All about me # 6

What was your childhood like?

I am the youngest of 4 children.  I was the baby of the family - does that say it all?

Curtis, me, Katherine, Greg - what a baldy I was

I had a good childhood. I played, I read, I bicycled, I tagged along with my sister, I was teased by my brothers, I worked in the yard, I climbed trees.

Let me tell you about a few of those things:

My sister Katherine is just 15 months older than me.  She was my first friend.  Any of the neighborhood friends were first her friends and then they became my friends.

Katherine and I lived on the corner of Fir and Holly Streets in Shelley, Idaho.  Holly Street was covered with children.  I think almost every house had kids living there and we would often get together on warm summer nights and play games like "Capture the Flag", "Olly, Olly, Oxen Free", and "Red Light, Green Light".  It didn't matter what house we played out because we would take over the street and any front yard that was available without fences.  We stayed out late - it was pleasant and joyful.

I climbed trees.  Our backyard had a huge willow tree and lots of fruit trees.  I would climb as high as I could in the willow tree and settle in with a book to read.  I would also climb as high as I could in hopes of not being seen so I would not have to do my chores. Sometimes I was found and sometimes I wasn't.  I remember taking a small 2 x4 and hammering it in somehow to the apple tree (this was after the willow was taken out) to make a sitting area for myself.  It became another reading spot in the tree but never high enough or enough branches to hide ever again. Do you think that was why the willow was taken out?

My brothers teased me sometimes until I would cry but they were also my protectors.  My oldest brother, Curtis, was allergic to bees but I recall a time when there was a swarm of bees outside and he somehow swatted them away so I would not get stung.  He also slept by my bed one night after he forced me to watch a scary show so I would be safe from whatever nightmares that might come.

Greg, Curtis, me, Katherine - I finally got hair

A few stories - maybe more to come.

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