1951 ... Here we are…my bestest friend, Joyce, who lives in Lothair is spending the day with me. When she comes we always head up the mountain to Birch Rock where we can spend time talking about our fellers, going over what’s happening at HHS, and tell each other the inner secrets of our soul. We walk out just a bit from Birch Rock and we look down on Lothair to watch the carnival set up. What a view we get from our perch! We make plans to go to the carnival, see the sights, and get lots of sawdust in our shoes. We’ve got two options to get to the carnival. One is walk up the highway, staying on the side away from the traffic, or cross over Woodland Park Bridge, and head into the dark railroad tunnel, dark, damp and scary tunnel that leads from Woodland Park to Lothair. My family does not own a vehicle and we always walk everywhere we go. Joyce thinks we had better walk up the highway unless Dad can go through the tunnel with us. We dare not venture into that dark crevice just the two of us. There are so many eerie sounds once you get into the heart of the tunnel. The water constantly drips from somewhere and the echo it makes could be the background of a good, monster movie. It’s best not to get caught in there when it is time for the L&N but we have many times and Dad instructed us to jump over near the wall of the tunnel and hug it as close as we can until we see the caboose at the other end of the tunnel. We pretty well know the L & N tunnel times, so we shy away as much as we can. You pretty much hold your breath til you see the light at the other end of the tunnel. WHEW!! When we walk up the highway we leave the house, go up East Main past the Howards, the Lykins, the Johnsons, the Heaths, the Maggards, the McGuires, the Shuttes, (this is only one side of my beloved street). Mr. Frost is always out front of his filling station, and we always stop and listen to his cautions for us, Pole Fields’ house sits on the hill. We always cross over at the Frost Filling Station and go past the Water Plant, waiving to Uncle Matt as we pass, past the Chat & Chew, then following the river up past the Dipsy Doodle Curve, and then the Power Company is in sight, and just up the way will be the carnival. We have made our plans to use the highway route this time. The sun is beginning to slowly move over the mountain and Joyce and I both know that we need to head back down to Big Bottom. It is suppertime as we see the smoke from all the chimneys rising upward and the aroma coming from the kitchens below make us ever so eager to start our way down the mountain.It’s always a good day when two friends can make plans to go to the carnival and route out the perfect way of getting there. This is what Joyce and myself accomplish on this day in the Summer of 1951.
Tuesday, March 3
1951 ... Here we are…my bestest friend, Joyce, who lives in Lothair is spending the day with me. When she comes we always head up the mountain to Birch Rock where we can spend time talking about our fellers, going over what’s happening at HHS, and tell each other the inner secrets of our soul. We walk out just a bit from Birch Rock and we look down on Lothair to watch the carnival set up. What a view we get from our perch! We make plans to go to the carnival, see the sights, and get lots of sawdust in our shoes. We’ve got two options to get to the carnival. One is walk up the highway, staying on the side away from the traffic, or cross over Woodland Park Bridge, and head into the dark railroad tunnel, dark, damp and scary tunnel that leads from Woodland Park to Lothair. My family does not own a vehicle and we always walk everywhere we go. Joyce thinks we had better walk up the highway unless Dad can go through the tunnel with us. We dare not venture into that dark crevice just the two of us. There are so many eerie sounds once you get into the heart of the tunnel. The water constantly drips from somewhere and the echo it makes could be the background of a good, monster movie. It’s best not to get caught in there when it is time for the L&N but we have many times and Dad instructed us to jump over near the wall of the tunnel and hug it as close as we can until we see the caboose at the other end of the tunnel. We pretty well know the L & N tunnel times, so we shy away as much as we can. You pretty much hold your breath til you see the light at the other end of the tunnel. WHEW!! When we walk up the highway we leave the house, go up East Main past the Howards, the Lykins, the Johnsons, the Heaths, the Maggards, the McGuires, the Shuttes, (this is only one side of my beloved street). Mr. Frost is always out front of his filling station, and we always stop and listen to his cautions for us, Pole Fields’ house sits on the hill. We always cross over at the Frost Filling Station and go past the Water Plant, waiving to Uncle Matt as we pass, past the Chat & Chew, then following the river up past the Dipsy Doodle Curve, and then the Power Company is in sight, and just up the way will be the carnival. We have made our plans to use the highway route this time. The sun is beginning to slowly move over the mountain and Joyce and I both know that we need to head back down to Big Bottom. It is suppertime as we see the smoke from all the chimneys rising upward and the aroma coming from the kitchens below make us ever so eager to start our way down the mountain.It’s always a good day when two friends can make plans to go to the carnival and route out the perfect way of getting there. This is what Joyce and myself accomplish on this day in the Summer of 1951.
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