What a Move!!

We all pitched in to help pack when Grandma and grandpa moved so the sand really flew around our tent! I should say, 'home', because that tent was home where ever we were, for what seemed like years.

Mother's wash tubs were full to over flowing and toe sacks were full, too, so, besides the beds and table and stove, we had nothing else. Sometimes I wondered why it never bothered any of us kids. I guess it was because almost everyone we knew was in the same boat as we were.

We didn't take the tent because they left theirs on the spot for us. That was a blessing. So we left the canal bank and moved 'uptown.'

Daddy's job ran out about then and he and Vernon were both out of work again, but at least the big park in pheonix was finally landscaped.

We thought we would be rich with Daddy working every day but you don't get rich on 50 cents an hour. I guess Daddy probably lost some of it gambling, too, but we had food. We didn't know there was much except beans and potatoes and gravy; and Mother's biscuits, of course. I know we had a little money but not enough to be well fed. Of course we didn't know the difference.

After we got everything unpacked and put away in the boxes Daddy brought home, we were pretty comfortable; --just 5 kids in a big tent!

Daddy loved to play with us kids. He would lay down on the bed and start reading his bible while we would sit down on the ground beside the bed and play Hully Gully. Mom gave us enough beans for that. We had to do the one potato two potato to see who would be "it" first. It was always Buddy, of course. Then the one who guess which hand, was 'it' next. That was always Mickey. Joan didn't care because she got to hold the extra beans. I yelled, "It's my turn now!"
"No," Buddy said, You don't know how!!" "Yes I do; let me have a turn!" "NO!"

Daddy, laying on the bed, would cough, 'AHHEEM, cough, Aheem."
"Okay," BUddy said, "It's your turn, Shike."

That was no problem because I never could hold as many beans, but at least I thought I was big, too.

About the time we were really wrapped up in the game, a man stopped at the door and hollered, "Is anyone home?" Daddy got up and went to the tent flap(Door to us) and said Hello, mister. He introduced himself and the other man did, too, then Daddy said, "What can we do for you?"

"Well," the man said, "I am the ice man for this part of the country and just thought I would stop and see if you wanted some ice."

About that time mother came to the door from the next door neighbor and said her hellos, too. Well, Daddy said we don't have any ice box.

"Wait a minute," the man said, "I think I can fix that." So he went to the truck and got a bunch of toe sacks and said we could wrap the ice in them and it would last for awhile. "Well, Georgie, what do you think?" Dad asked. Well,I guess we could try it. So she got out her wash tub and they put the sacks in it all spread out and the man brought in a big (I mean BIG) block of ice and Daddy said, "Georgia, do you have any money?"

Well, that didn't make her too happy but she asked how much is was. The man said, "Well, that is 50lb block, lady, so if you want it it will be 37 cents!" "Okay," mom said, "We will try it this time," and she gave him 37 cents.

As soon as he left ---You never saw a happier bunch of kids! Daddy got the butcher knife and chunked all us kids a little chunk. Boy, was that cold! We had to be careful not to swallow it whole so we just chewed on it for awhile.

Mom and Daddy wrapped that chunk of ice up and Mom put the oleo down beside it and some meat, too. Then they put a sack over it to keep the cool in.
Somewhere mother got some kool aid and that night we had cold koolaid for supper. We each got a chunk of ice in our can! Boy, was that good!

After we drank the kool-aid, we ate the ice.

Each one of us would try to be right there when Daddy opened that ice sack, thinking maybe a little piece would flip off and we could grab it.

There were two or three more tents on that field so mother soon got acquainted with the women. She would go talk and Daddy would lay down with his bible.

Joan and I would get on the bed and lay down with him when we thought he was asleep and first thing you knew he would throw a leg across us and, struggle as we would, we couldn't get free. Pretty soon Buddy or Mickey would say, "Daddy, it's time to wake up!" and he would open his eyes and say, "Hey, what are you kids doing on my bed?" Mickey would stand way back and giggle with her hand over her mouth. Then he would lift his leg and let us go free. "Daddy," we would say, "Didn't you know we were there?" He would look over at Buddy and wink and say,"No I sure didn't know you were there. Did you Buddy?"
BUddy would laugh because he always liked it when one of us got a joke pulled on us!

Well, the phone is ringing so I had better leave the rest of the story until another time; Shike..

Prattling On...