I'm the cute one on my dad's lap.Year: sometime around 1972
Place: Hometown on the hobby farm
Characters: that's my family! and boy are we!
Growing up on a farm, we didn't use city water. We had a well with a big wooden cover that my dad and brother made. In the basement was a pump that I learned how to prime at a very early age as needed.
One fall day, as all the trees changed color except for the two overgrown evergreens in the front yard, we made a disgusting discovery. The water from the faucet started tasting funny. Not HA HA funny... but smelly, stinky funny.
It wasn't very often that the cover to the well was off, so on this cool Saturday when Dad and Mark pulled the cover off the well to check things out, all of us girls were there to witness. Peering down into the murky darkness of the well, we watched as Dad lowered the long ladder down down until at last it hit the bottom.
He wiggled it around until he was sure it was secure enough to climb down. And down down he went with just a flashlight to guide him.
Dad climbed back up in a few minutes with the sad sad news. Poor Shasta, one of our hundreds of inbred farm cats (all named the same) must have gotten thru one of the lose bricks on the rim and had fallen in to drown in our drinking and bath water. He got the necessary supplies to take down with him and clean out the remains so we could have a burial for her and then climbed back down.
We lined the top of the well, us girls and Mark, not letting the sunlight in as we mourned poor Shasta's death. I moved my foot to get a little closer accidentally moving a brick around the top. It slid out of place and fell down down into the dank well.
Like a scene from a horror movie, something dark and loud came flying up from the depths of the hole like... a bat out of hell, I guess! Dad practically sprang from the well furious and yelled, "Who did that?!" The back of Dad's shirt was torn with a little blood trickling from the opening.
All hands pointed at little Valerie (me) who was frozen stiff from fear.
Ahh! The good old days!
20 comments:
That is so funny! I can imagine your reaction. Did you get into trouble?
Not really... It was an accident, but I remember feeling SOOO bad about it.
Ooooh....that poor kitty!
Your "hobby farm" sounds like the one I used to live at back in the early 70s. We had a pig, a cow, some horses, a very stubborn donkey, and cats. I named my cat Cindy..unfortunately, she was really a he. No one had the heart to tell me. They just tease me about it now!
I bet that brick scared the you-know-what out of your poor Dad! How could he get made at adorable you?? :)
oh my gosh!!!! that is an awesome story......to tell your kids and your grandkids.....and you see where i'm going with this!!!!! but it is a great story....and i love the picture!!!!!
So glad you survived the guilt and the scare of almost whacking your dad.lol
It reminds me of my "never saw my father that mad" story. Just don't ever learn to drive with him in the car....that's all I'm saying.lol
What a great photo....oh, those wacky old 1970's family pictures!lol
Hey McVal....I just tried to go to SonyaAnn's blog and it's gone! Is she ok?
Slugmama -I don't know. I just tried it and it said that that blog has been removed. Went thru my emails and found a comment from her, but she doesn't have an email tied to her blog. (And you don't either or I could contact you directly!)
Let me know if you hear anything!
This is a cute story. sound like a great place to grow up. Especially with a big family
Fab memories - made even better by the photo! Over from SITS x
With my luck I'd have gotten him in the head and then I would really be in trouble!
That family picture is so great! I love your sister's glasses. I always wanted a pair like that when I was little!!
Cheers, Karen
Sad and scary then....but so funny now! My grandparents had a cistern with a pump we had to prime.
I love childhood stories, especially from big families like mine (oldest of six here). From the looks of the photo, you were your daddy's princess. I bet he couldn't stay mad at you
Oh I could imagine the horror as a kid! Heck it would scare me as an adult, LOL.
Over from SITS.
YOu came from a big family. How many total?
Poor Shasta, but the rest of the story was funny! You (and your dad) were very lucky he wasn't bonked in the head! -Tammy
McVal...I gots my email on my blog. I just hide it well.lol
slugmama@yahoo.com
SonyaAnn's still MIA unfortunately.
I am hoping the Blogger Police didn't get her....maybe she violated some obscure TOS or something. I'll lyk if I hear anything.
Poor Valerie. I know that made you feel so bad. Adventures on a farm.
Oh my! I would have gotten a "ta dow" from my Aunt...that's a fist right a across the head!...:)JP
I would've guessed 50's actually. I guess that makes me, Old....
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