Stories about Mom and Dad

Dad was surprisingly handy with some tasks, and not with others. For example, he and Mom built the forms and poured a concrete edging strip around the lawn in the backyard; he put up a tether ball pole for us in the backyard (that doubled as a pole for the clothesline). I think they put the sprinkler system in front and back, and Dad planted a wonderful hybrid bermuda lawn, like the kind used for golf greens; the lawn was like a carpet, and wonderful to play on... This beautiful hybrid bermuda grass required a special lawnmower that would mow extra low. Dad would periodically bring home things from the oilfield; in this case a particularly clear and lovely crude oil that was such high grade that it would need little refining... I remember it looked like dark honey and smelled lovely. So Dad ran out of oil for the lawn mower and used that instead. It worked fo a couple of months before the engine gummed up sufficiently to require a full rebuild. I believe he added a hose bib in the ...

Mom had a problem with wasting food; I think it's because she knew hunger. Her mother, in fact, died of liver issues that were related to malnutrition during WWII. So when Halloween came around, she could not waste the pumpkin. So before we carved the pumpkin, she'd scoop out the seeds, then, using her biggest metal cooking spoon, she'd carefully shave out as much of the pumpkin meat as she could. This is hard work! I've tried it. The upside to this was that the pumpkin was ludicrously easy to carve, as it was only 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick... She'd then take the pumpkin, boil it, and make pumpkin pies. Dad would put them carefully on a board in the backseat of his car and deliver them to friends. Of course everyone would insist he come in for a drink, Dad, despite promising he wouldn't, would come home throughly polluted...

I just returned from Pasadena, we were there overnight for a little R&R and to look at some art.  Travelling through, I was reminded of a story Mom had told me. She was going to take Jacqueline to Disneyland, but was afraid to drive on LA freeways; LA freeways had to have been a lot easier back then... I think it was Grover Collins that told gave her this strategy: immediately pull all the way to the left into the fast lane, then stay there until you're close to your destination. That was there's only cars passing you on one side. I think this behavior is a felony on the Autobahns of Germany, but it's legal in LA, and that's the way Mom navigated LA freeways for many years. I'm imagining how exasperating that must have been for the other drivers... This fear of LA Freeways might account for the reason she and Jacqueline never went to visit Clark Gable. They were on the same plane to LA when Mom emigrated; Mr. Gable was apparently quite taken with the baby Ja...

Dad wasn't really a kid person, you know the type of father that plays with and interacts comfortably with kids of all ages... I know he loved us very very much but it wasn't until I was an adult that I had a real relationship with him. He had a couple of ways of spending time with us; one, I think was also designed to give Mom a little break. Sometimes on the weekends, he'd ask if we wanted to go to the office with him; David and I generally did, although there really wasn't anything for us to do there. I'd play with the desk supplies, spin around on the chairs, look in all the offices... These were the days when office smelled of wood and old leather. There was also a stack of soft-core magazines in the men's room, that David found and showed to me... We'd also go, as a family, to check out some of his drilling sites if they were within easy drive of Ventura. We had an Ant Farm, a horrible contraption where you held captive wild ants, seperated from th...

I scanned this photo last week, but it didn't have a date on it...  I'm going to guess it was 1942-1945. Dad would have been between 20 and 23 years old. He was enlisted in the Navy during WWII and assigned to work as a gunner's mate (part of the Armed Guard ) on a Liberty Ship , one of the merchant marine ships that sailed in convoys guarded by navy ships, and delivered supplies for the armed forced world wide. One year I was passing through Ventura and dropped by to see Dad while Mom was visiting Aunt Trude. We sat down in the den with some of his photo albums, and he started telling me stories of being at sea. I'll tell some of the stories here, and some of them later. I asked him what the most bizarre thing was that they'd transported...  He replied "Missouri Mules". There was a definite pause in the conversation, then I asked "You mean mules like donkeys? Or is that a name for something else?" Apparently they had transported a load o...

I promised my family when Mom passed that I'd try to write down some of the family stories... Lacking a vehicle for this, I've failed in every way but thinking about it. Lately, I've been scanned old photos, and updating my projects blog, which got me to thinking... What about putting the stories, in no particular order, into a blog? So I'll start writing out the stories I remember, hoping that my siblings will comment according to their memories. I'm hoping the family will enjoy reading these. I'll include stories Mom and Dad told me about their lives, stories of the families, and stories I remember from when we were growing up. Hoping you all enjoy!