My journal entry for Monday, January 29, 1968

[Soapweed]

My journal entry for Monday, January 29, 1968

It got pretty cool last night, down to around 0 degrees (my pen just quit). It has been pretty nice lately, and today warmed up pretty good after the sun came out. I hope this snow goes off one of these days, so I can continue with educating my two colts.

I was awakened this morning at 6:30. I seem to be getting harder to get up each day. We had breakfast and left for school in the car.

Band went off without mishap. McKay was in a foul mood during typing and continued to be disagreeable all day. Geography and Geometry were about average. In Science, we took notes.

For dinner, sloppy joes, corn, and peaches were enjoyed by all—or almost all. McKay, still running around with a chip on his shoulder, demanded a peanut butter sandwich instead of barbeque. I sketched and designed saddles over noon hour.

We read in our Literature books during English and had study hall during Driver's Ed while a couple guys went driving. During our regular study hall following Driver's Ed, McKay blew up and tried to kick all sophomores down to the cafeteria. We had been having study hall in his room all year, but since the second semester, he has a craft class during that period. He thought we were making too much noise for the craft class to fully concentrate. They were just goofing off anyway. Also during this time, Ken picked a girl's purse at random and found a pack of gum. He passed it around to all us guys and found out later it was Debbie Iske's purse.

Dad filled me in on a misfortune of the Snyder Ranch to the east. Dad was going to town when Snyd passed him going about 110 miles per hour. When Snyd saw it was Dad that he passed, he slowed down and stopped at the turn-off to Cottonwood Lake. Dad pulled over and climbed in with Snyd and Terry, ripping the crotch out of his britches in the process.

Snyd said that his hired hand Slim had pulled out and stolen two blankets. Snyd and Terry were after him, and were determined to "get their man." They had a gun with them and really meant business. What they needed mostly from Dad was advice. Should they continue after Slim and nab him on the spot, or go home and see if he would come back to his job, where they could get the stuff he stole paid for out of his wages? They decided to go home and try the latter method.

We had a short basketball practice until 4:30 and then came on home. Dad, Grandma, Uncle Stan, and Aunt Joy had gone to Valentine for business [probably from Grandpa's estate] with their lawyer, Bryan Quigley. They returned to Merriman just as we were leaving town. Sandra and Sybil went home with Dad in the pickup, and stopped at the café to look up a couple guys from Crookston who had come out to look at bulls while Dad was away. They are planning to come back on Friday. I brought the car home, changed clothes, and went out to do chores.

We had supper, watched a couple programs on TV, and now I am thinking strongly of retiring for the night.

 

[Bruce]

2 blankets ??
Wow those old boy's were tight!!
Would enjoy to hear it if there's more to the story
Alway's enjoy your post's Soap

 

[Soapweed]

Bruce, this country was full of real "characters" back when I was a kid. I don't remember how the Snyder blanket incident turned out, but do remember a similar situation at our own place. A not-very-upstanding individual was in the process of leaving his job at Dad's ranch. My mother was a small lady, only weighing a hundred pounds four times in her life and that being the four times she was pregnant. She stood five two, and had eyes of blue. Anyway, this hand was gathering his stuff at the bunkhouse before making his departure. She didn't trust him, so went down to look one last time before he left. Sure enough, a couple of real nice ranch quilts were in the trunk of his car. She accosted him, and said, "Bill, you put those quilts back on the bed where they belong." She didn't have a gun, but had enough fire in her eyes that Bill meekly complied.

Here is another "Slim" story. A lady in town had a little Saturday night business going on the side. Slim was one of her clients. The lady's husband thumped on old Slim outside the bar, and as Slim picked himself up off the ground, he was overheard saying, "How come 'so-and-so' gets his free, but I pay, and you beat me up?" Sometimes there just isn't any justice in life. :wink:

 

[loomixguy]

Small town characters.... you gotta love 'em. Our little burg was FULL of characters when I was a kid. The couple who came to town every day, and whilst he went in the south beer joint for the day, she'd sit in their old blue Ford that was parked on main street, because ladies didn't go into beer joints back then, and old Katie would drink a case of beer....6 days a week. Katie would visit with folks who were walking down the street, and when nature would call, she'd just go, right there in the car. You could smell that car before you could see it in the summer. Just one example of many. Sadly, they're all gone now.

As a kid, I saw way more than most at the blacksmith shop my Dad had. One day one of the old Bohunk bachelor farmers came in to get something fixed. While he was waiting he squatted down by the overhead door, pulled out his pocketknife, and began to clean the bowl of his pipe. When he was done, he tapped out all the tar, rosin, ashes, and whatever else he scraped loose into the palm of his hand. Then he poured it all into his mouth to chew, just like he would some cut plug! He was a cast iron gutted SOB.

 

[Bruce]

Soap, get's a person thinking how thing's change, don't think I placed enough value on good sleep wear back then, wether you were between job's or the person running a household.

Loomix, a different constitution back then for sure. From the ol boy who hung around town and slept in an old wrecked car and dandied up in the creek or snowbank depending on the season, to some of the book's and stories of hunting and trapping in inclement weather back then I think they must of had a different internal thermastat then someone who has slept indoor's all their life.