Tuesday, January 27, 2004
MY DAD (PART NINE)
World War 11 was grinding down to an ensured victory and mom and dad were wiped out emotionally. In my (almost thirteen) mind I didn’t realize the pressure they had been under. I would soon graduate from the eighth grade and my brother, Louis, would complete his sophomore year of high school. When you’re that age, big changes are not in your thinking. At least ours.
A man worked for dad that was from Mountain Grove, Missouri. All he ever talked about was how great life was in the Ozarks. The more he talked about “home” and how cheap it was to live there my dad would become more interested. Soon he was to the point of asking questions……….and then began talking to mom about it. Mom thought it was just talk for a while. She lived only 25-miles from her family at Blair and didn’t want to move away from her mother and sisters.
Winter was turning to Spring and dad was ready to give up the business and head for Missouri. It was just a matter of time till he talked my mother into it. Of course the decision left a lot of naysayers within the family. No one wanted us to leave. Dad had an aunt and uncle at Ava, MO. that he wanted to visit and scout around for property. He found out where they were located and we left Omaha right away to see them. Dads uncle was a brother to his mother and he had not seen them for years. They had a picturesque place south of Ava at a small community known as Evans. (It is no longer there.) To get there one had to traverse winding roads with steep drop-offs on either side of the car. It was gorgeous, unspoiled scenery. It is as clear in my mind as the first time I saw it. Beautiful oak and pine trees flanked both sides of the road and the sun would glint down between the leaves. Everything was green with recent rains making the creeks run full and clear. The rocks….rocks everywhere. It was amazing to all of us. We would round a curve of sheer limestone walls with purple wild violets blooming at ground level. My mother’s interest was growing with each curve.
Uncle Hans and aunt Annie Bonnickson tearfully greeted us as we emerged from the 1940 Ford. They had not seen family for many years and were overjoyed with our visit. We were fed and treated with bountiful Danish hospitality. Later in the afternoon we went outside to be shown their property. They led us to the back area where a small waterfall was spilling over rocks and cascading down the creek. Moss grew on the rocks next to the water and tadpoles played in little protected pools. I feel sorry for people who have never seen such glorious displays of natural wonder. One cannot imagine how beautiful southern Missouri was in 1945. Unspoiled, untouched and natural………
We stayed with uncle Hans and aunt Annie for several days. They went with dad to look at land for sale but dad wanted land he could farm on. He was unable to locate anything with enough clearing on it so he could make a living at farming. After leaving their home we drove on to Mountain Grove and looked further but still found nothing that suited dad. He noticed an ad from a Strout Realty at Cabool so we ended up driving over there to check out what they might have.
Dad told the realtor what he had in mind and Mr. Roderick thought he had just the place. He took all of us in his vehicle north of Cabool and then east about 18 miles back off the main highway. We ended up at the small town of Tyrone, drove on through, and came to a farm about ¼ mile on down the road. The farm had 80-acres with the front half of it cleared and in pasture land. There was a large barn in good shape, red with white trim; a pond in the pasture and another up past the barn. The problem was ……there was no house. Dad fell in love with the farm but mom was dubious about living quarters. There was a chicken house in fair shape and dad thought we could clean it up and live there until we were able to get a house built. No amount of doubt on mom’s part could sway dad away from that farm.
We went back to the realty office and dad closed the deal. Had a vote been taken I think my brother and I would have sided with mom but dad was not to be denied. After the paperwork was finished we started back to Nebraska where dad couldn’t get rid of the house and most of the furnishings soon enough. His heart was in Missouri where there was an 80-acre farm waiting………the roots of his boyhood had been jerked up and he was heading south………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
A man worked for dad that was from Mountain Grove, Missouri. All he ever talked about was how great life was in the Ozarks. The more he talked about “home” and how cheap it was to live there my dad would become more interested. Soon he was to the point of asking questions……….and then began talking to mom about it. Mom thought it was just talk for a while. She lived only 25-miles from her family at Blair and didn’t want to move away from her mother and sisters.
Winter was turning to Spring and dad was ready to give up the business and head for Missouri. It was just a matter of time till he talked my mother into it. Of course the decision left a lot of naysayers within the family. No one wanted us to leave. Dad had an aunt and uncle at Ava, MO. that he wanted to visit and scout around for property. He found out where they were located and we left Omaha right away to see them. Dads uncle was a brother to his mother and he had not seen them for years. They had a picturesque place south of Ava at a small community known as Evans. (It is no longer there.) To get there one had to traverse winding roads with steep drop-offs on either side of the car. It was gorgeous, unspoiled scenery. It is as clear in my mind as the first time I saw it. Beautiful oak and pine trees flanked both sides of the road and the sun would glint down between the leaves. Everything was green with recent rains making the creeks run full and clear. The rocks….rocks everywhere. It was amazing to all of us. We would round a curve of sheer limestone walls with purple wild violets blooming at ground level. My mother’s interest was growing with each curve.
Uncle Hans and aunt Annie Bonnickson tearfully greeted us as we emerged from the 1940 Ford. They had not seen family for many years and were overjoyed with our visit. We were fed and treated with bountiful Danish hospitality. Later in the afternoon we went outside to be shown their property. They led us to the back area where a small waterfall was spilling over rocks and cascading down the creek. Moss grew on the rocks next to the water and tadpoles played in little protected pools. I feel sorry for people who have never seen such glorious displays of natural wonder. One cannot imagine how beautiful southern Missouri was in 1945. Unspoiled, untouched and natural………
We stayed with uncle Hans and aunt Annie for several days. They went with dad to look at land for sale but dad wanted land he could farm on. He was unable to locate anything with enough clearing on it so he could make a living at farming. After leaving their home we drove on to Mountain Grove and looked further but still found nothing that suited dad. He noticed an ad from a Strout Realty at Cabool so we ended up driving over there to check out what they might have.
Dad told the realtor what he had in mind and Mr. Roderick thought he had just the place. He took all of us in his vehicle north of Cabool and then east about 18 miles back off the main highway. We ended up at the small town of Tyrone, drove on through, and came to a farm about ¼ mile on down the road. The farm had 80-acres with the front half of it cleared and in pasture land. There was a large barn in good shape, red with white trim; a pond in the pasture and another up past the barn. The problem was ……there was no house. Dad fell in love with the farm but mom was dubious about living quarters. There was a chicken house in fair shape and dad thought we could clean it up and live there until we were able to get a house built. No amount of doubt on mom’s part could sway dad away from that farm.
We went back to the realty office and dad closed the deal. Had a vote been taken I think my brother and I would have sided with mom but dad was not to be denied. After the paperwork was finished we started back to Nebraska where dad couldn’t get rid of the house and most of the furnishings soon enough. His heart was in Missouri where there was an 80-acre farm waiting………the roots of his boyhood had been jerked up and he was heading south………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
