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...