Huts

Kathy, Jerry, Rodney, and Jim Hill

When we got old enough to venture  to the creek out behind the barn, life took on a whole new meaning, there was water, fish, tadpoles, frogs, fossils, stones to throw.  I remember when my cousin (Rodney Smith) who lived next door and was the same age as me, came down and we started a forget-me-not factory.  We pulled up the flowers and we all sat in different places in the creek and sent the flowers down the creek, we would spend a lot of time doing that keeping cool and having fun.

Some time later we decided to build huts over in the woods, actually it was Uncle Clyde's and Aunt Charlotte's woods who was Rodney's father.  We gathered lumber from anyplace that we could find it along with nails, rusty and crooked ones, Jerry and I learned to straighten them.  I can remember during the  construction period Daddy would look for something and not be able to find it and it would usually be over across the creek in the hut.  Jerry or I would have to scamper over and bring it back.  Daddy would always say, " I don't mind you using it, just remember to bring it back when you come back".  We used our little "Red Ryder wagon" to transport supplies from the house to our hut.  It is a good thing the creek wasn't high, because we had to ford the creek each time we went.

Once we got the huts built; yes we built two, one for Jerry and me and one a little further into the woods for Rodney, we had to furnish them.  Everything that we used in our playhouses had to be moved to our huts.  We were a little older, so maybe we should have a cook stove. Sure!  We would use a cast iron brooder stoves that Daddy once used the chicken houses, before we had gas brooder stoves.  Perfect!  Darn, they were heavy!  No problem with our wagons, one to pull, one to push.  It was rough going through the creek, but we made it.  It took us the majority of the day to haul two of those heavy dudes to both of our huts. Hey!  We have to cut a hole through our new roofs.  We didn't think of that during construction.  We needed stove pipe too, so another trip back to the house to hunt for stove pipe.  We found enough for both huts and by then it was almost supper time.  We did have lots of kindling in all of those pine trees; it certainly smelled good burning.  It was a success, we were happy kids!

We kept making improvements to our huts all summer long and they were looking better each and every day.  One afternoon we were climbing trees and I was pretending to be a squirrel.  I went out on a limb that was dead and down it came with me on it.  I hit the barbed wire fence!  Of course, back then girls didn't wear pants.  I was wearing a dress and nothing to protect my legs, so a barb took a hunk out of my leg and scratched down the side of my left leg.  It bled like crazy and it scared all of us. We ran back home quickly for help.  Mother cleaned it up and put on some of Grandpa Gerow's Black Liniment and a bandage.  To this day, I still have a horrible scar. I am pretty choice on what trees I climb now!

We had a lot of fun in our huts and decided to stay overnight one warm summer night.  We got everything ready, but by the time it got dark, we chickened out and ran back to the house to sleep on the front porch!  There were lots of strange sounds after dark!

Jerry, Kathy, Rodney

One year Rodney and I put up a Christmas tree in our huts and decorated them.  They were so pretty! We had a very mild winter and enjoyed being over there during our vacation.  After Christmas we were both in our huts playing.  I looked towards Rodney's hut and could see smoke, so I quickly ran over to his to see what was wrong.  When I got there, he was outside and he told me that he thought he would burn up his tree in his stove.  It was a bit much for his stove and he about burned down his hut!

Rodney and I were great friends and did many things together all of our lives.  We built a radio station together and did little broadcasts and played music together.  Aunt Charlotte was always encouraging us to play together because he was an only child.  We had fun together and spend a lot of time going back and forth between our houses.

Uncle Clyde, Aunt Charlotte, and Rodney 1960

Once we got to high school, he got me in trouble with different boyfriends.  Rodney was still my best friend and boyfriends didn't understand that.  We went to movies together, called each other, rode the bus together and sat together, danced together, walked in the halls together, went to graduation together and parties together, rode to work together.  We were friends after we were both married, I helped he and his wife after their babies were born.  I miss him so much now that he is gone.  Truly a best friend from the time we were old enough to be friends.