My first grade teacher in Hobbs was Mrs. Higgins. Her classroom was a child's dream! The front part of the room was a playhouse. The door was child-size and I would guess the inside dimensions were about 6' by 12'. It had a comfy place to lounge and read. I think that maybe the use of the playhouse was a reward for something. Good behavior or accomplishments? I don't know, but it was like magic to me. At christmas time, it was decorated accordingly.
The school taught phonetic reading. Mom was so impressed that she kept all my books and when we returned to G'burg during third grade, she took them to the principal to make her case for phonics. As I recall, she was not successful!.
Back to Hobbs.I believe that is where Mom planted castor bean trees beside the trailer to provide shade. I do not recall any warnings about the seeds being poisonous. The plants grew fast and since trailer courts did not have trees, we had the only shade! I think that was where Ginger, Roy and I all three had the measles and mumps, one kid and one disease at a time, during the summer. That meant that Mom was housebound for weeks!
I was elected to be the class princess at the all-school carnival. This was the first of many times that I did not know what was going on, but managed to fake it. I remember a school bus ride during the school day for a practice of the ceremony. (I keep saying "I remember." From now on, I assume you know that all of this prose is what I think I remember so I will save some words.) Mom had made a formal for me while we were still in Greensburg so I had that to wear to the carnival. The carnival was at night and after the..whatever I did...the carnival was pretty nice.
I started second grade at Hobbs. It seems that I had the same teacher. Don't know if she taught first and second grade, or how that worked out. I really liked her.
From Hobbs, we went to Lindsay Oklahoma.
So, was the reason for all the moves new jobs, or was it a new assignment for the same employer?
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for the next installment!
I am so excited to see a new post. This is a good way to have the family legends explained. As a child, I thought was something mysterious about castor beans. We had warnings about the poisonous nature, though. In today's neighborhood, there would have to be a 6 ft fence around them...
ReplyDeleteDad was a pipe welder and generally worked at 2 types of job sites, either laying pipelines or building booster stations. Pipeline jobs might last from 1 to 3 months and a booster station job might ilast 6 months to a year. dad performed as a pipefitter and as a pipe welder. Pipefitters assembled sections of pipes together adding flanges , elbows and what not according to drawings. Dad perferred pipe welding where he welded continuous runs off pipe together and then installed that run in its proper place . Each job site required a welding test to be passed before you would be hired. Dad hated the testing .
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