on the gravel area, because there often were people
milling around there and the bus would not stop. One day I noticed that the
person waiting for the bus stuck out his thumb and the bus stopped. I
watched, and, sure enough, the next time the waiting person again stuck out
his thumb and the bus stopped. I decided to test my theory and waited until
the next day when I saw the bus coming. I moved out onto the gravel by the
side of the highway and stuck out my thumb. The bus stopped! I was elated!
I had figured it out! However, the elation was very short-lived. Once the bus
driver found out I was not going anywhere, he proceeded to chew me out
royally for stopping him! I was so embarrassed! I did not try it again.

We experienced cold, real cold, for the first time in our lives that winter. All of
us would huddle around the pitifully small radiator in our minuscule living
room trying to get what warmth we could. We had experienced a lot of rain in
Puerto Rico, but nothing like the thunderstorms that would sweep through
Texas! One time, at the height of the thunderstorm, in the midst of driving
rain and hail, the neighbor’s car horn became stuck, and it wailed and wailed
right at our back door.

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