New Digs

After a month or so of life at the Wilson's house, we moved out to Southtown Line Rd of the outer limits of Palmyra which seemed, to me, like we had been exiled to the wilderness. The nearest neighbor was at least a half mile away, and having a friend to come over to visit took a freakin act of Congress (most families, including ours, had only one car, and mom didn't drive in those days). Though our social lives suffered as kids, it was interesting living out in the country with the woods, pond, wildlife, and such. A possum ventured into our yard. Dad went out to investigate and it "played dead". He picked it up by the tail and hung it (by the tail) on a ladder leaning up against the house. Geese would populate the pond every spring and fall, something I greatly looked forward to. Occasionally a swan or a heron would stop by, which was a special wonder to me.

Water to the house was fed by a well and was exceedingly gross - smelled like sulfur and tasted disgusting, though dad said it made for a wonderful cup of coffee and you could boil beans in it for hours and they would never get soft. Us kids never drank it - we would fill up gallon jugs at Arnie's house in the village and keep them around for drinking.

Here's a picture I found (actually, it's a scanned-in copy of a printout of a photo) of myself, Mom, and Dennis at the dining room table. Judging from my expression I believe I was attempting some form of suave, though the filthy shirt doesn't help my cause any.