pages 174-177

My Brother Denver has also been working on getting this book into the computer and he is quite a bit farther along than I.  He sent me the pages he had scanned in and edited so I am posting them here.  They will include at least 3 different posts including pages 174 though 232.

Pages 174-177

So soon we were off going over the road along Shirley Creek. The canyon by then was alive with birds of every description. The neighbor’s dog bounded down the hill at us. And when the neighbor came driving the lost calf we waited and assisted in getting it in the corral. Then said he was going to let us in on a secret. “They are getting up a real chivaree for you young folks if they know when you get married. Just thought I’d let you know a little ahead of time.” We told him thanks. Then rode on and I said to Jim, “Did you know our neighbors on the hill have invited us to dinner?” “Yes,” he said, “They stopped us the other evening as we came back from Sublett.” “I just wanted to see if you remembered,” I laughed.

Soon home. Father was still working in the garden but mother had gone to the house to prepare dinner. Jim took care of the horse s and then went to the garden where father was. I went in to help . But it was ready so called the men. Jim returned thanks. Mother had a tasty surprise- fried chicken.

After dinner Jim went back to the ranch and mother sat down to sew. Wilhelmina and I went to Sublett for the mail. A friend talked with her while I got the mail. When I came back he said it looked like we’d be reading for some time to come. After I got in the buggy we both talked for awhile longer. A wave and Beauty took off  on a trot. Later we passed the house where I took the party dress and waved to her. We sang along to Beauty’s trotting. Neighbors stopped us on the way home asking when the big event was going to take place. “Sometime I guess,” I said laughing. They said they had it planned and would be watching and waiting. Father and mother were happy with all the mail. Mother got a package of material she had ordered. The next day she cut it out and Wilhelmina and I took turns sewing! That evening  everyone  seemed to have some kind  of pap e r  to read. Sister practiced the new music she had gotten. I had a good home magazine. Later I tried the music I  knew,  playing a  piece or two and all sang while the housetop echoed it to the hill tops in a resounding  manner. Finally brother and family came down for the evening.  Mother held the baby and hummed a lullaby  and  when they started to leave the children cried. Later Jim went to see about the horses and heard the range herd leaving with a trail of dust behind them. They had  tried to free Billy Fortune  again. Then Jim gave me a big hug and kiss before he retired. A quietness reigned in the canyon at retiring time but a terrific wind began blowing toward morning  and  woke  us  all. About  noon  it subsided  so Jim  hitched Beauty to the buggy for we we’ re going to our neighbors for dinner.  The cloud s though hung a bit lower with a slight mist. Soon there and getting out of the buggy. Jim was tying Beauty to the hitch rack when our neighbor came out to give us a warm welcome. Their home was very cozy for she was an excellent housekeeper.  An elderly couple with no children. Dinner was delicious. I think though we were  a bit shy, but they were wonderful company. 1 don’ t  know when we had spent so delightful an afternoon with these fine people. They told us much about the country, the planting of grains, they grew here and knew just when and how to plant, to summer fallow and keep harrowed every so often in the spring, plow and harrow once a week all summer and seed not later than September was a good rule.  As we were leaving they invited us to come anytime .

It was misting heavier when we turned Beauty around and started for home. By the time Jim unhitched Beauty and put her in the barn, the rain really came  down.  The drought of summer was over and fall was evident. Father said that evening, ”This is the best thing that could happen to our wheat, but we promised that man that we'd get his house built yet this  fall.”  “ Well,”  mother said, “This won't keep up for we are living in a dry country.”

The next morning the sun came up from behind the mountain peaks without a tear in his eye or even a cloud on his face only a slight wind to dry out the drippy valley. The rain was a blessing. The atmosphere had  been  washed of its  dust leaving the air  fresh  and pure. The valley had been bathed, giving the dying grass of summer a new lease on life. The cattle would be coming down from the hills in numbers for the frost had deadened the grass in the high altitudes. The rain had freshened too the dead June grass and caused the thistles to green up  again  in  the  flats. That  vast valley from  the Sublett hills across west to the Coe Creek hills here the cattle drift when scarcity of food drives them from their mountain grazing grounds to this winter pasture. The rain was a blessing to all things.

Mother was graining her turkeys now for the Thanksgiving market. She was proud of her nice lot, even to the three turkey hens she had gotten in the spring. A wily energetic little woman,  always willing to help and do good. This just seemed to be her one aim in life and to help where ever needed. Nothing pleased  mother  more than to fix a good meal for her family or company or to feed a stranger begging at her door for a hand out. She was all and more than one could expect of a wife and mother. And fulfilled her duties when needed. Her complaints were few and far between. She asked little of life but gave lots of herself and time in return and no one that needed food went  away hungry.  Life was kind to mother for she expected the simple things of  life only and always seemed to get such a blessing out of it. Her one advice was ‘to always look to the Lord in all things, putting your daily trust in him and you’ll never go wrong or be lacking as you go through life’ was her motto to those who wanted it. Another of her phrases were ‘always praise the bridge that carries you safely over’. Mother’s words too were if a person is good to you, praise him for it and if possible help him in return.

Thus life went on in this little valley from day to day. Each day we became more attached to it finding things there that made life more real and worth living. Where could one find life so gratifying as under God’s blue skies in this valley with its echoing hills that had stood through time and ages and destined to stand immortal. Here you lived each day as it came for tomorrow would be another day and to do the things it brought forth, for time and eternity were here to stay among these everlasting hills.

The days became shorter, the nights longer, and frost a bit heavier each morning, making the days and nights chillier. Since the rain the atmosphere was filled with moisture that put a dampness in the air. Mother had taken to wearing a jacket and when in the house she loved to wear a small shawl around her shoulders saying she always felt comfortable with a little something on her shoulders. Mother had gotten most of her fall sewing done. Father was sawing the big pile of wood he had hauled from the hills. The garden had all been harvested and put in the cellar except the potatoes. There was no need for Toby to guard it longer so his ears had to be pinched many times to make him understand that it was alright for them, the geese, to go there. For it always aroused Toby’s ire when they would march past him in that sarcastic manner. It was hard to take  such taunting. He would lay with his head between his front legs emitting a whine and once in awhile a grouchy growl for if Toby ever had an enemy it was that saucy gander and his impudent ways. One couldn’t blame Toby when he would mix with him out of pure malice. One time Toby caught him off guard and planted his big jaws and long teeth around that ganders neck. He flopped and beat his wings but Toby held on. Hearing the racket mother rushed out just in the nick of time but Toby seeming to sense he had gotten the better of the gander and let loose. He walked away half ashamed of his rude act. Mother poured some water on the old gander and in a little bit he was up acting as boastful as ever. He even tried to nip mother. She said , “Old fellow you have just about had your fun. You d on’t know it now but you'll be a stuffed bird and look mighty pretty all roasted brown on someone's Thanksgiving table.” I could hear mother talking so went out to find she was predicting an end to the master of the barn lot. I have seen turkey gobblers strut and fight but I don’t believe they are quite as mean.

I went to pet Billy Fortune and give him some sugar. He kept nosing my hand. He knew I had it I just wanted to tease him. I finally gave it to him. He licked and licked my hand not wanting to lose a bit of it. Then gave him a good slap on the hip and went back to the house.

October had finally made its appearance. It was a bright sunny day but the air was laden with the coolness of fall. I went in the house, slipped on a jacket, put the field glasses over my shoulder and went down along Shirley Creek for a stroll.  I didn’t know Toby had followed until he dashed ahead of me. He had scared up something from the bushes and I could see it was a sage hen . Toby jumped high into the air walking on his hind legs in an attempt to grab it. But missed. Shirley Creek seemed a bit quieter and more peaceful in fact everything did. It was a glorious feeling with the coolness and a bit of dampness on my cheeks. I had seen twenty one of these falls. I was now a young lady but to me this season of the year was always the same whether eleven or twenty-one, a resplendent time, then too. Fall was always a time for rejoicing, the harvest over, fields bare, cellars bulging with good things stored against the long cold months of winter when one would spend much time in doors before a cheery fire, popping corn, making candy, playing games and numerous other things to occupy one’s time and mind. A time when outdoor labors seem to have been forgotten. A time when gardens and  fruit trees lay dormant waiting for spring time and a time of producing and somewhere a coyote thought he’d add his mournful cry to the cool fall air.

Turning and coming closer home I thought I could hear mother’s rooster crowing. The old fellow who had awakened us each morning since he was first brought here would wind up as a dinner someday, with noodles and dressing . Mother used to say they were hard to beat and I agree. When I finished my stroll and came to the house there was a most delicious odor when I went in. The old rooster had already lost his head and was browning nicely all filled with dressing and mother was turning and basting it.

Father would come home that evening and after eating their own cooking from a campfire, mother figured  he  would like something different. Wilhelmina made a burnt sugar cake and I made an apple pie.  A young fellow rode up just as we were about ready to eat. My sister greeted  him  so mother asked him to eat with us. Jim returned thanks and we started the food around the table.

After supper all gathered in the living room while I cleaned up the table and  Jim dried the dishes and Wilhelmina entertained her friend.  We  soon  joined the  group.  Father  sat  nodding  as  he  was trying to read his paper. But mother managed to stay awake and join the conversation.  Father was a  man of few  words. When someone said something he disapproved of, he weighed the matter deeply and most generally said little if any until he could clarify the subject. That was one reason he was always on the jury when we lived in Norfolk Virginia. Most generally he read of evenings, but if he was putting up a building he would sit figuring it out, each room foot by foot. I have even seen him use his hands in measuring what  he thought would be one foot or three foot.   However never using paper and pencil,  always  doing  it  in  his  head.  Mother  went  over  and suggested they retire so mother and he proceeded upstairs.  Jim and I went to the kitchen to sit and make plans for one day of the four had already vanished.  We took stock of what we had and figured we should either buy more groceries at Sublett or go to Rupert.  We came to the conclusion we'd buy what we needed for now and after we were married make a trip to Rupert and buy for the winter.  Wilhelmina walked to the door with her friend to say goodnight, then went to bed.  Jim then gave me a goodnight kiss and retired to his bedroom and me to mine. (177)