Grandpa
White would come out to take care of his dogs.
I always thought the only reason he kept his dogs out here was so that
he could come out and be with the kids.
One year he built them a clubhouse out in the orchard. It was about five feet square with a
fireplace where they cooked hot chocolate, roasted corn, and whatever. They spent many a day out there. We always had a yard full of kids playing
together.
One spring,
Wyona came and spent the weekend with us.
She was fourteen or fifteen and we loaded up Dennis’s wagon with
sandwiches, chips, soda pops, and off to the creek we went. They fished a while and then they started
wanting to go swimming. I thought it was
too cool, but they wanted to go so bad.
So they all went swimming. When
they got out, they were all freezing.
They covered each other up with warm sand until their teeth stopped
chattering and we went home.
We spent a
lot of time at the creek. One trip back
to the creek, Donna Kay found a little dead bird, and so the kids had to bury
the little thing. Danny preached and
Dennis and Donna picked wild flowers. We
laid the little thing to rest and went on our way to the creek. On the way home, Donna Kay had gotten
behind. When we turned around to see
where she was, we saw her walking along looking at something she was cradling
in her little arms. As soon as I saw
that look on her face, I knew what she had done. When I asked her if she had the little bird,
she gave a quick pitch over her shoulder and answered, “No.’
