MPT Part 6: Fourth Grade Rides and Thanks

This is the sixth in a series of blogs I'm writing for Mommy's Piggy Tales .  Janna has provided a forum for members to write and share stories from their youth.   THANKS Janna and THANKS to Wanda who inspired the wonderful project!

Fourth Grade, Riding Along and Thanks to Many

Family with Buick in 1952                               Internet Photo of my Dad's Jeep Willys (but his was always dirty)

In 1952 the family was  riding along in a blue Buick.  And on the farm, my dad sported a versatile little Willys Jeep that reminded a lot of people of Pat Brady's Nellybelle (from the Roy Rogers movies). 

Dad was expanding the cattle part of our farming operation and often needed to count the animals in various fields. On Sunday afternoons, one of us usually went to the farm with him to check things out.  I loved those times together.  We'd drive the Jeep up and over the terraces counting cattle as we went.  (If one was missing, it could mean a cow was having a calf off by herself, or maybe some animals had escaped due to a broken fence.)    I might say,  "Daddy, should we count heads or tails?"  "Well Karen, how about ears and divide by two."   "Or legs and divide by four?"  This is an old old joke that still makes me smile because I can hear us laughing together!

During wheat harvest, we had memorable picnics in the fields. Mom cooked huge meals, packed everything up (including a jar of soapy water for the men to wash their hands), and off we went in the car to locate my dad and the other workers.   We'd find a shady spot if possible in the harvested stubble, stomp it down as best we could, and spread out our blanket with a tablecloth on top.  We had the technique down to a science.  Then, we'd gather together, say grace and enjoy a family meal.  I'll always remember these special moments.  We would stay for a while when the men got back to work waiting for them to need to empty the hopper on the combine.  Dad would drive the machine beside the big truck and lower the spout.  Then the fun began.  As the grain was emptied into the truck, Daddy had a shovel to spread it around while the kids jumped barefoot in the grain.   It was amazing to see the hundreds thousands of grasshoppers with the wheat!  When the truck was full, a driver (perhaps my grandfather) headed to town and the grain elevator.  Farmers had to be very efficient at harvest time because the crop needed to be at the right stage and the weather cooperative. They couldn't waste time coming in for a meal.   (Thanks, Beth, for your recent post that reminded me of this fun time.)

The following story might be classified as a childhood event having some relevance to my adult profession. Perhaps that why I even remember all this! (Thanks, Denise, for your recent post which prompted this.  "It's so me." )

In our neighborhood, everyone had "green" lawns that were kept mowed, but not the manicured lawns of today.  No one watered or fertilized the grass, and everyone had a fair amount of clover. 

A fun activity for children was hunting for four-leaf clovers, perhaps inspired by the catchy song.   The game took a new turn for me when we had summer contests to find the lucky charms.  On one evening my friends each found one or two but I found six.  The next morning I looked more closely at my "secret" spot in the yard and observed the little vines and patterns closely.  When we played the game again a few days later, most kids found one or two and I came up with ten!  Now this was really fun!   Of course, I didn't tell the others what was going on.   I just nurtured my special vines and waited for another game.  The next time we played, my dad was observing.  Again, I won the game by a huge margin.  Dad had a twinkle in his eye and smiled at me.  He knew my secret.  I wasn't finding 4-leaf covers, I was cultivating them!      This is my first memory of an observation leading to a real scientific experiment and predicting the results!   

In the 4th grade that year, my teacher,  the wonderful Mrs. Emma Russell, made learning interesting and fun.    I loved ciphering in math and the Friday spelling bees.   Among many worthwhile projects, each child wrote an autobiography.  Since Mom saved my copy, I'm attaching a sample of my handwriting.   I remember what a big task it was, writing with a fountain pen and ink (not ballpoint), and endless copying to get it just right.   As I look at my penmanship now, I remember the HUGE controversy about the "new" handwriting style we were taught.  Instead of the traditional Palmer method, we learned a style that has an "open" letter p.  My mother was very upset about this... and when I wrote thank you notes for gifts to relatives, she made sure I "closed the p's."  And she also made sure I wrote promptly!

Folding Paper Word Game

During the presidential campaign that fall,  the candidate, General Dwight Eisenhower, came to our little town for a few minutes. And I was there!  A campaign train traveled from Omaha to Kansas City and it actually stopped, for us!   We got out of school for the 11 AM visit.  Crowds stood at our little Missouri Pacific Station and the train pulled in.  (Often the trains did not stop, so this was important.)  Eisenhower spoke briefly from the special caboose and we all cheered.  While there, we 4th Graders saw an unusual "I  LIKE IKE" sign that I remember distinctly.   When we went back to school that afternoon, we played word games with folding paper somewhat like the sign.   I suppose if a student wanted to do a word game with "I Like Adlai Stevenson" Mrs. Russell would have allowed it.  She was that kind of teacher!  Hundreds of students can thank her for a good year in school.

Thanks to Gretchen and All-American Sue for a recent post that reminded me of this story.
  
And in this season of Thanksgiving and my theme of this post, thanks to anyone who happens to be reading!