BACK IN THE DAY

Yesterday I realized that I had gotten my writings for this blog mixed up with the writings for my Grandmother letters. The letters are the ones I started writing to my grandchildren back in 1997 when I realized that I didn't have the opportunity of visiting with them personally since modern life prohibits that. We live so far apart. Therefore, I am going to shift through the Letters to transcribe here and hope that I don't repeat myself too much, if any.

I do remember telling you that my Mother's mother, Gramby, lived with us.  We used to listen to the radio a lot before TV was invented and we heard what was called "soap operas", continuing sagas that were sponsored by soap companies. There were also adventure stories told by those who had experienced them and these kept us excitedly glued to the radio. The programs had names like "Stella Dallas, "Fibber Magee and Molly" , "Suspense and "Inner Sanctum". That last one opened with the sound of a squeaking door and it was really scary, at least to me. Actually, we got TV much later than most because my Daddy said he was waiting for them to get it right.

I was an only child which wasn't so bad. I don't feel that my parents spoiled me because I didn't always get my way. I did have a lot of fun though because they took me almost everywhere with them; fishing, camping, hunting or just regular trips. When I was home I played outside a lot with my dog, Pal, and my black cat, Panther.  I, of course, was Sheena, Queen of the jungle. As Sheena, I tried to climb the big cedar tree in our side yard but cedar trees are not conducive to climbing. Ours was what Mama referred to as a "cemetery cedar", tall, slender with a really rough bark. You might say I was "arboreally challenged" because we didn't even have a decent mesquite or oak tree. 

We did, however, have a septic tank and the grass really is greener where the tank line runs. In case you don't know what a septic tank is, it takes care of the sewage from your house if you live in the country and don't have city water or sewer service. When you flush the toilet or wash water down a drain in the house it all goes through pipes like now but the difference is that it ends up in this great huge barrel-like container that is buried somewhere outside. The container has stuff in it to dissolve the solids and then it flows out through clay pipes and is ultimately dispersed in the ground. Thus, the greener grass growing over the line. Mama, Gramby and I usually went in to town during the clean-out time because the smell is absolutely dreadful.  It was pretty bad but it beat the heck out of an outhouse!

I feel like I've written about this before but I can't worry about that. 



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