My mother had 2 siblings. A little sister named Margaret. In their day little girls wore only dresses. One day the Clarence Fisch family was burning leaves. Little Margaret's skirt tail caught fire and she was very badly burned. Gramma Fisch made her little underwear and since there was no elastic available, she used thin strips of inner tube from tires. This rubber burned most severly around little Margaret's legs and waist. She suffered for several days before passing. From that point forward my mom wore pants at home. It may not have been fashionable but it was much safer. We have no pictures of little Margaret. Mimi also had a brother named Clifford. We loved Uncle Clifford. He had a jeep with no top and he would take us for rides through the woods and streams and we thought that was just the coolest thing around. Uncle Clifford passed away when I was in Junior High School. He was getting gas from a holding tank and fell in and died. Uncle Clifford was married to Aunt Billie and they lived not far from Gramma and Grampa Fisch near Starks, Louisiana. They had 3 children about the same age and me and my sisters. The pictures above were taken Christmas about 1960 (I'm only guessing here!). The one on the left is me with Sue. The one in the middle is Jean with Junie. The one on the right is Burton with Neffie. There pictures were taken in the front yard of the old home place way out in the country. This old home was sooooo much fun. It had no running water or electricity and no indoor plumbing. There was a long lane from the road to the house. It had huge fields and timber on either side. There was a big dirt area in front where people parked cars when they visited. We loved to create in that dirt. We would build little rows and make streets and houses, etc. When facing the house, on the left side of the entry lane was a field. At one point there was a cow there we called Bossie. There was also a bull that we stayed clear of. Sometimes there was a mule there as well. Next to this field was a building that you see in the back of the pictures. It was a garage. It had a lean-to on the back that was the hen house. I remember gathering eggs in that coup. Next to the garage was the barn. I remember straw in the hayloft and peanuts being mixed in the hay. It was fun to climb up and have a snack. To the right of the entry lane in front of the house and separated by a fence was a big field. I remember a tree in that field that Junie loved to climb. She was very athletic (I was not so much!). I just remember Junie being great at shimmying up that tree. I remember having a dog (I think it was Prissy) that was chasing something and didn't see the fence separating the house and the field. She ran smack into it and had little fence imprints on her face. It didn't hurt her really but it was amusing anyway. The house was a frame house with a long front porch. On this porch sat green adironack chairs and sofa sets. There was a swing on the end. To the edge of this porch was a huge (about 6 ft. across and 4 ft. tall) water barrel. The rain water ran down the gutters and into this barrel. It was your water storage for the home. There is not much in life greater than sitting in that swing during a gentle rain watching and listening to the rain go down the gutter into the barrel. The front of the house at the other end of the front porch had a little room you could enter and go through to the kitchen. This little room was the pantry and all the canned foods went there. Down the middle of the house was a big hallway. At either end were doors that could be closed to keep out the weather. During the summer these doors were always open to keep the house as cool as possible. Each afternoon my mom would take blankets (homemade and stuffed with kapock not batting) and lay them on the floor. We called these pallets. We had to lay down and rest each afternoon. Now, like the rain and the water barrel, this is one of those experiences that you remember when you feel a certain breeze in the summer. Laying there you would get the best breezes with the freshest air. It makes me feel peaceful just to think of it. The left portion of the house as you face it was 2 bedrooms. They had iron headboards and were piled high with those quilts in the winter to keep you warm. Gramma Fisch also had these flannel sheets that were pink and felt sooo good on a cold night. The bedroom at the front of the house had an old trunk in it. On top of this trunk was where Gramma Fisch kept all the extra folded blankets. In the back bedroom was a box and on top of it was the feed sacks. Feed for the animals came in beautifully colored print cottom fabrics. Gramma Fisch would carefully pull these sacks apart and launder and iron them. Then they were folded and stored here. When we would visit, my mom would carefully go through them and make the patterns and then make us clothes from these beautiful sacks. The light for these rooms was kerosene lanterns. You would carry one back with you when you went to bed and then turn it out before jumping under the covers. There was no indoor plumbing as I mentioned previously but there were chamber potties by each bed. If you needed to go during the night, you used one of these. The next day they had to be taken outside and emptied and cleaned and put back in the bedroom for the next night. I also remember big Coca-Cola calendars in the back bedroom. One had Santa on it and one had a blond lady in a bathing suit. Very modest by today's standards. The other side of the house had 2 big rooms that went from the front to the back of the house. The one closest to the hallway was a living room in the front and a bedroom for my grandparents in the back. No divider. They had a naugahide (spelling is phonetic here) sofa and a chair. There was an old pot bellied stove for warmth. Lanterns like you would camp with were used for light or kerosene lanterns. There was a battery powered radio I can remember Grampa Fisch listening to at night. I remember a Farmer's Almanac hanging on a string on the wall. Gramma Fisch had a table on either side of the big bed. She caught me snooping around in those tables and asked me what I was doing. I looked at here and said, "I'm just punderin' Gramma, just punderin'." The would is plundering in case you are wondering. I remember burning my hand on one of the lanterns. There was also a deer heat that was mounted and hanging on the wall. This was the room we gathered in at night until it was bedtime. The long room on the outside edge of the house was the kitchen. The front cooking area was at the front of the house. There was a big window facing the front. Along the outside wall was the stove and a table where we put a dishpan full of water to wash the dishes with. The table was tall and long and homemade. Along one side was a bench. Along the other sides were chairs with the seats made of cow hide. Gramma Fisch had a little dish filled with lemon drop candies. On the back side of the house and behind the kitchen was the back porch. This was where we bathed. We would prime the pump and then pump enough water to fill the wash tub. Some of it was heated if needed. Then you set all this wash tub up on the back porch and that is where you took your bath. This home had a huge garden in the back that was Grampa Fisch's and another huge one to the kitchen side of the house that was Gramma Fisch's. There was a pig pen at the entry to Grampa Fisch's garden. Gramma Fisch's garden had the enormous strawberry patch. The yard had pecan trees, satsuma orange trees, pomegranite bushes and fig trees. I'm sure there must have been peach, pear and maybe an apple tree but I can't place them. I have lots of fond memories of playing at this house and in the land around it with the tree cousins pictured above. I'm sure as time goes on I share more of those memories.
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