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"Country Boy Bob," as he likes to be called,
is a brilliant retired businessman who is an
expert in "JUNQUE," and dabbles in it as a hobby!
He is a friend of seventy-three years and is visiting
me in my attic to admire my "stuff."
"Come on up the stairs, Bob, watch your step. I
hate stairs, don't you? Come on in, have a seat
over there." My readers, please join us.
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"All y'all, come set a spell
With me 'n Bob.
And we'll walk down
A ways...
We're gonna do a right smart
Of remembering!"
How do you like my attic?
I know---it is full of junk,
Tho' it's pretty clean and neat
Doncha' think?!
It is all fixed up for storage
With those shelves I nailed together---
(You see, I once took "shop.")
Yes, there are boxes and stacks
Everywhere.
It is also fixed up to be a nice quiet
Guest room, or escape for someone
Who wants to read, meditate, or watch
The awful tube!
The old RCA color TV is vintage 1978
And works fine with that Comcast box.
That is a pretty good army-surplus
Olive drab, steel-frame single bed;
Yes, it looks inviting with that nice
Colored-squares quilt spread over it!
At the foot of the bed, you'll see
Folded nicely my son's "letter-blanket"
And one of his letter-jackets---
Both say UNM in big letters.
He was the field-goal kicker
For UNM '77, '78, and '79.
Alan Moore, UNM Lobos
Placekicker, '77, '78, '79
On the wall, you'll see a giant
Photo of him kicking off.
He was left-footed and was
One of the last "straight-on"
Kickers. his kickoffs often
Went through the uprights.
There on the wall, you'll
See my younger son in
A large photo...playing his
Classical guitar; with a Master
In classical guitar, he has taught
Children for twenty years at UNM,
And is well-known in this area.
This old rocking chair I'm sitting in
We bought early in our marriage
For one hundred dollars, and
Paid it off at eight dollars a month!
It is my favorite chair and is still
Like new.
I read up here a lot, and must have
A floor lamp to read by. I've always
Had one.
My first landlord gave me this one.
One bulb doesn't work.
Don't you think the school pennants
On the wall add atmosphere to the attic?
There's my old HSU pennant
And a couple of UNM pennants
That belong to the kids.
Without the reading light, the light
In here is superb! It's good light
Coming in the window in such a
Gentle way. I like to sit over there
By the window...and sometimes just
Ponder things.
You know, behind every item in this attic
Is a story...
The story of people's stuff, I guess...
Is the story of their lives.
Over there in the shelf are my
"Dave Dawson In the R..A.F." books,
My Hardy Boy mysteries, and my Tarzan books.
There are two rows of Reader's Digest condensed books---
Sixty years old---do people read those anymore?
That big stack of magazines up there on top
Are old LIFE magazines---ones with important stories.
My Airline shelf radio you see
Was gift from my uncle, when I graduated
FromClovis High School
It is an old-fashion tube radio
That I bought atMontgomery
See that tan hard-side piece of Samsonite
Luggage, with the HSU decal on the side---
It was brand new when I went off to college.
It cost me thirty-five dollars---a whole week's pay,
And I bought it at Ward's also. (I miss Ward's, don't you?)
You like fishing stuff---see those Ferralite rods
Over in the corner---they don't make 'em anymore!
With their "plastic" ferrules, they were so flexible,
You could throw a small spoon fifty yards it seemed.
They would whip a lure out there deep where
The big fish lurked!
This old beat-up minnow bucket was Dad's
And we filled it up many times when headed
Up on thePecos to fish...back in WWII times.
Was gift from my uncle, when I graduated
From
It is an old-fashion tube radio
That I bought at
See that tan hard-side piece of Samsonite
Luggage, with the HSU decal on the side---
It was brand new when I went off to college.
It cost me thirty-five dollars---a whole week's pay,
And I bought it at Ward's also. (I miss Ward's, don't you?)
You like fishing stuff---see those Ferralite rods
Over in the corner---they don't make 'em anymore!
With their "plastic" ferrules, they were so flexible,
You could throw a small spoon fifty yards it seemed.
They would whip a lure out there deep where
The big fish lurked!
This old beat-up minnow bucket was Dad's
And we filled it up many times when headed
Up on the
I'll bet they don't even make minnow buckets anymore!
See that old lantern; it is a coal oil lantern---
That was for making camp on thePecos !
No attic is complete without a children's rocking horse!
Ours raised two boys, along with that old baby bed
You see over there in the corner. We got it used in 1958
And raised two sons in it. Nita, who sold it to us, said:
"You can have it for $15.00" I'll never need it again.
I HOPE."
Many's the Saturday morning when we were trying
To sleep late when we were awakened by a
Wide-awake, energetic, happy, bright-eyed
That was for making camp on the
No attic is complete without a children's rocking horse!
Ours raised two boys, along with that old baby bed
You see over there in the corner. We got it used in 1958
And raised two sons in it. Nita, who sold it to us, said:
"You can have it for $15.00" I'll never need it again.
I HOPE."
Many's the Saturday morning when we were trying
To sleep late when we were awakened by a
Wide-awake, energetic, happy, bright-eyed
Fourteeen-month-old boy, standing up,
Shaking and rattling his bed, and jabbering away.
(This happened with two boys!)
Do you like to read the National Geographic?
You can see we're overstocked on those!!!
(This happened with two boys!)
Do you like to read the National Geographic?
You can see we're overstocked on those!!!
I've got all the amenities up here...
Did you notice my little fridge---it's from my office.
I keep it stocked with diet Pepsis, Sprite Zeros,
Cold V-8's, and cold apples!
That handy barometer on the wall gives atmosphere
And helps predict storms!
Up there in the shelf you see many, many
Songbooks and hymnals. Yes, I collect them.
There are some Stamps-Baxter song books among them.
I cut my teeth on those Stamps books.
That big green song book over there in the corner---
"Great American Songs;" it is full of Stephen Foster's
And a lot of other favorites. For fifty years in
We carried it to parties, dinners, and "sangins,"
People signed it every time it was a singing party---
Now we don't carry it around much...
They're mostly...
All gone.
The little table ..with the wooden lamp---I made
Both of those in wood-shop in Clovis Junior High,
Under our beloved Mr. Virgil Elms. God bless him.
Lying on that table is my somewhat beat-up
Boy Scout knife, purchased there at
At J.C. Penney's.
The faded red bandana lying under the knife
Is from Boy Scout Troop # 14,
And Bud Cagle, assistant.
We met on Tuesdays at 7 p.m.
See that old deck of playing cards, there on
My shop table...
You'll never believe this one:
Once my dear friend, Levi and I (circa 1950)
Snuck off in his car one Friday afternoon
To see some girls down in Artesia.
On the way down, we stopped at that store
Fifty miles north of
In
And I bought those cards!
They're about worn out.
There's an interesting story about Elkins.
One day in 1969, while traveling the state
I was passing through Elkins.
("Greater Elkins" is only one store.)
I noticed an old leanng windmill, out in the pasture,
A quarter mile behind the store. I had to get a picture.
I put a red filter on my camera, to make the sky dark
And bring out the clouds (they were streaky),
I drove down a side road, walked out and shot
Five or six pictures. I printed the best one,
And called it "Leaning Windmill and Painted Sky."
That's it on the wall behind you.
That photo has won several first place awards.
(Today, I believe the old windmill is gone.)
"Leaning Windmill and Painted Sky"
Elkins, NM, 1969
Photo by Mil
What'd I say about stories?!I notice you were eyeing that old
Chapped-looking worn-out basketball---
That's the one that we shot all time
At your alley basketball goal.
All that dusty dirt, rocks, nails out there
Were very hard on my basketball!
That old football you see, with the worn-out
Ends---it went up and downReid Street
Between 11th and 12th Streets, many times
When we played "AMERICA
That's the one that we shot all time
At your alley basketball goal.
All that dusty dirt, rocks, nails out there
Were very hard on my basketball!
That old football you see, with the worn-out
Ends---it went up and down
Between 11th and 12th Streets, many times
When we played "
There's my old baseball glove---they weren't
Too fancy in those days, were they?
Too fancy in those days, were they?
How did I ever catch anything with it?
And I came out of childhood with those five
Black baseballs you see.
Okay, so they are all wrapped in
Friction tape. There was no electrical tape...
Then.
See my Jack Holt shoe stool which you gave me---
Over there in the corner.
I must've sat on that stool dozens of times
Back in '49-'55, during high school and summers...
SellingCrosby Square
Mr. Holt had two stools in the shoe department,
And you bought one at a sale and gave it to me
For old time's sake! Thanks so much. That was nice!
That January, 1923 calendar on the wall,
I saw it in a deserted farm house kitchen
And liberated it. What was life like in
January of 1923?!
Yes, there's all the usual attic stuff in here---
Puzzles, Monopoly, checkers, Parchesi,
My oldLincoln
And a box of 25-30 marbles, all that
Were left from playing "keeps" with you! LOL!
Those Irish Setter hunting boots were once new---
Can you believe it?
I wore them duck hunting the day after I bought them,
Waded in swampy mud.
And they have never looked the same since.
My pride and joy is that stack of vocal sheet music,
Twelve inches tall in the corner of the shelf.
There are about a hundred vocal pieces there that
I learned in four years of private voice at HSU.
There are Italian numbers, "art songs,"secular numbers,
And religious songs.
I loved to sing "On The Road To Mandalay, a Kipling poem,
Black baseballs you see.
Okay, so they are all wrapped in
Friction tape. There was no electrical tape...
Then.
See my Jack Holt shoe stool which you gave me---
Over there in the corner.
I must've sat on that stool dozens of times
Back in '49-'55, during high school and summers...
Selling
Mr. Holt had two stools in the shoe department,
And you bought one at a sale and gave it to me
For old time's sake! Thanks so much. That was nice!
That January, 1923 calendar on the wall,
I saw it in a deserted farm house kitchen
And liberated it. What was life like in
January of 1923?!
Yes, there's all the usual attic stuff in here---
Puzzles, Monopoly, checkers, Parchesi,
My old
And a box of 25-30 marbles, all that
Were left from playing "keeps" with you! LOL!
Those Irish Setter hunting boots were once new---
Can you believe it?
I wore them duck hunting the day after I bought them,
Waded in swampy mud.
And they have never looked the same since.
My pride and joy is that stack of vocal sheet music,
Twelve inches tall in the corner of the shelf.
There are about a hundred vocal pieces there that
I learned in four years of private voice at HSU.
There are Italian numbers, "art songs,"secular numbers,
And religious songs.
I loved to sing "On The Road To Mandalay, a Kipling poem,
And "Invictus," by William Ernest Henley.
There is one religious selection called "Like As A Father."
"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth
Them that fear him.
For He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that
We are dust."
Another one that I loved was: "Eye Hath Not Seen."
"Eye hath not seen. ear hath not heard.
Neither have entered into the heart of man
The things which God hath prepared
For them that love Him."
I know I've probably worn you out
But you've been eyeballing over there on the shelf
My little AIWA CD player that I bought at K Mart.
I've got the Three Tenors on there right now,
And guess what? they are not singing all classical music---
Listen as one of them sings an,"old-timey" song
That will touch you and take you back....
"I wandered today to the hill, Maggie
To watch the scene below;
The creek and the creaking old mill, Maggie,
As we used to long long ago.
The green grass is gone from the hill, Maggie,
Where first the daisies sprung...
The creaking old mill is still, Maggie,
Since you and I were young.
CHORUS:
And now we are aged and gray, Maggie,
The trials of life nearly done;
Let us sing of the days that are gone, Maggie,
When you and I were young."
"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth
Them that fear him.
For He knoweth our frame, He remembereth that
We are dust."
Another one that I loved was: "Eye Hath Not Seen."
"Eye hath not seen. ear hath not heard.
Neither have entered into the heart of man
The things which God hath prepared
For them that love Him."
I know I've probably worn you out
But you've been eyeballing over there on the shelf
My little AIWA CD player that I bought at K Mart.
I've got the Three Tenors on there right now,
And guess what? they are not singing all classical music---
Listen as one of them sings an,"old-timey" song
That will touch you and take you back....
"I wandered today to the hill, Maggie
To watch the scene below;
The creek and the creaking old mill, Maggie,
As we used to long long ago.
The green grass is gone from the hill, Maggie,
Where first the daisies sprung...
The creaking old mill is still, Maggie,
Since you and I were young.
CHORUS:
And now we are aged and gray, Maggie,
The trials of life nearly done;
Let us sing of the days that are gone, Maggie,
When you and I were young."
The touching line in the song is: "But to me
You're as fair as you were, Maggie,
When you and I were young."
Well, Bob, this has certainly been fun,
Reliving my history with you a piece at a time!
I hope you'll drop by again sometime---
Maybe when it's raining---this attic is awesome
With the rain hitting right over your head!
Next time, I promise you can sit in the rocker,
We'll open a coupla cans of Beanie Weenies,
And get some diet Pepsis out of my little fridge there,
I'll tell you all about all the pictures on the wall---
And you can tell me about your stuff.
By the way, do you have an attic?
Oh, it will be grand to see you again!
"When You and I Were Young, Maggie"
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BY MIL
3/13/13
Sent from my iPad
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