Memories of a Summer
When I was a child, my sister, Kathy and I spent many a summer day with our Uncle Charlie and Aunt Jessie.
They lived on a farm just outside of Batesville, Arkansas along with my Aunts father, Grandpa Reeves, and our cousins Janie and Carol. I remember the bond I developed with them and the magical summers spent on their farm.
I recall my father helping my uncle who was building their house of the farm. They were doing something to the ceiling that I didn't understand but involved using straw brooms that made neat swirls.
Uncle Charlie worked for Arkansas Power and Light, so he was knowledgeable in things electrical. There were some wires coming out of the wall near the door about head high, at least to me, and Uncle Charlie warned me not to touch them because I would get shocked. Shocked hmm what's that sure sounds interesting. I patiently waited until he and dad had left the room then I went straight to those wires. There's something exciting about doing something forbidden and I just couldn't resist. Yes you guessed it, I touched those wires and Lordy did they bite. My arm tingled all the way up to my shoulder. Of course I never let my Uncle Charlie or dad know what happened.
There was this open pit on the side of the house and a large mound of dirt there. Many blocks of wood lay about from the construction of the house and my sister and I found an instant use for them. Kathy used the blocks of woods to make a town, while I used a piece to make paths in the dirt for roads. We had several matchbox cars and played all day in our town with them.
My dad was in the Air Force and I was used to living in a modern time. Grandpa Reeve's was a link to the past and I remember the small house and shop behind Uncle Charlie and Aunt Jessie's that was Grandpa Reeve's.
He enjoyed working with his hands and he whittled me a bow and arrow set. I know that it wasn't a very powerful bow, really it was just a toy, but for a kid my age it was something special. I remember stalking a lot of prey, never killing anything but still having great fun pretending.
Grandpa Reeve's had a small forge that he used, I don't remember anything that he built but I do remember him letting me crank the blower. I'd crank that blower as fast as I could, then I'd step back and watch as the coal would pop and sparks would fly.
There was a field in front of the house and Uncle Charlie would let it grow and then cut it for hay. He and dad would take a truck and with pitchforks they would throw the hay up on the truck and Kathy, my cousins, and I would stomp it packing it down so Uncle Charlie could store it. Oh we had such fun doing that. It was just like having a hayride.
When I was a little older, Uncle Charlie would let me help him cut and rake the hay. He had a older sickle and hay rake that you rode on to control, and it was pulled by horses, however in our case we used a old B Model John Deer tractor that we called "Poppin Johnny". It was my job to activate the lifts so either the cutter blade on the sickle would raise up or the tines on the rake would go up. Its so strange that something I thought as fun back then would seem like work today.
Just where would a farm be without animals? A lot less fun but safer. Toughie, he was Uncle Charlie's dog. He loved to chase after the cattle and herd them especially Old Joe who had to be the biggest, toughest, meanest, white faced bull there ever was. Then there was Kit. Kit was my Grandpas Beers' mule and Uncle Charlie got her after Grandpa Beers passed away. There was this pony that Uncle Charlie either had or was keeping for someone. I rode the pony and once it reared up just like Silver on the Lone Ranger show, WOW! Now that was fun.
Naturally not all animals on the farm were fun. There were some guinea hens, they're kinda like a chicken that ran loose and I thought it would be a great sport to chase them. They had other ideas about sports and attacked me. Oh how them claws smarted. I learned a valuable lesson that day, don't chase guinea hens.
I mentioned earlier that my Uncle Charlie worked for Arkansas Power and Light. One day I got to go with him to work. I got to wear a real hard hat and everything. I helped, actually watched, the crew as the dug holes for telephone poles. One of the holes they were trying to dig had a lot of rock in the way so dynamite was placed in it. I had to stand a long way back so I didn't get to see them put it there but they did let me put the wire on the battery which caused the dynamite to explode. It made a loud noise and made the ground shake. I even got to direct traffic for them. Jeez at the power I had over them grown people in them big cars. I loved every minute of it.
Evenings were especially magical. I remember chasing fireflies and when we caught them we would put them in a mason jars. There were so many fireflies on the farm. They'd come out at dusk while it was still warm and the dew hadn't fallen. We would get out in the field among them and pretend they were fairies.
We'd sit outside and listen to the creatures and insects. Crickets and frogs would join in a chorus that could rival the best symphonies. Off in a distance a quail would sing its "Bob White " song and we would imitate it by whistling back.
My cousins taught me how to catch June bugs. They'd tie a thread to its back leg and then make it fly. It would fly around and around like a toy airplane. I'm not sure which tired out first, the bug or me but we all had a lot of fun flying them.
Eventually Uncle Charlie and Aunt Jessie moved away from the farm and into town ending the summer days spent there. My parents worked prevented us from going to Uncle Charlie and Aunt Jessie's as often and slowly I grew to old to for the magic of summer.
A lot of years have passed and I have children of my own now. My parents and Uncle Charlie have passed away and regretfully I am negligent about seeing my Aunt Jessie.
I wrote these memories down to share with my family and especially my Aunt Jessie. I wish to let her know just how special she and Uncle Charlie were to me.
They were such a large part of my family life during those magical years of my childhood and I will always cherish them and remember with love the times we had together.
© Randall J Beers
October 1998
