Growing Up Ranch Chapter 12 My SchoolJust as I had a ranch version of other things, I also had "ranch" school. (No escaping it, IT'S THE LAW!!) I had the good fortune to attend Fawcett School, one of the Rural District Nineteen public schools. From the name alone you may perhaps suspect that this was not your ordinary public school and you are right.At six years old all children begin school. For ranch kids like us, this...

Growing Up Ranch Chapter 11 Horsey Tales. My growing up ranch was quite unusual even in its day. The reason was we were one of the few ranches that worked our cattle exclusively with horses. These “beasts of burden” became friends and companions, each with their own personality. Here are some short sketches of the regularly used mounts which amounted to about a third of our horse herd. ChalkyWe had a number of saddle hors...

The ranch was an isolated place but that didn't mean we lived in total isolation while I grew up ranch. We had many visitors from far and near who enriched our lives in many ways.Often it was a family who came bringing with them the whole family including kids. Our Fox cousins from Denver were particularly fun to entertain. They, of course, wanted to ride the horses and ponies. After an hour or so of that, a nice cool off...

I was fortunate to have both sets of Grandparents alive while I was growing up. My Dad’s parents were “ranch” and lived just over the hill about a mile away. My Mom’s parents were “town” and lived in Douglas, the full forty mile drive away. Naturally, I was much closer to my “ranch” grandparents than my “town” grandparents.Grandma Ruth and Granddad Art were my ranch grandparents. Grandma Ruth was one of my special people....

Having a brother wasn’t unique to growing up “ranch,” but it will help you fill in the big picture if I introduce him to you. There were some big differences in how we related to each other because we grew up “Ranch” together, but far from other playmates.Paul came along when I was three years old. I was very used to being the special son/grandson. I got highly pampered and felt this was the norm. Imagine my shock when th...

Growing Up Ranch Chapter 5    My PoolNow most parks or playgrounds didn't have free pony rides, but I could understand that. What I didn't understand, or rather resented, was paying to go swimming. All I had to do was walk down to the creek, slip out of my shoes and a wading I would go. Swim trunks on I could splash and play all day and often did. My pool was more than just a pool it was a free flowing wild stream and was...

Growing Up Ranch Chapter 4 My Playground One of the more significant differences in growing up Ranch concerned play. The isolation of the ranch meant my brother Paul was the only playmate within walking distance. The next nearest neighbor with kids was at Esterbrook seven miles away. On the busy ranch, there was no priority to carting kids back and forth just to play. The nearest ranch neighbors were nearly ten miles away...

Growing Up Ranch Chapter 3 My Bike Toby What boy doesn't dream of the day when he has his very own bike? A way to fly down the street; wind in your hair; running wild all on your own. I had similar dreams, but my "bike" was a good fast horse.Not even most of the farm and ranch kids I knew would grow up riding horses or ponies nearly every day. On the SPAR ranch, there was no paving of any sort; a hard packed dirt path was...

Granddad Art and Dad were the only mechanics we could afford so anything that broke, they fixed. Our farm machinery was all second hand and mostly old so there was no lack of work. The Ford tractors were particularly troublesome. One of the Ford’s had broken down and wouldn’t start. Granddad towed it down next the shop and began the “Fuel, Spark” ritual. Having cleaned filters and primed the gas pump to no avail he began...