It is FALL in ALASKA.

I awoke the other morning and looking out my bedroom window saw the remnants of a tree house Joseph had build several years ago.

That tree house has been the site of many mock battles by numerous wooden sword wielding desperados with names like Nick, Ryan, Kaden, Kyle, Gaby…. Memories of a similar scene came flooding back from my childhood where the names were Packy, Charles, Corrie, Lestie, Glenda, Jack….

I remember attending 1st grade at the Mt View elementary school where my teacher’s name was Mrs Neely. I remember taking naps (on a blanket on the floor), eating snacks in class and walking to (and from) school each day about 3/4 of a mile with my sister Corrie.

I remember throwing rocks in the gravel pit and hurrying home to keep from wetting my pants.

I remember that we lived in a log cabin which my Dad built (with my help). Really, it was a family project. My Dad purchase the logs from a local saw mill. They were three (3) sided logs, which means that they were flat on three sides and round on only one side. The rounded side came with the “bark” still on it. We had to peal it off using a “draw knife”. Mom always worried when us kids would use the draw knife, but I don’t remember anyone ever getting hurt from using the draw knife. The other day Grandma, Kalayna and I drove by that very house. We must have done a good job, the house is still there.

I do remember getting hurt once while helping my Mom with the laundry. I got my arm stuck in the “wringer”, that scared everyone and it did hurt me … a lot.

Our washing machine was not like the ones they have today. It only did two things; it swished the clothes around in a tub and it also would “wring the water out” of the clothes. But we had to help it to its job.

We had to fill the wash tub with water which was heated on the stove in metal buckets. Then we would put in the clothes with soap and push a lever that would caused the “agitator” (really that’s what it was called) to swish back and forth. After a while we would push the lever the other way and the agitator would stop. Then we would take each piece of laundry and push it between two rubber rollers called the wringer.

That’s how I got hurt. The wringer would “grab” the cloth and squeeze the water out and drop it into a metal tub. When I tried to push a bath towel into the winger it caught my right hand and pulled my arm through with the towel. I screamed and my Mom stopped the wringer just before it pulled my arm right off.

Anyway, I wasn’t hurt badly so I’ll finish….After all the laundry was out of the soapy water we would drain out the soapy water and refill the washing machine with clean “rinse water” and do it all again. After all the laundry was washed, rinsed and wrung out, we would hang it on a clothes line using wooden clothes pins. It was a lot of work and could take all day.

Near our house (actually across the street and half a block south) my Dad bought a small lot of land that he planned to build another house on… “some day”.

He never did build that house but he did set up an army tent on the property for us kids to play in. It is that lot and tent that I remember so clearly when looking at Joseph’s tree house. That tent served as a fort, a hideout and a club house. We ran through the woods playing hid and seek. We played kick the can and we whispered secrets. I learned a lot in that tent.

On weekends and during the summer, we left the house early, right after breakfast and chores and then we stayed out late. We spent very little time with the Adults and no time at all watching TV or talking on the phone. We had never heard of TV or movies but we always had plenty of things to do. Once in a while my Mom or Dad would call us and ask for help but mostly we (the kids) paid very little attention to what the Adults did.

It was at night that we listened while Mom or Dad would read to us or we all would listen to the radio or record player. We also enjoyed playing cards. We mostly played canasta. When it was time for bed we would always have trouble being quiet and going to sleep. You see, we all slept together.

Often my Dad would holler “go to sleep” and sometimes he would come in to spank us if we wouldn’t be quiet. We eventually would fall asleep…only to wake early in the morning to do it all again. By the way, for breakfast we would have hot cereal or corn flakes with powdered milk. But on weekends we would get Pancakes and sometimes eggs.

I don’t ever remember being bored, but remember this. We all come to earth to make memories and they are all we can take with us when we leave. So I try to make good memories.

However this is my best memory.

Ever.