Growing Up in the Country

A children's story about growing up in the country, suitable for a picture book ...

Have you seen a big, black steam engine puffing gray smoke, and passenger cars with soldiers, salesmen, travelers coming to see the “Cowboys and Indians,” and boxcars/flatcars full of food, machinery, cars…?

 

“I love the sound of the whistle drifting through the night.”

 

Trains shipped the majority of what went to or from a town - after harvesting the wheat my Dad grew, it was sent to silos or mills to make flour. Baby turkeys arrived at the train depot in cardboard boxes with holes, sounds of “peep, peep, peep” could be heard.

 

We ordered fireworks for the Fourth of July, clothes for school, and the packages came in the mail at the Post Office. Saturday was the day to go to town; my Mom, Dad, and two brothers and I piled into the car.

 

My mother helped me walk up the outside wooden stairs to the top, and opened the door. The hallway is filled with shadows, and is not very welcoming. I am excited to enter the small room - rows of books are shelved on three walls, within my short reach, and select a book. A new world opens before me; it was heaven to me.

 

Every day, I gathered eggs from the chicken coop, and in the spring, my brother and I fed the orphan baby lambs with special milk bottles. They would follow us around like puppies. After chores were done, supper and dishes finished, we could read, listen to the radio, or play games.

 

The kerosene lamp cast a golden glow on my mother’s face, as she sat in her rocking chair and read a dog story in the Saturday Evening Post to my brother and me, sitting on the floor, listening intently. At the end of the story, leaving us, waiting for next month’s issue…

 

I read books from the school library, and as a treat, we went to the movies and afterwards, ate maple-nut ice cream purchased from the café. During the summer, we made delicious homemade ice cream, and each of us turned the handle of the ice-cream freezer.

 

We didn’t have TV, but we couldn’t wait to gather around the radio, and listen to the Lone Ranger, and “Only the Shadow Knows?”

 

Do you play cards/board games with your Dad, Mom, and siblings? Every year at Christmas, my parents would buy a board game such as Monopoly or Scrabble.

We had the outdoors to use as a playground, bicycling, tag, hide and seek, until it turned dark…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

The story was written, as a picture book, with addition of illustrations, e.g., steam engines, farm animals, going to town, playing... 455 words - between very young and beginning readers.

Reviews

[SyberRose]

Its nice talking about old times im sure the children will enjoy the story...My grand-father was a conductor on the Pennsylvania Railroad...I can remember riding the train and him taking my ticket in his blue uniform and hat. Enjoyed reading Dianne...thanks for posting...Rose:)

[Diane Lockard]

Thank you, Rose, There are so many stories, just from life experiences....
I am making some changes on my Internet, and will have limited access until Friday. I will still be checking in during the week, as I enjoy reading your poems... Be back later, Diane

[SyberRose]

Okay well see ya when you return Dianne...hugs

[Diane Lockard]

I will be checking in throughout the week. It is so nice to chat to you on the Cafe. Diane

[Angi]

I long for the simpler times. This was a delight. I wish I could see the pictures you would put with it. Lovely. ...and I love maple nut ice cream! Angi~

[Diane Lockard]

Thank you, I am checking on illustrations for other children's stories too... Fond memories, we looked forward to home-made ice cream, and ordered fireworks to watch on the Fourth of July....
Talk to you soon. Diane

[Samuel Dickens]

This is so delightful to read--a fresh breath of country air, bringing forth memories of when the world was new to these eyes. With dysfunctional parents, my life wasn't near as idyllic as yours, but still, I marveled and was thrilled by many of the same things. The trains, oh yes, the trains. I'll never forget one of the best jobs of my youth; sitting inside a box car, feeding a mountain of corn to the auger with a scoop shovel.

[Diane Lockard]

My brother and I would sit in the hopper of the combine, and wheat would fall around us; we have a restored locomotive and train, the Heber Creeper that runs on trips through the Wasatch Mountains...