Well Well Well

Webster defines
Well, Noun- "a hole dug or a shaft bored in the ground to get water, oil, gas or steam".
Figurative- A spring, fountain, or outer source: fount, a well of everlasting love.

To us it means all of the above, In addition to Bible scripture referring to the well. The lady at the well. So many thoughts can go through your head, A word can conjure up a well of memories.

Hence.

My first experience with a well, was when I was 3- 5 years old. I had not started school yet, We lived in Slabtown, (a shanty town on the outskirts of Sheridan).
Our well was about 8 inches diameter. Into it went a long metal tube cylinder. You would drop this tube down into the casing, it would fill with water, You then pulled it up by a long rope, and released a handle to release the water into a bucket. That was our source of water. We had no pump to pump the water into the house so we did it this way. I was too small so I never got to do this but I watched and I learned.
I was terrified of the hole in the ground.
When we moved to a different house, My mom always scouted the property for abandoned wells and made sure we knew to stay away from them, If they were in an accessible area, she would fill them in the best she could with garbage, (Yep I said garbage, so some where in Arkansas are holes with old bottles and broken dishes and pans in them.)
Often they were already covered by something, maybe even old boards that were possibly rotten. She would proceed to replace those boards and warn us to STAT AWAY!!!!
Often as not they were covered by a briar patch. A briar patch is something Brer Fox threw Brer Rabbit into. LOL

We always had a well on our property.
They were a source of baths, laundry, (with rain water), Cleaning, and Most importantly Drinking water.

When your Dad was a boy they never had a well that had water. One time they moved into a house with a bathroom but the well went dry, so the bathroom was not in use. I recall visiting that house, We were picking them up for church. He and Coy often had to walk to the neighbors to get water.

When he moved to Arkansas in 1963, he moved in with Coy and Lou. They needed a well, so he and coy went to work digging the well. Yep with shovel and pick. They hired a man from town to help. This guy was afraid of enclosed spaces, so why would he hire out to dig wells. Well in all honesty he was not very bright.
He would come to our house every morning and yell, Hellooooo, Helloooooo, until someone acknowledged. He came to get Harold to help.
The well diggers name was Frog McReynolds. Not his real name but your Dad called him that so often he forgot his real name.
So they began digging the well, Your Dad would dump the buckets and Frog would be in the bottom of the well, filling them. The well was only 14-16 feet deep but it did produce water. Not enough, but water never the less.
Your Dad then placed huge 36 diameter casings in the well. He would hook them to the bumper of the car, and slowly lower them into the hole. He said, It would feel as if the car was being pulled into the well. As I said Frog was claustrophobic, so he did not dig a 36 inch diameter hole, He dug a 5 or 6 foot diameter hole.

Today we have a well that is secure, but it still terrifies me. Just the thought of a hole in the ground that a person can fall into. Even though the top is sealed, I still have nightmares about wells.

When I was about 7 our cat fell into the well. Mama immediately dropped the bucket into the well, and the cat jumped in, but to this day, I can recall the boys coming in and yelling, "The cat fell in the well." Mama thought they said, "Jeanette fell in the well, "
I will never forget the terror in her voice as she ran outside. Of course, at that point she was grateful it was the cat, but the boys still got into trouble, I think they threw it in. They would do that, They often pestered the cat, by putting paper shoes on it. We would all laugh, but the poor cat was distraught by the paper on his feet.
So I would naturally think they would do something that mean. I have to remember to ask them.

As we were driving home last night we talked about all these things. We just wanted you to know.

Christmas 1967

My Mom had came to California in August to be with me for the arrival of Ken. He did not come when expected so she had to go back home.

It had been 4 months since I had seen my family, so we decided to go to Arkansas for Christmas.

When we had to have the car fixed, we thougth all would be well. Not So.

Joe and Daisy wanted us to come over before we left for dinner. She had made chicken fried steak for your Dad, we were running really late. But we decided since they had gone to all that trouble we would go. By then it was late in the after noon or early evening. Daisy gave Ken the cupie doll he has, and Charles got a Pistol and Hoster.

Next was a trip to Red Bluff, Mom was going with us too. We always took her when we made an Arkansas trip. When we got there, It was pretty late, and she had Alan with her. She begged us to let him go, Your Dad said, "NO Mom he can't go". So we called Jim and Modest and they kept him until the next day when they could find Jodie.

Now we are on our way, Finally!

We drove all n ight, and the next morning we were at Tehachapie, Then on to Flagstaff Arizone. Our car broke down somewhere. We got a motel room and settled in for the night. Your Dad kept checking the weather, so really early we got up and got on the road. It was so cold outside. Your Dad came into the motel room shaking and said we had to get moving as it was really cold and we need to beat a storm out.

Again we were on the road, when we stopped in Flagstaff for breakfast, the world around us was white, but the roads were still open, Flagstaff is at a high elevation so we figured it would clear once we got to the valley.

We were so wrong.

The snow got deeper and deeper, we put chains on and kept going. Ken was in my arms, Charles was under his grandmothers care in the back seat. At that time Child seats were unheard of, We had a bed for Ken, called a traveling child carrier, a lot like a bassinett but with metal edges and plastic, for a covering. We lined it with blankets and he had all the warm milk he wanted so he was happy. (he liked milk then)

Did I mention our Car was a white Falcon station wagon? Well it was and as we know snow is also white.

Did I mention your dad only had one arm usable? The other one was in a cast.

Several times we tried to find something, anything, open to stop. The entire area had shut down, At one point, a big truck passed us, I am sure he could not tell when it was clear to move back in, So he pulled back in, right on us, Your dad turned the wheel quickly, we did a complete 360 over to the other side of the freeway, and turned back into the freeway, straightened up as perfect as possible, and were still headed East. . He did all that with one hand. I remember calling out to God and telling Mom to hold Charles, Your Dad recalls saying, Hang on to the babies.

At that point we would ahve stayed in a teepee. But none were to be found. Our chains on the car broke, They were slapping the underside of the car, It was a horrible noise,

Old and New

We were discussing words that are no longer in use, or used in different context.

For example Transistor Radio, When I was growing up there was a song on the radio, "Transistor Sister", A Transistor was the first portable radio that was manufactured. They were small but not nearly as small as the new camera phones.

Brownie Cameras, I had a brownie camera when I was 11. Sure wish I had it now.

There are so many things in or lives I want you all to know about, I have to write them down, lest you forget, who I am and where you came from.

I told you of the Carbide Lights, some are in the American Museum, You can see them by going to the site on line. Problem being you can't smell them, but knowing my brothers, they still have one of those lights. So someday you may be able to know the acid smell I think of when I think of fishing.

That smell and the smell of fish and the scales on the ground.

I have so many wonderful memories, No my life was not perfect, but you take from it what you want. I choose to take the good, and leave the bad behind. It makes my heart light.

I remember my first sherbet. Daddy had taken us to town to buy ice cream at the dairyette, another word, They were serving this new treat, Sherbet, I wanted something different so I ordered it. I did not like it, When we got home, Roy was teasing me, as he was running into the house, I flung my cone at him and all the sherbet came off. I was left with a cone, but that was my favorite part anyway.

A dairyette is a drive in where you could go buy ice cream cones, burgers, shakes, and fries. You know the works. It was a real treat for us, as we did not go to town often, So getting the sherbet and not liking it, was a big let down for me.

Coke, I loved coca cola, It came in 6 oz bottles and when you took a drink, it burned the mouth, It was not a hot burn like a good burn and you wanted that burn. I sure wish they made it like that now. But it is my understanding that burn was real Coke, Cocaine. I wonder.

Cokes were 5 cents, and peanuts were a penny. You could buy the coke and add the peanuts, or not, I usually did. Oh yes they did have coke machines in the school. High school they were by the gum, in the multi purpose room. In grade school they were on the lower floor, at the entry. Little Red Coke Machine. When I got to middle school we had a coke machine that you slid the bottles down to the end, and when you put you money it, the machine would release that one coke for you to move over and pull out.

I still remember the day they went to 6 cents. I wondered how you could pay a penny but they just added a little coin drop beside the nickel drop. That happened when I was in 9th or 10th grade.

Hot peanut vendors. When I was pregnant with Ken, I did my laundry at a Washteria. (Coin Laundry). Right beside the laundry was a 5 and 10 cent store. I saw a peanut machine, You could get a bag of hot roasted spanish peanuts for about a quarter. I ordered a bag, and as I recall, Wayne Brown, Charles and I shared the bag. Big mistake.

I got so sick, it was ages before I could look at another peanut without my head spinning.