I will do my best to set the stage for this adventure…….

It was around 1967-1968 when life was a simpler time.  The place was Conroe Texas.  This was where I grew up and when family and togetherness were cherished each and every day.  As a child we did not realize how blessed we were.

My dad was a heavy equipment operator all of my life, he worked hard and never complained.  The only time I remember him not working was when it rained and then he would worry about how he was going to provide for 4 little kids.  I say he worried, I never heard him grumble about the rain, but he would have a different look on his face when it rained.  This is how I knew.

My mom – she worked many jobs, but her first and foremost job was trying to corral all of us kiddos and keeping things done around the place.  We lived in the country, we had “critters” and lots of them; but they all had a purpose.  Cows for milk, Chickens for eggs, Hogs for meat and Dogs for hunting – you get the drift.  With daddy working long hours; it fell on mom to “keep the home-front” going; and she did just that.

Now to get to the story…..

We lived way out in the country, and we didn’t have the extras to go to town so we found entertainment where we could.  This is one particular memory that is in my mind and me and my mom talked about the other day … It was when dad was “burning wind-rows” in the old Conroe oilfield.  Development was happening in the area and as the lands were being cleared they would pile all the trees and underbrush up in these big long rows.  Then they would set them on fire and burn them until they were gone.  Sometimes they would use diesel to start the fires and sometimes they just started with a little spark of a match.  Either way, they would burn them until they were gone.   In doing this, someone would need to stay out there and watch over them.  This man would need to be able to run a tractor and take care of things in case one of the fires tried to get out of hand.   That man this particular time was my dad.  He didn’t mind working all night because he got overtime and that meant that when it rained there may be a little extra for the family.  That is what good men did back in the day – that was just how my dad “rolled”.

Having to work all night meant that he would have to be away from his family even more; he didn’t particularly like that – so in steps my “wonder woman mom”. 

Mom had this car, as did most large families back in this time that was so big a 6 ft. man could lie down in the back seat and have plenty of leg room – it was huge.  An entire family could hide in the trunk and be comfortable and have room for extra stuff.  You get the idea – it was a “freeway barge”.

That afternoon mom gathered us all in the house and said “get on your shoes on” we are going to see your daddy.  She loaded all 4 of us in the big old car and off we went.  When we pulled up to the job site, there was dad covered in soot and sitting on that old yellow tractor way out in the big clearing.  I could see his grin from where we stopped the car/barge.  He started up that old yellow bulldozer and the black smoke was boiling as he came over to where we had stopped.  When he got stopped we all swarmed that tractor like “bees to honey” getting our daddy lovin’ and he was lovin’ every second of it.  He asked us what we were doing out there and mom just smiled and told him we had come to stay the night with him.  We all hooped and hollered and he just grinned that grin he was famous for and that I remember to this day.

We played and he worked and mom sat in the car and we were a family and we were blessed and happy.  Never did we think we were missing out – we had everything we needed right at that moment.  That is until supper time.  We came running up to mom – all in unison saying “we are hungry”.  She blew the horn and motioned for my dad to come over – and then she did the “magic reveal” ….. She opened that trunk of that “old freeway barge” and there it was – more stuff than you can imagine in that huge old trunk.

Mom pulled out a spread of food that I would give anything to eat at this very moment.  I don’t remember exactly what it was, but I can tell you that to four little country kids and a hardworking man, it was perfect.  It was probably pork chops, or fried chicken or something we could handle with our dirty little fingers.  I am sure there was other stuff, but all I remember in my mind was it was “good” and it definitely filled the “hungry hole” as my nannie use to say. 

After we all ate until we were stuffed and slowed down for a few minutes, us kiddos were sleepy …. That is when the other “magic reveal” took place.  Mom opened the back doors to that old “freeway barge” and she  made pallets (beds) in the “floor-boards” for two of the littles and she put pallets on the back seat for us other two.  If there was any of that – “she/he touched me” we didn’t say it so that we could be heard.  We were tired and we snuggled in like “bugs in a rug” and went to sleep tired, happy and very much loved. 

When we woke up the next morning, dad was still on that tractor and the piles of brush were still burning.  Mom was sitting in the front seat and we were of course were “starving to death”.  Again, she opened that trunk and we went about feasting again – Probably biscuits (homemade of course) and some jelly. Honestly it didn’t matter what it was, we were hungry and it was good.  We had fresh water from daddy’s water can …. He always had the coldest water in that old can.  It’s funny how the little things just stick in a child’s mind.

After we all ate our breakfast, we gave our dad some hugs and kisses.  Mom loaded us all up (dirt and all) in that old “freeway barge” and off we went back to our home.  We laughed and we giggled and I am sure asked her a “hundred questions” with the first one being when we could “go back and stay the night with dad again”.

I sit and I look at this camping rigs going down the road – they are gorgeous.  These families are at the table eating take-out – and everyone is on the phone or a tablet.  I want to go up to them and tell them:  put down your phone, talk to your children, all the “finery” can’t make you or them happy. The memories make you happy and that is what last forever.  I want to tell them about a “freeway barge” and “country kids” but then I wonder – will they really understand.

I suppose that is one reason I cling to these old cars so hard – they bring back some of the best and most wonderful memories of my childhood.  I hope you enjoyed my “wind-row burning, country kid, freeway barge” story and I thank you for allowing me to share it with you. 

Seize every opportunity to make special memories with those you love – simpler the better.  Those memories will last a lifetime.

   Ms. O.C.D.