Summer

A View Of Columbus Through Rose-Colored Glasses

This column is dedicated to acknowledging examples of positives that express the community spirit of Columbus – our town It seems my memories are most vivid from about the 5th grade. That was the year our school consolidated and our number of classmates doubled. That was the year my friend’s sister was our teacher. Somehow that gave my “bunch” a distinct advantage. That was also the year we commuted to Ovalo from Tuscola. The commuter bus was very full. It was only about a 5 minute drive from one town to the other. It gave us time to start the day with some kind of conversation. I remember the precise day that Carmen Ann, who was several inches taller that I, looked into my eyes and announced that they were green. No reason to remember that, just one of those things. That 5th grade year was also the year we founded the “Secret Six Club”. Don’t get the wrong idea, it was totally appropriate... it came straight out of the 5th grade reader. Classmates still label us the “Secret Six”. The most distinctive elements of our club were 1. its meeting place which was the abandoned girls’ outhouse, 2. our chairs, which were the old original wooden pots, and 3. the cigar box which contained all of our documents that was carefully hidden on a beam.

When summer arrived, it was not welcome as the “Secret Six” were strung out all over south Taylor County. This was the summer that I seem to recollect most vividly. Remember, there were no cell phones or televisions, Our country summers were simple, and in my case, rather lonely. I had my horse, Crickett, and a nice shelf of books... Little Women, Little Men, Eight Cousins, and my favorite, the Nancy Drew mysteries. There wern’t many games for one person, but as an observer of my parents’ Canasta games, I learned to be a sub if necessary.

Church was a source of some “kid inter-action”. We had summer Bible School plus a group that attended summer camp. Some of those friends from summer camp were my best friends in college.

I’ll never forget the day our first “swamp cooler” was installed in our ranch house. It was a remarkable delight! The heat of West Texas was a factor as was the lack of an abundance of water. Water was never wasted and the surprise of a summer shower was celebratory. Homes had little landscaping. At the end of our front porch was a dramatically beautiful lilac tree. It had been there since the house was built. At that time, the house was over a hundred years old. It was always a thrill to see the first blooms. People loved their porches and certainly found every opportunity to sit outside on them. In the cool of the evenings, great stories were told. Back then, I do remember the number or fireflies we saw. The ranch dogs slept through the stories.

One of the summer delicacies was fresh peach ice cream. Mother made the finest. We also enjoyed berry cobblers and frequent batches of red beans and cornbread. There was hardly ever any seafood as beef was our mainstay. Ranch kids have very few ways to make money except to help with chores. We were frugal and very thoughtful about expenses. I was always encouraged to save the money I made from my livestock for college. There was one special chore that I was allowed to do for money. I could pull bitterweed from a certain pasture. It was not an easy chore. I rode Crickett to the second pasture from the house, carefully tied her to the fence, and pulled bitterweed for several hours. Bitterweed is poisonous to some animals and was a nuisance. I thought that working at the drugstore would have been a lot more fun.

My summers were not a time of swimming pools, movies, and bike riding through the neighborhood; however, there were some wonderful trips to relatives and even one special trip to Carlsbad Cavern. The simplicity of summer in West Texas has helped me develop a strong appreciation of life in small town America.