Growing up. Really growing up!

There was a lot to explore and discover in my home town. The canal had a tunnel several blocks long. After we went maybe a 100 ft. it was pitch black. The only light was when we passed a street drain and it was pretty dim. We liked to get girls to go with us and then run ahead of them and scare them when they caught up with us. I never admitted that I was almost as afraid as they were. The tunnel went for several blocks, starting by the tracks near our house and endingup near the high school. We never gave it a thought but if a heavy rain would come up while we were in there it could have been a dangerous place to be. I remember stealing grapes from an acerage at the end of the tunnel. They were deep purple and were sweet around the skin but the insides were sour. We liked to fish in Ferd McKenzies pond. It was a dinky pond that the cattle wallowed in but we could catch bullheads there. They were all head and very little meat. Not really worth taking home. We used willow sticks and cord with nuts or washers for weights. I dont remember having any bobbers. I dont remember us wanting to run away from home but when I talked to Dick Kutlas the other day he said he used to hang around with some of the Richardsons. He said ever so often they would decide they wanted to run away from home and would gather what belongings they thought they would need and start walking north on the Burlington tracks. He said after a couple miles they would change their minds and would walk on back to town. The trains were still running every day back then and they had a round house at the south end of the tracks to turn the locomotive around as Hebron was the end of the line. We used to play in the round house and underneath were all kinds of writing and pictures drawn in chalk by hoboes. Kilroy was here signs were evident. Some of the pictures were a little naughty and as Dick said were our first introduction to sex education. We used to go skinny dippin in the river above the dam. There were a lot of places in and around town to find something to do. Like Dick said, the whole town was our playground. I remember digging worms for Guy Esterbrook for a nickle. That nickle bought an ice cream bar or a fudgesicle and if I was real lucky I would get a free one if it was marked free on the stick. The ice cream at fairmonts creamery was the best I can ever remember having. Its just not the same now. Rasberry revel was one of my favorites. Eating ice was another thing we liked to do. All we had for refrigeration was an ice box. If you could chip off a chunk of ice and had a clean rag to wrap around it so it didn't freeze your hand it was great to suck the cold water on a sweltering day. Dad worked at the ice plant. They had a diesal moter to power their machinery. If the motor was ever stopped it was very hard to start again. John Dutcher who worked with dad would crank and crank but never could get it to start no matter how hard he swore at it. Dad would go over and crank it once and it would start right up. He would tell John that if any one swore at him that way he wouldnt work either. I remember many storms when we were kids. One , when we lived on the acerage it got as dark as night. Dont remember if we had time to get to the cave or not but i remember mom sprinkling holy water around the house. It was a straight wind but took down several trees around Willard park. We had quite a few floods when we lived on the acerage. We were surrounded by water on three sides and had a neighbor who was blind and lived alone. Whenever it flooded his house he never wanted to leave. They always had to move him against his will. He loved to fish and had two or three friends who liked to fish with him off of the river bridge. His name was Sam. One night when they were fishing Sam caught a nice catfish. He removed it from his hook and asked Bill Rischling who was fishing with him to hold a flashlight while he baited his hook. Bill did as he was asked and the other guys had a good laugh. Sam could navigate the streets around town and never had any problems except for kids bicycles when they left them lying on the sidewald. Sam could tell by hearing footsteps who was coming up the sidewalk and greeted them by name. All in all the hometown was a good place to grow up. Maybe I'll write more later on some of my experiances while growing up.

Old Irish.