Chapter 4 


Dan 8:

[in response to Benj’s story about the steers…] Dad got rid of them (Max & Mike) within a week.... He told me this story and further said... "Once a dog like this gets a taste of blood, it's over!"

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[after Benj’s questions about how to handle the multi-message thread and emails being too long…] Again, Kenny has this under control! What we need from you is that great Regis story where you were the driver on the "Let's ruin Holy Family's Homecoming" mission - circa 1955. A Great story by the way! 

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And then there was the time (1966) when Timmy and I were cruising down Academy Blvd in Colorado Springs in the 1963 green Mercedes tossing M-80’s out the sun roof when one of them didn’t quite make it out of the car on time. Man was that loud! That console between the seats was a nuisance anyway!

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Oh, one more thing on the '63 Mercedes... every time it reached 110mph, the hood ornament would fall back about 45 degrees.... the '66 would fall back at 100mph. I think this was all before they had cops patrolling the streets... at least southbound Wadsworth about a mile from Junglewood.


Tim 1:

Danny, it must have been 68 or 69, we were going to Kelker Junction to drink 3.2 I think. I remember scrambling to get to the m-80, getting it uncovered, meanwhile you pulled to side of rode and yelled for me to cover my ears, as you had. Just as I found the bomb, I saw the flame disappear inside the body, so I started to cover my ears, not quite getting the job down prior to the detonation. My ears ringed for days. There were powder marks all over the console cushion and seat covers, but they cleaned up. The plastic thing that held the center cushion was broken, however, but Danny and I figured that no one would be able to figure it out by the time it was discovered, and would assume that it cracked from natural causes rather than demolition.

August, 2001

Dick 9:

Jackie & Mike just reminded me of a story I told them a few years ago.

Dan - remember the time we were playing hide-and-go-seek with Georgie Woods in Maudie's lower lawn? You told Georgie when he catches me to throw me into the blue spruce pine tree. Georgie came at me with a look of determination and I was screaming at you to stop him while you continued to instruct him of the rules of the game. "Throw him in the tree!" There was no stopping him. I really didn't think he would throw me at all. I knew he was strong but GRAB-SWING-360SPIN-SCREAM-SLAM! I went flying straight through the branches like they weren't there and hit the trunk FULL FORCE! He threw me into that tree like I was rag doll! Ohhhh - that hurt!

Oh BTW Benj, Were you thinking of REX SORENSEN? He did have big biceps. One of the last things he did at Junglewood was help dad pick all the apples from the 3 apple trees out side the back cement. Anybody remember that? He climbed up one tree and crossed over to the next one and kept picking apples. What was his helper's/friend's name?

Benj - What was the name of your friend from Regis that mom liked so much? He had real neat black hair!

Billy Thomas! I got it! What is it about that feeling of satisfaction when you remember? Why do I remember him? What did he do?

Who said disbud fights? - When I heard that one I pictured Peter with his disbuddin apron packed full with a few choice sized disbuds readily available on top. I was ready too! Maximum speed comes from a properly shot disbud. You place the disbud in between your middle finger and your thumb and snap it while you throw your hand forward like you are throwing a 80 mph baseball. You know when you land a good one - "CRACK" - when you see your opponent drop to the ground and roll under the bench! It's really good if you hear an echo! You also know if you are the recipient of such a shot! The immediate sting travels directly to your central nervous system causing temporary blindness and sense of balance. Your only hope is that on your way down, you don't JAM your face between your disbuddin' bench and the side of the flower bench or you don't rake your shins off over the end of your bench. A good strategy here is to use a low disbuddin' bench. This also allows for better defensive coverage when ducking flying disbuds behind the opposite side of the carnations. It never fails to raise the hair on the back of your neck, or your entire body for that matter, when you hear a good one sing by your ear, taking the top 2 or 3 layers of skin with it! There's a sudden pause with a long "oooooooooo" by both players whenever this occurs. But quickly the contest resumes!

After we fired the entire contents of our aprons on each other and it was all over we were looking in the mirror in the packing room comparing face welts! The only WELTS that were considered were the ones that had a cream white top. Who had the biggest ones? I think you won! There was a welt on your cheek the size of your nose!

Oh - that reminds me Pete! I need to send you a video of Junglewood years. I still need to copy it but I do have it!

Horses - Captain & Silver just old slugs as I remember no one could ever ride because they were too old.

Grey Luster the 1972 Through-Bred at Centennial Race Track. Never did any good.

Art Hill - Somebody name his family!

——

Yea - and Kitsy Burns, Billy & Timmy's Cousin. He stunk like a rotten piece of candy? None of us could ever identify that sweet stinky smell! What did he get in to? I still don't know!

The Burns' 2nd German Shepherd was "Suki" I can't remember the first.


Ken 7:

Wow, Dick. This brings back some more memories...

I guess we remember Billy Thomas because he was the first school friend of anyone in the family that spent very much time at our house.

Georgie Woods! ...son of Julia Woods--who kept house for Maudie. I remember enjoying playing with him, in spite of his mental handicap. He loved playing with toy cars--the more they crashed the better he liked it. I remember Mom telling us, that if it wasn't for Julia taking such good care of him, he'd have never lived as long as he did -- and I was left wondering how long he would live. I still wonder.

Speaking of disbudding--remember the song Tommy wrote--"The Disbudding Blues"? I don't remember the words--maybe Tom remembers--but I can still hear him singing it, as he played his guitar.

Disbudding had to be the most dreaded greenhouse job--monotonous and unending. I still remember Andy, or Mrs. Walker (remember her??), or whoever, showing me how many I'd missed when I got to the end of an aisle. God, I hated it.

The Hills! Art, Ruth Ann(?), and their kids, Marilyn, Sherry, Huck, and … wasn't there one more?? I remember Mom spending hours on the phone with Ruth Ann. What could they find to talk about all that time, I thought? Marilyn was about Benjie's age, and I remember having a crush on her. Tommy mentioned Chuck ringing a chicken's neck earlier. I have a similar memory about Art Hill.

I was 5 or 6. We'd gone to the Hills for dinner. Before dinner, I watched as Art used an axe to "prepare dinner" and witnessed first-hand the meaning of the phrase, "running around like a chicken with its head cut off." It's true. The headless creature ran about 15-20 yards before it fell over. It really shook me up.

After dinner, Art was giving haircuts to some of the kids--he had a barber set, I guess. No one could figure out why I was screaming about not wanting one.

Captain & Silver--our horses. Well, Andy's horses, I should say--he spent the most time with them, but technically, they belonged to our family, I guess. Anyway, I remember riding both of them--always bareback. Silver's wither and spine stuck up--not much fun to ride on. But Captain's was no problem.

This, I don't remember—Andy told me many years later: Back when I was about 4 or 5, whenever we got a new horse, Andy liked to put me up on it to help get it used to something on its back. He said I wasn't as scared or fidgety as the other kids--I'd just sit there. Too dumb to know better, I guess.

But I always kept my distance the back end of a horse. The scar on Dad's head from a horse kick when he was a kid was a constant reminder.


Dan 9:

I remember when Tim & John Wirth decided to have a gun fight using roman candles... remember those? I was standing with Tim behind one of the two big trees that they had supporting their hammock and John was west of us up by the south edge of 8 house. All I remember is Tim's laughing and witnessing John's blue, red and yellow fire balls blaze by... roughly 1957.

Oh and I remember one very early morning when Dick caught a skunk in his 'havahart' squirrel trap and he didn't know what it was until he picked up the cage? Dick didn't go to work at the greenhouse that morning. When things went right, he would catch squirrels to feed his big boa constrictor... 1967?

Pete, remember your perfect bb gun shot at the green steel light pole (the one down by your house right by the road there) and the bb found its way back to your glasses?


Cindy 1 and Kim 1:

Hi everyone. This is Cindy and Kim and we're spending a week of vacation at Cindy's mountain retreat of a home. What perfect timing for all these stories to come out!

What about the time Dick attempted to jump off the pole and broke his arm, but wasn't allowed to tell Mimi about it for fear of losing the pole?

My mother told us of the time Danny was found in the kitchen with his feet in the fridge. His mom came out and asked what he was doing. He replied, "but Mom, you TOLD me to cool my heels!!!"

Also of Dick playing Ben Casey, MD with a set of adorable twin girls (:0)) on a cart and rushing through the kitchen swing door just to have the cart collapse and girls fall on their heads (so that's what happened!)

The other story from Rosie was the way that Othello used to guard us when we were little. We were on the bed after a diaper change and she told Othello to keep an eye on us while she did something. When she returned Othello had climbed up on the bed and curved around the corner so that we couldn't fall off.


Dick 10:

As I remember it, the pole story goes like this.

June or July 1969, Danny says to me, "Dick..., wanna try jumping on the rope with me after I go off?" UH..., I'm not sure..., going doubles like that seems a little risky."

Nah, it's a cinch! You see, after I go off first, just time it right and all you gotta do is jump on with me when I swing back! OK?"

"OK!"

Danny climbs up to the top of the 18½ foot pole, I throw him the rope. Then I climb up half way with him filled with uncertainty! "How am I gonna do this? Let's see, when he goes off I need to hurry up and get to the top of the pole and be there ready by the time he swings back. Oh God, I think I'm gonna throw up! How am I gonna do this?"

Danny asks me, "Are you ready?"

I think, "Oh dear God, how am I gonna do this?"

"Dick!, ARE YOU READY?"

"Hold on..., just a minute! I gotta think about this for a second."

"Hurry up, if you don't do this now, you'll chicken out and you'll never do it! OK? ! ?"

"Oh dear God, how am I gonna do this?"

Danny says "I gonna stand up when I go off so when I come back I'll be closer for you to get on. OK? Ready?"

"OK!" - Oh God...,

Danny stands up on top of the pole and jumps and..., I hurry to the top and get into sitting position..., Danny at the top of his first swing and is now on his way back to the pole..., I..., Oh God how am I gonna do this? Danny's coming back and is almost here and he sees my face full of FRIGHT and Danny says, "Dick wait!"

I hesitate and think Oh God..., I..., he's here, he right here, he's still here, man I can get on..., he's right here! I jump and reach for the rope but..., I can only grab his knees. Here we go!

I look up at his face..., and we both know..., I'M NOT ON THE ROPE!

Not a whole lot of time goes by - and I see Danny slip away from my grip - WHAM... WHAM!

Yes there was a second WHAM! My whole body has been slammed into the ground from 18 1/2 feet up and Danny watched me bounce like I don't know what!

Danny jumped off the rope and checked me out, I was somewhat OK but my right heel was real sore. I knew I needed to see the doctor. Now Danny knew we had to tell Mom & Dad. The first thing he says is, "Dick, tell mom you fell out of the tree down there by Peter's tent. If she thinks you fell off the pole she'll make us take it down."

"OK!"

It turned out I shattered my right heel, and I don't know to this day if Mom or Dad ever knew I fell off the pole!