The Good Times

I have been writing about the struggles in our lives in the 20's and 30's but there were also many good times. With the lack of money to buy things that could have made our lives some easier, we became very adept at making our own entertainment. We found many things to keep us busy and happy. We made ice cream in the winter as we would have ice available from the springs and the creek that was on the farm. Family life was important. Aunts, Uncles, cousins and grandparents were frequent visitors. Families became close. When cousins came we would have enough kids to have a ball game. There was a lot of shouting , laughter and a few arguments. My Dad made us a swing set with bars and rings for a few trapeze acts. We would pretend we were in the circus and the adults were the audience. What talent we had. Doesn't every kid dream of being in the circus. We had a circus in our backyard. Sometimes we could coax the dog to be in our show. They were never too happy with that assignment. Christmas was always special. My Mom always made candy and she always bought spanish peanuts to go with the candy. A special treat was an orange in our stockings. I remember so well the excitement of Christmas morning. Dad would get up early so he could have the house warm . Remember we heated our homes with wood stoves and the house would get cool at night. We could hardly wait for him to say, you can get up now. It didn't take us long to get out of bed and into the living room and behold, Santa had been there. The tree was beautiful with all those tiny candles which had to be extinguished too soon. The presents were few but how we loved them. I usually got a doll and it wasn't long before I began making clothes for my dolls. In later years I made clothes for real live dolls with even more love than those dolls that didn't smile and coo at me. I am anxiously waiting for another real live doll to arrive so I can make Emma Ruth a pretty dress too from her great great grandma.