Prologue
By Robert E. Forman
Martha Wennerholm
Wennerholms arrived in America
Anna died of Tuberculosis
Finding a home for the girls
Washburn Memorial Children's Home
Leaving the orphanage
Graduating from the University of Minnesota
First teaching job at West Concord in Minnesota
Home town boy meets the new teacher
Courtship and marriage
James and Martha Linsley
Dreaming of a farm
A job with the streetcar company
A family: Ruth and John are born
My Journal Begins...
Foreword
By Ruth Anne Linsley Forman
1. A Farm of Our Own
The streetcar life and schedule
Daddy's dream of a farm
Northern Minnesota farmland is affordable
Mother is prepared for adversity
Looking for a farm
Buying the farm — sight unseen
One year later — the first visit
Farming during the Great Depression era
The decision to move
2. The Move
Waking up on moving day
Packing the trailer
Driving to the farm
Problems with the car and trailer
Conquering Wild Horse Hill
Arrival at our new home
Hauling water
Dining al fresco
Camping outside the first night
3. Settling In
The first breakfast
The big clean-up
Hauling trash
Salvaging wood from the old barn
To Park Rapids for building supplies and groceries
An epic cleaning job
Daddy's remodeling projects
New windows and tar paper
A wood burning cook stove
Ready for furniture and cabinets
Planting the garden
Daddy's 39th birthday celebration
Birthday cake baked in the wood stove
We try to forget he's leaving
The worst good bye...
Daddy heads back to Minneapolis
Alone at the farm ... will our tears ever stop?
Mother keeps us busy clearing saplings
The first night alone...
The Letters Begin...
First Summer:
4. RFD (Rural Free Delivery)
The RFD System
Preparing for writing letters
Sharpening pencils with his pocket knife
Tablets and supplies
Meeting the mailman
RFD routes for both Park Rapids and Nevis
Daddy's first three letters arrive on the same day
Daddy sends mechanical pencils
Our new mail box
Mailing packages
Less than fifty cents for twenty pounds
Overnight delivery
Mailing meat, fruit and vegetables
The mailman takes special care of our packages
5. Adjusting to Our New Routine
Fresh air in the country
The "little-house"
Our city cat becomes a predator
Getting fresh milk at the Jensen's (every morning)
Hauling wood
Mother downs trees with an ax
Clearing the grounds and yard
Hand sewing new curtains
The first rain
"We almost drowned" in the cabin
Pans set everywhere for leaking rainwater
Keeping the Sabbath — a walk in the woods
Finding our first and only Moccasin flowers — June 26th 1932
Startled by an owl
Discovering ant hills — the hard way
Mother wants more farm animals
Troubling news about Daddy's streetcar job
Problems with low seniority
Not enough regular work
His new schedule has fewer hours
Looking forward to daddy's July 4th visit
Please send sparklers, cap guns - and extra caps
Daddy goes to his parent's house instead
He's worried about their health
Mother is not happy...
Mother wants a new home on our property in the future
She wants to stay at the farm this winter
6. Lazy Days and Country Work
Playing in the hot afternoons
Sponge baths and washtub soaks
Cultivating the garden
Shoes are for town only
Lemonade and sugar cookies (all you can eat)
The new garden and Dwarf Iris
Daddy writes news from Minneapolis
He's learning to cook
The chiseler's list and extra work
The biggest chore — laundry & ironing
Mailing laundry, cookies and bread
Tommy cat learns to hunt
A stray tomcat is "fighting" with The Mother Cat
New kittens on the last day of August
The Watkins man
Surprise visit from daddy's sisters
Mother's post-unexpected-guest yard clean-up campaign
7. Making the Cabin Cozy
Daddy takes a month leave to get us ready for winter
Another trailer of supplies and furniture
Finally, real chairs
Our wind-up phonograph and records
Daddy's home improvements
A sturdy roof
A sound ceiling and attic storage space
A new improved "little-house"
Mother picks wild berries for jelly
Canning on the wood stove
Filling cellar shelves for "when the snow flies"
First Fall:
8. Starting School
My new school dress
Raingear, lunch pails and schools supplies
Our new schoolhouse and playground
Girls: barefoot, wearing two dresses, with holes in different places
Boys: barefoot and patched overalls
Miss Eula
The school bell
We're the newcomers
Mother is home alone
Anarchy in the classroom
The lunch-pail thief exposed
9. Preparing for Winter
Daddy's news from Minneapolis
Forced to drive the streetcar now (no longer just a Conductor)
A split shift — thirteen hours - paid for 6 hr. 13 min.
Kittens and our unsuccessful euthanasia trauma
Daddy comes late in September for winter preparations
A new wood stove heater & firewood
The Kitten's final burial
Teaching mother to drive
Behind the wheel her wild alter ego takes over
Daddy's much too "slow and conservative"
Driving daddy to the train station in Park Rapids
Mother alone at the wheel for the first time
Oh THAT telephone pole...
Off the right shoulder - overhanging a ditch
On the road again
Scaling the sandy hill
Finally dropped off at the school
I'm in the girl's outhouse the rest of the afternoon...
10. Final Winter Preparations
Mother finishes the front room renovation
Finally, the remaining furniture
Chopping, splitting, and carrying wood for two stoves
Our new heater can't hold a fire all night
Pile on bedding - and fire up the stove early
Strips of cloth crammed in all cracks
New curtains for bare windows
Spending the day at Bliss's
Slaughtering the pig
Blood soup, blood sausage and head cheese
Back home from the day's adventure
Bliss's drop by to sell half a ham for 50 cents
The furnace at school goes out
My ear infection
Mother's barbed wire puncture wound
11. Winter Prelude & Thanksgiving
Following animal tracks in the snow
Smearing John's leather boots with lard
"We don't waste a speck or a drop of anything"
Brilliant sunsets, bone-chilling winds, and woolen mufflers
Twelve degrees below zero - and ice inside the cabin
Laundry freeze dries outside on the clothesline
Daddy's instructions for the Model-T in winter:
Keep the car battery in the cellar
Fill (and drain) the radiator for each trip
Heat water on the stove to warm the engine
Jack a rear wheel off the ground to help the engine turn over
Daddy can't take off work for Thanksgiving with us
John and I make a log house out of the wood pile
Thanksgiving Day
Daddy spends Thanksgiving at the streetcar barn
He earns one dollar for two hours work
A lonely holiday feast...
First Winter:
12. Anarchy in the Classroom
Good grades - but learning little
John reads adult level books
Mother pulls us out of class to home school
Daddy sends books and supplies for teaching
The State compulsory attendance requirement fine is $50
Miss Eula reports us to the superintendent
We're back to school...
Mother Meets with the Superintendent
John is a gifted student who skipped first grade
Miss Eula is 19 with one year of training past high school
He sides with Miss Eula
Parents must force their children to behave in her class
John is never challenged in the classroom
Not allowed to read independently
Given "busy work" when assignments are done early
He delights in subtle torment to show his displeasure
13. Christmas at the Farm
Daddy is Santa's helper
Mother is the custodian of wrapped presents
She gets frostbitten fingers
She keeps us home on bitter cold days (-22 degrees)
The Bliss's deliver a surprise fresh Christmas tree
John and I make decorations
Mother bakes Christmas cookies and fruit cake in the wood stove
John "sends" his letter to Santa - by burning it in the stove
Daddy's train arrives during our Christmas program rehearsal
A perfect family Christmas program and party at school
Our own Christmas celebration
Lighting the tree with candles
Hanging the stockings
Daddy remembers the Christmas top — year 64
Christmas morning
A stranger comes knocking
John splits kindling with his new ax
Playing cards and reading new books
Home cooking, fudge, and popcorn
Time for daddy to leave
Drifting snow and winds on the road to Park Rapids
A stranger drives our car past the biggest drifts
Full scale blizzard by the time we're Home
Drain the radiator; bring in the battery, cover the car
14. The Moonlight Wolf Caper
We hear the wolves howling
No more going out alone at night
The lamb pelt tanning disaster
The Model-T is our meat freezer
A daring moonlight adventure — on the shed roof
We abruptly abort the mission
John feigns a wolf attack on my way back from the "little-house"
15. School Vacation
After Christmas, no school until early February
Winter chores and shoveling
The cat learns winter bird hunting
Dolls, Crafts, and pastimes
I sew a rag doll
John makes a bow and arrows with his pocket knife
John sews a boy rag doll
The dolls get married and move into a house
We build their starter home from a fruit crate
We make furnishings from spools and cardboard boxes
Mother makes a quilt with lamb wool filler and flannel scraps
We read books out loud to each other
The jig saw puzzle craze begins
We exchange puzzles by mail
John and I draw house plans with vast filled storerooms
Making a farm with paste and colored paper
The first sign of spring - new seed catalogs arrive
16. Back to School Again
First three days back (-12, -32 & -38 degrees) mother keeps us home
We keep a two foot stack of dry wood Inside at all times
Mother begins classes for us at home
John and I deliver mail with toy airplanes made of matchboxes
We all pore over seed catalogs
The mailman does not miss a day
Delivers our packages of food — so it doesn't freeze
Playing doctor and dentist — with mother and Betty June as patients
Back to school after the cold snap
John and Miss Eula resume their battle
John is kicked out of school
Daddy sends John's Minneapolis school records
Daddy sends textbooks and new maps
The pump goes out and we have no water
The pump freezes solid every morning
Mother wraps it in kerosene-soaked rags and lights it
Daddy mails presents and a dozen eggs for John's birthday cake
17. Life at the Orphanage...
We start talking while reading "Little Women"
Some characters had experiences like Mother's
I never heard about her early life
Her mother became ill with tuberculosis while pregnant
Then her mother and baby brother died
Her father had no family to help
He turned to his church, the Swedish Tabernacle
One family agreed to take Jane
The only couple willing to take mother wanted to adopt her
He placed mother in the Washburn Children's Home
She was three years old
There were over one hundred children
Relatives could visit only once every three months
Staff ground away at her individuality
One staff lady tried to break her spirit
Orphan's underwear — exposed on the bus
Mrs. Farnsworth, one of her teachers, was her life mentor
At 13 — A gold watch, certificate of deportment — and freedom
Mother always defended Washburn — they did the best they could
First Spring:
18. A Puppy, New Garden, and Home School
Temperatures swing from 50 above to 20 below
Lists from the seed catalogs — and changing our mind
Back to school "to find out how things are"
Things are the same
Mother decides we need a break in Minneapolis
Our stay in the city doesn't live up to expectations
One bright spot — Mitzi joins the family
Mitzi is a great traveler
Back at the farm, at last
Mitzi meets The Mother Cat
Territorial feuds ensue
Daddy now has more work than he can handle
One accident and you're fired
Streetcars have manual windshield wipers
Mediocre brakes — slippery when wet
Company news: A pay cut from 55 cents to 50 cents per hour
He hates every minute of it...
A new teacher for the next school year!
The new garden
We mail our final seed list to Daddy
We start tomatoes and cabbages from seed inside
240 tomato plants and 100 cabbages to transplant
Mother resumes home classes again for the rest of the year
We pass all exams and attend the year-end school picnic
Daddy got flowers for mother's family graves on Memorial Day
Second Summer:
19. Adventures and Mishaps
We're weeding our garden in 100 degree heat
All plants are limp and stunted
Mother buys new screens and a door for $3.75
A trip to town for daddy's birthday gifts
Up Dorsett Hill — we lose transmission and brakes
Mother climbs out the car window
Neighbors tip the car right side up
A loose floorboard had blocked the pedals
Our neighbor from Finland fixes the floor board
The beauty of Model-T cars
They can be fixed with hammer and nails
Every man knows how
Mitzi and the cat negotiate a truce
Her favorite game is chasing cars
She finally chases one car too close...
John and I make a stretcher to carry her
Mother says no bones are broken
We carry her out on the stretcher to relieve herself
Mother's Caster oil remedies and steady healing
Limping - and a wag forever stilled
20. Harvesting, Canning, and Older Kid's Games
Sweet corn to eat and dry
Canning peaches and grape jam
72 pounds of beef for $4.35
22 quarts of home canned beef
Mother does sit-ups to keep in shape
John and I play when not doing chores
War games — dispatching for Captain John D. Linsley
Offices with a system of telegraph wires
Airplanes from old boards and peach crates
Daddy comes for a quick visit before winter
A new pine cupboard and hinged drop-down counter
A dog house for Mitzi
Mitzi refuses to use the doghouse
John and I turn it into a playhouse
Mitzi runs freely again — but avoids cars
Daddy heads back to Minneapolis before school starts
Second Fall:
21. The New School Year
New Dress — a day late
Miss Molly — the polar opposite of Miss Eula
Older, louder, heavier — disciplinarian
A shorter fuse — very much shorter
Punishment prompt and impartial
Respect through abject fear
One infraction — everyone stays after school
Mother — just try to avoid trouble...
Mitzi has no one to play with
Whines to be let out shortly before we come home
Races to meet us as soon as we're over the hill
Miss Molly is an impartial tyrant
Glowering and foot stomping
Terrifying the students
Mother is ready to home-school again
In early November our lunches freeze solid before noon
22. Labor and Mortgage Problems
Daddy's news from Minneapolis
New Federal mortgage legislation to help farmers
Company does not approve Thanksgiving time off
One work day 19 hours: 4:24 PM Sunday to 9:49 AM Monday
Dangerous streetcar driving conditions
Rails hazardous in every season
Daddy's friend electrocuted fixing a trolley wire
Ice on the wire makes spectacular sparks
Daddy's friend's daughter is killed when their house burns down
Daddy inquires about a loan at the Federal Land Bank
Their farm mortgage and taxes are late
We save Wheaties coupons for new silverware
The owner of our mortgage wants payments
All focus is on getting the Federal loan
Second Winter:
23. Holiday Preparations
October 28: The first holiday hints and gift requests
Mother: Let's spend $10 on Christmas, and pay the mortgage
A gun for John, a wristwatch for me, and a quilt frame for mother
By late November — John wants a watch instead
I write Santa on December first
Wrist watch and a map of the world
A pencil box or a ring
John puts off writing Santa
Five degrees below zero — new Pjs for John
The school Christmas program
School's out for the holiday
Secrets, wrapping, and tags
Threats, peeking, and mischief
Cutting down the tree
John and I with the ax and bucksaw
It's not like splitting kindling
More persistence than skill
TIMBERRRR!
Head back triumphantly, dragging our prize
24. Our Legendary Christmas
Decorating the tree Christmas Eve
The temperature plummets below zero
Snow and drifting blizzard winds
We don't know when — or how — daddy is coming
Sweep up the tree needles — where is daddy?
Mother fixes our dinner after dark
Mitzi paces underfoot all day - sniffing at the doors
Our mind is far away from dinner
Can daddy make it through the storm?
Hanging our Christmas stockings
Howling wind and swirling snow
Mitzi continues prowling...
She jolts us awake with frantic barks at the back door
"Martha I'm here — it's me, Jim"
Snow covered and frost bitten cheeks
Frozen mustache and eyebrows
We pull off his coats and start a fire
It's 6:00 AM
Daddy's journey from Park Rapids — 14 miles in a blizzard
Arrived at the station at 10:00PM
No way to get home
So close and yet so far
Set out on foot
Sheepskin coat, knee high boots, and fur cap with earflaps
Strapped an army blanket, rolled up with presents, over his shoulder
A flashlight with extra batteries
Telephone poles were his only guide
Spotted each pole with the flashlight, and headed toward it
Stopped in a barn at 2:00 AM to remove snow from his boots
Rested and warmed by the animals
Completed the last miles to our door
Warmed, fed, and rested - we open presents
Our greatest gift is our father — and his perilous walk to be with us
25. More Wolves, Snow, and Miss Molly Warfare
Molly starts school right after New Years — No January break
Deep drifts and sub-zero temperatures
Wolves howling at night
The cat sleeps under mother's bed
Mitzi goes into heat for the first time
Daddy applies for the new Federal loan in Nevis
Mother keeps us home on the worst days
Molly insists John do busywork in his extra time
Why can't he just read?
Daddy's work schedule increases
Second Spring:
26. Our First Livestock — The Six Chicks
Spurned dog house becomes a house for pullets
Free range bugs and seeds
The evening round-up
Mitzi and the cat adapt to the new arrivals
January 16, 1934: The first egg
Frostbitten combs, no eggs
Sand and oyster shells — yum...
Eggs again at last
Mailing eggs to daddy
John and I earn .15 cents per dozen
Mother attends county poultry meetings
Ours are among the best layers in the county
27. Our Beloved Mitzi
Mitzi escapes once while in heat
She's eating more and getting heavier
We're all excited, waiting for new puppies
Contractions begin
A tiny paw appears — but labor is not going normally
Mother tries to help by pulling the paw
Mother is crying
The car accident damaged her birth canal
I reluctantly head to school, but John stays
He meets me near Jensen's after school
I know it's bad news...
We can barely look at her body
She's in her bed covered by a piece of blanket
Mother stays in the kitchen staring at the sunset
On his next visit, daddy buries Mitzi in the grove...
28. Birthdays
John's jack knife escapades
A new knife tops his birthday list
His knives tend to disappear in the woods
His new one has a chain
The first day, he cuts two fingers
John's home-made arsenal
Three bows and an arrow
A wooden knife
A stone hatchet
John's March birthday cook-out
Wieners over a Campfire in the grove
My April birthday cook-out disaster
Mitzi's not here to celebrate
Mother transplants dwarf iris over Mitzi's grave...
29. The Mortgage Deal Implodes
Daddy meets the loan officer in Wadena
The mortgage owner might accept a reduced amount
A signed application — and eleven dollars for processing
Daddy trusts they know the best way
A Federal Bureau representative visits
Our loan officer and mortgage holder cheated us
We should own the place outright by now
Mother does more checking on her own
He had sold our farm before — for more than it was worth
When they couldn't pay — he got it back
The property taxes are $150 — or good clothes for a whole year
Let's plant an early garden, raise chickens - and leave in time for school
Withdraw the loan application — now
30. Neighbor Disputes
Rumors of a "Farm Holiday" strike
Two cows sold for $7.50 (with a $4.00 hauling charge)
Our new load of wood is green ... poplar
Jensens agreed to supply all our wood in trade for using the land
Mother thinks we should renegotiate
When they come for hay mother tries to stop them
She stands in front of their wagon and horses
They charge forward
She darts out of the way, just in time
Mother writes the sheriff
Poverty is everywhere
31. From Chicks to Flock
Ordering chicks from the hatchery — Mid May
John and I invest our savings
25 chicks apiece — We each choose a variety
Early June — the mailman honks and waits
3 large flat boxes — with holes
Peeping chicks on the living room floor
Hot water in mason jars to keep warm overnight
The cat — "a little too interested" — stays outside
Higher boxes, more food, real feathers
Returning from our weekly shopping in Park Rapids
All 75 chickens have escaped their boxes
Roosting on every surface in the cabin
Laughing so hard — before clean-up detail
The chickens move to their new quarters
Finally free to forage in the yard
Screen door slamming means time to eat
We learn to close the door quietly
Favorite roosting places — the car axle and bumpers
Young roosters practice the art of crowing
32. Minneapolis Labor Conflict: The Gathering Storm
Mixed feelings about the union
Laborers up in arms — nothing in the newspaper
Negotiating the contract
We may strike any day
Watch the newspapers...
Vote for a strike scheduled
The company sends election crashers to the meeting
Mother is convinced "You stick by the union"
The company gathers scab workers in case of a strike
No news reported, from the union's side
Danger of a strike is over
August first — new wages in effect
One man cars — 60 cents per hour
Two man cars — 56 cents per hour
Daddy: "...making pretty good dough the last few days"
Mother: "...60 cents per hour looks good to me."
Third Summer:
33. School, Chores, and Growing Up
School finally ends
Laughter only one time the whole year
"Shut your mouth and keep reading!"
We've been in class just enough to prevent legal action
We do our chores as quickly and easily as mother
Mother insists I'm "getting too old" to wear just overalls
I discover romance amid the ambushing in western novels
Mother and I shop for intimate apparel in Park Rapids
I'm fitted for one of "those things"
The most telling loss of my childhood...
I still play with Betty June and paper dolls
John seems younger
My letters are longer and more complex
I interpret events instead of just describing them
34. Leaving the Farm
It's too late — even if mortgage relief comes
It's the most brutal summer of the century
One rain all summer
Daddy's friend lets his starving cows graze in the hay field
On June 21st a neighbor pays mother one dollar "for the rye"
It's our first and only cash income for the farm
Daddy: I want you and the children with me
He places an ad in the paper
A promising reply to our ad
A new address for daddy's letters
A real house again
His last letter
"I'll be there Tuesday August 28th — a raring to go"
The truck arrives and they begin loading
The truck pulls away — with two years of my life...
Mother and I sweep out the cabin, for the last time
With everything gone, we see the rough hewn crudeness
We've done a lot of living here
We close and lock the back door
Outside we take a last look remembering...
The house looks older without yellow curtains
Our adventure is over — but I will never be the same...
Epilogue and Postscripts:
In the City — A New Neighborhood
In the City - A New Neighborhood
We lived in luxury - wallpaper, electric lights, inside bathroom
A room of my own and friends next door
A sidewalk for roller-skating
A corner store with ice cream cones
Then school began ...
A sense of loss
John and I felt marginal
We thought we would revert to pre-farm ways
But we were changed ...
On the farm they called us "city kids"
Suddenly we were the "farm kids"
We were misfits ...
We knew things they didn't know
We split kindling, washed clothes by hand
John was an expert rifleman
I baked in a wood stove and used sadirons
We began to share our one-room school experiences
We hunted for wintergreen in the woods & hid it in our desks
We heated our lunches on the woodstove
Played Andy-Andy-Over across the pump house roof
Tales of Miss Eula and flying erasers
Our status increased considerably
Neighbor kids wanted to walk home with me to hear the stories
With our letter writing and reading out loud - I was ahead of my class
When we studied pioneer history, I had personal stories to share
I had a permanently different perspective
I concluded I was born a hundred years too late....
Our First Visit Back to the Farm
We all went back to visit the farm three years later
Our new Ford V-8 made Crazy Horse Hill with ease
We were still the legal owners
The family living there were our tenants - but stopped paying rent
We rented a tent and camped for five weeks in the grove
We picked berries, fished and explored the woods
Mother canned berries with the camp stove
Our house had deteriorated
Filthy and infested with bugs
Clothes hanging on random nails in the walls
The pump broken ... again
When Daddy's vacation was over, he went back to Minneapolis
We were back to writing letters again
Mother was upset with the new tenants' spending
They owed 3 years rent
Bought a battery for their radio
Drove a hundred miles for one quart of berries
Cut and sold timber from our land
You have a week to be off the premises ...
Banned from our own mailbox
Back to meeting the mailman every day
Eviction drama
Tenants "flew off the handle"
Drove off to relatives house
Mother gave written notice to leave
Their attorney said 30 days notice required
Not when they stole wood and owed 3 years rent
They came back with several male relatives
Everyone said 30 days notice required
Mother said no
They pleaded with the sheriff
5 days notice - then your belongings go on the road
They moved out
We never cleaned and scrubbed the cabin again
We stayed in our clean tent
Daddy came back for two more weeks of camping and fishing
What could they do with the farm?
Sell it?
Refinance it with a smaller mortgage?
We returned to our own home in Minneapolis - bought a year earlier
We never salvaged any investment in the farm ...
Ten Years Later — and Beyond
I stopped by the place in 1947 with my husband of two years
Returning from a camping vacation
The house had deteriorated even more
Not even safe to enter
My favorite shade trees were gone
We drove to the schoolhouse
Ate lunch on the playground
We visited the farm again in 1958 with our three kids
A featured stop on our camping trip
We counted the miles from Park Rapids
Recounting my father's walk on Christmas Eve
The house was still in the grove
Sagging in decay
Hard to picture my cozy haven ...
My last stop in 1985
The property went through another bankruptcy
Leveled the land for an irrigator
Only a few trees at one corner
All that remained of The Big Woods
No trace of the grove or house
No hint of our driveway
Total obliteration
We have photos and memories ...
The District #13 schoolhouse was abandoned
Students were bussed into town for school
Schoolhouse was moved to Nevis (sans bell tower)
Attached to the high school for a band practice room
Then a new school was built
Nothing remains of the building ...
We knocked at a large home, by the original school site
Dena Bliss is one of the girls from our class
We had not seen each other for over 50 years
We stayed for supper and overnight
Miss Eula never taught another class after ours
She lived in the area and worked as a sales clerk
After many years of teaching myself - I had empathy
Post Scripts on Our Family
I graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1944
Degree in Education
First year of teaching in Bemidji Minnesota
The next larger town north of Park Rapids
I got practical training
Dealt with educational and disciplinary issues
Further training could have helped Miss Eula
I had the same botany professor as my mother
I wore mother's cap and gown for graduation
My father continued driving streetcar until they were phased out
In 1950s forced to switch to driving bus
He never liked his work
His greatest joy was making things for the grandchildren
A toy refrigerator (with wood from the farm's kitchen cabinet)
A streetcar riding toy
A model bus - with a photo of him driving
He planned not to work even one extra hour before retiring
His last run was in January of 1959
Renewed interest in target shooting
Wood carving was his major hobby
Farm wagons and horses
Harnesses and tack
Mostly blue ribbons at the fair
Died in 1974 after a short illness
Mother taught again for a few years during World War II
Helped with the teacher shortage and our college tuition
She taught science and math at high schools
Her jobs were in small towns north of Bemidji
Our family was separated again
In her 60s she took up a new hobby
Assembling electronic kits
Amplifier, AM FM tuner, a console TV set
My father made the cabinets
The mother cat lived to be 13 years old
We still use the same mailbox from the farm
