My favorite childhood activites

As a young child growing up I was a child of the wood and the farm.  We lived in the country. 
I first lived on my grandparents farm.  They had horses and cows, chickens, ducks and other animals.  A creek ran through the property and fed a huge pond that was full of frogs, turtles and other water creatures such as salamanders and catfish.   We moved around quite a bit the first 7 years of my life but we always lived on some sort of farm or dairy so it was part of my life to be around milk cows and other farm animals.  We had a lot of cats and I loved cats then and still do today.   I loved going with my dad to milk the cows and would get to feed the kitties in the barn some of the warm milk from the pails. 

Finally my dad got a job for Hollenbeck sawmill as nightwatchmen for the swing shift.  So we moved into one of the many mill houses the sawmill owned.   To my delight the mill property bordered on Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Trout Lake, Washington.  We spent 5 years in that house and they were some of the happiest of my childhood.

 It was there I learned to ride a bicycle which was a great lot of fun to ride up and down the dirt roads among the mill houses.   8 of the 12 mill houses were usually occupied and I often played with other mill house kids.  The sawmill had put a teeter totter sort of merry go round up and some swings for us to play on.   We often played tag and hide n seek with one another.   We also explored and climbed on and pretended to drive big relic old tractors and dump trucks that were no longer in use. 

Climbing trees to the top where they were limber and seemed to hold our weight we would bounce on them and pretend we were cowboys or girls and holler at the top of our lungs.  I loved exploring the surrounding woods for wildflowers and picked arms full of them for my mom.  Columbine, Daisys, Muley Ears, Tiger Lilys, Indian Paint Brush, Pearly Everlastings, Larkspur, and Lupine and of course the golden maned Dandilion.   My mom always put them in jars of water and put them on table tops, bookshelfs and the piano.   My siblings helped me.   I played dress up and dolls with my sister and trucks and road building with my brothers trucks and lots of mill ends for bridges, houses and the like. 

Going to the local dump was rather interesting.  My dad called it the "Trading Post"  We would take things we didn't want including pure garbage to discard but dad liked to rummage in the heaps of discarded trash and we often found some great treasures. Dolls with one leg missing or a truck needing some wheels.  Daddy would fix up the trucks for my brothers and mom would help us get long dresses to cover the poor babies missing limbs.

We sometimes found clothes that were in good shape to wear or furniture no one else wanted cause they got new stuff.  Books and dishes as well.   Of course the smell was atrocious but we just sort of did not mind when we climbed out of the truck to flip over trash and garbage in search of goodies to take home.

 I guess other folks did the same because after awhile good stuff would be left along side the dump pit and the really raunchy stuff would be tossed over the side.  So there was often quite an exchange of goods going on at the local dump and you never knew from one week to the next what you would find.  Sometimes there was not much and other times we got quite a haul.   This was before yard sales became popular and people realized they could sell their unwanted items for a few dollars.  And before Goodwill and other thift stores became popular.  

My dad would take us kids fishing in nearby creeks and it was thrilling to catch the big 12 inch Rainbow trout or Dolly Vardens I think it was the I learned to love fishing and still do today.   Mom would cook them up for supper brown and crisp for dinner.  We would get two each. 

We also did a lot of spelunking and exploring of the nearby caves that had been used by earlier settlers of the area for keeping cheese, butter, meats and other items cool in before refrigeration.  Thus we explored the Cheese Cave, Butter Cave, Meat Cave and there was a Bat cave in which hundreds of bats lived and hung from the ceiling.   There was also a basement cave because it had two levels and was interesting to go through.  It was always fun but a little scary going into the caves. 

Winter times once I learned to read I would sit for hours reading all sorts of stories.  One of my favorites was "Blueberries for Sal"  Then I found the "Nancy Drew Mysteries" and devoured them.   And my mom bought me the "Bobbsey Twin" books.  Besides reading in the winter I played checkers with my dad or grandpa or my siblings and I also learned to play the piano and loved playing and so often would play winter holiday songs for people when asked like Jingle Bells, and Silent Night. 

 I also grew up with a lot of animals around.  We always had dogs and cats and chickens.   In addition to those critters we usually had a milk cow and then we had numerous wild pets over the years.  Petunia a skunk, Sassy a Magpie, Chipper a Chipmunk, Sparky a pet Deer and three different Crows, a Racoon and even an Opposum and a big snapping turtle.  My child hood was to say the least interesting andl having the animals made it even more fun. 

Every summer we would go up into the berry fields and pick huckleberries, some to put up for pies and preserves and others to sell.  And my dad loved to prospect for gold and silver.  We would often camp for a whole week in the woods near his different staked mining claims.  Most did not come to much but once in awhile a found a little bit of color but not often.  It was more a hobby for him and he liked taking us kids out to find pretty rocks and to teach us all sorts of woodlore. 

Teaching us the names of  plants and herbs and mushrooms and what was edible and not edible.  Singing and yodeling and sitting and listening to daddy or grandma tell us stories was a great source of delight to us kids.   Cousins often came to visit and play through the summer and during the winter and spring holidays and we would play all kinds of games,  Swing the Stature, Red Rover, and endless games of various types of tag or Annie annie over.    My childhood was for the most part very rich and colorful.