Yesteryear

Some of this was from my book "Journey to the Backwoods"

When I was lad and ol' Shep was a pup, we lived for a spell in an old homestead on the end of a dirt road. Weren't no modern conveniences but was a great place for a boy.

No electricity for a few years, good thing Mom was a pioneer type, nothing fazed her. She did the wash on a scrub board in the same tub that us kids got our Saturday night bath. The outhouse was a two holer out behind the woodshed. I still remember those 30-40 below trips that you waited 'til you couldn't wait no more. Everyone used their stove ashes in there to keep down the odor. But you better make sure they were cold, more then one john burned to the ground from ashes that wasn't out.

We had running water – you took the pail and rope and ran to the well, lowered it down and flipped it just right, filled every time.

Man it was cold in the old house when the north wind howled. No insulation of course just slats and plaster. The old round burner would get cherry red. Both Tom and I would rotate around till our skin felt on fire then race up the stairs and leap into bed. Were those sheets ever cold!! There was no heat up there, I guess it was healthy.

Anyway, folks there's still some of us old coots around that lived like that.

Uncle Vinny was log'n a few miles from there. Just about dark you'd see that big black team Doc and Dan, puffing up over the rise. Pulling that big bobsled loaded with logs. Most always brother James had firewood for us on the load. He left school at 16 to work in the woods.

Tom and I had got sleds one winter from some good samaritan. Western flyers they was!! Didn't matter how cold it got, we hiked down the road to the Kloster's place and spent the night see'n who could go the farthest.

There were no smart phones, no phones at all. No ipads, no TV. Children made their own entertainment. I worry about my grandchildren, they have too much. They've never known real hard time.

Just like the Creator arranged it, spring came. The geese came honking overhead. Calling to one another least one fall away. Songbirds nested in the lilac tree. And I got to climb the big pine tree in the yard. Whenever Mom needed to find me she knew where to look. She made us take sulfur and molasses, it cleaned your blood.

Summer meant head'n to the huckleberry patch. Mom canned 65 quarts every year. To this day I can't force myself to enjoy picking berries. Mom would stay 'til the moon came out and we had to walk miles home in the dark. The only time she'd leave before dark was if she saw a big pile of bear scat.

Roy Clark sang, "Yesterday, when I was young, the taste of life was sweet like rain upon my tongue...."