A Boy & His Dog --- Earning Spending Money

As I Recall . . . memories of a growing up in Derita
A Boy and his Dog

I guess most every boy had a dog to grow-up with. We did. My older brother and I shared our bedroom in Derita with Chubby, our little 4 legged brother of sorts, who slept with us, ate with us, played with us and went most every place we went except school. We sure did love that old dog. But, Chubby was slowing-down, and he was 12 yrs. old when he didn't get out of bed one cold, winter morning. I want you to know that ours' was one sad household for a spell.

Our Mom worked in the former Derita post office when it was across the (RR) track from the current one. Back then, the old building also housed Derita Hardware, andthe Dry Cleaners. Well, Mom accidentally adopted a new companion one day when old Spot just wandered in. Now Spot was a "sooner" for sure. He just walked-in, got fed, got sleepy, and stretched out on a canvas mail bag and took a nap. Mom always did have a soft heart for any hungry animal. So, Spot found himself a home in the Derita Post Office.

One cold, rainy day after school my little brother Jerry rode his bike to the Post Office and while Mom was busy, Jerry picked-up Spot, put him in the basket that he had on front of his bike, and they took a ride. I happened to come in a little later and Mom asked me to please go find Jerry & Spot, as they had no business out in this rain. Now, they didn't go far. I found them both at Mullis Grocery, OUTSIDE. Jerry said he felt sorry for Spot because he was shaking from being cold & wet.

Well, Jerry went in the store to get Spot some dog food, but he only had 15 cents, so he just got a pint of milk. Of course Jerry had to feed Spot the milk, and was doing it in his shirt-sleeves because he had wrapped Spot up in his own coat. Yes, Spot was high, dry & content in his basket and Jerry was soaking wet, broke, but "Happy" as a lark!!........ --- Fred

============================


Earning Spending Money

My Classmates knew that I often worked afternoons and weekends at my folks' grocery store on Beatties Ford Road. Worked everyday throughout the summer. But I also had other money-making schemes.

Dad always told me that if your stuff didn't sell, you could always eat the inventory.Well, I once raised carrots & radishes. Rabbits ate my carrots and the radishes didn't sell. . . Ever tried to eat 6 lbs. of leftover radishes?

Also started a worm farm. Was going to sell worms as fishing bait. Ants killed off the first batch. Built the new cages well off the ground. Saved table scraps and
coffee grounds to fatten them up. Read that corn meal was good for that too. . .
But NOT Self-rising meal, I learned too late. It has salt in it. Re-stocked one more time and had two big trays of growing soil when I headed off to Scout Camp for the summer. Figured I could keep breeding & selling them all summer.

First week there were three large African-American Troops at camp. They took one look at Lake Calhoun and they bought every worm I had by lunchtime on Wednesday. . . I was stuck there the rest of the summer without a single breeder.

Mark Kilby & I also tried to corner the Christmas tree market one year, but who knew that July was too early to begin cutting your trees. ----- Bernie Samonds

==================================

Sounds like we both had some of the same ideas about making money, Bernie. I remember a buddy & myself cutting and "dragging" a few Christmas trees forever (It Seemed) from somewhere up Mallard Creek Rd. And then, some Choice experiences gathering mistletoe by climbing the trees.

For a little spending money summer months, I could usually find some kind soul to pay me for mowing their lawn. Now I had to do it with Dads push-mower. A motorized mower, at that time was for the Rich & Famous. After you mowed with this "Reel type push mower, you had to go over the yard with a "sling blade", to get the things sticking-up everywhere.

One of my regular customers, Mrs Brown on Mallard Creek Rd., bought herself a new gas-powered push mower, and one Saturday morning, I was elected to be the first person to use it. I made one lap & the muffler fell off. Not thinking what I was doing, I reached right down, picked it up, & came-up with a badly burned hand of course, but --- Nobody had to tell me to put it down!

We also picked and sold blackberries, wild yellow & red plums and even some wild strawberries. We also worked for the local farmers. --- Fred