| MEMORIES
OF THE DIAMOND R ~~~ The Old Brown Chevy Pickup |
| Grandma
and Grandpa’s farm, The Diamond R, was on a hill, only two miles from
the Wichita Mountains and about two miles from their angle to the
northwest and Saddle Mountain. When you are standing at the back side of
the farm house, looking to the far north, you could see the Slick Hills
rolling over from east to west.
And in the immediate north of the farm you
could see the pasture grass waving in the various directions. The
textures of it all seemed to be smooth but once you walk out into them,
it is more like a roughness feel to the prairie or pasture grass, except
for the blue stem plumes, which were feathery soft.
Mesquite trees were scattered about, a plum
thicket, and two ponds would readily be seen as you look kept looking
northward. One pond was more to the east part of the pasture and the
other was directly north of the house. You wouldn’t even know the ground
had cobble stones in it and broken twigs and smaller hills all through
it, unless you get into the pasture and start exploring or riding
through. |
| Particularly
during the holiday season, family members go to the farm and visit
Grandpa and Grandma.
If we were fortunate, the weather would be
decent enough to go out with Grandpa to check on the cows.
I can hear all of us kids, which would be
around ten or so hollering:
‘Hey everybody, you want to ride with
grandpa in the back of his truck? He’s going to the pasture to check on
some cows. Let’s go!’
As many a grandchild hollered on top of
their lungs. The older cousins got the privilege of sitting on the
lowered tailgate, while the rest of us had to sit in the bed. If we sat
on the tire area, we sure would have to hold on tight to the side of the
truck because every bump and roll surely was felt and could knock you
right off the truck.
I remember sitting on that wheel hump or
next to it many times and always, feeling jealous ‘because Gretchen
always got to sit on the tail gate, she was a year older than me, even
though we were in the same grade. ‘
The boys would help grandpa unhook the
barbed wire gate, pulling it out of the way, so grandpa could go
through, then they would hop off the tailgate and close it back up. The
road into the pasture was just plain dirt where many years of wear from
the truck’s tires matted the grass down into dirt. It looked like two
dirt paths rarely curving in and out down the pasture till you got to
the end of the barbed wire fence. |
| Grandpa
would rev up the engine of that old truck, and off we would go into the
pasture.
Sometimes he would speed up and then a
terrace in the ground would come up and we would get a jolt which sent
us flying upwards for a little bit with lots of screams and laughter.
If you got to sit on the tailgate of the
truck, your legs would fly up or you can dangle them as the truck goes,
but one problem with that, is sometimes there is a small bush or prairie
grass in the middle and it would slap your legs as grandpa drives down
the road.
A lot of little terraces were in that
pasture, and grandpa knew just how to go over them, just enough for us
to get a thrill, almost like a mini-rollercoaster ride, full of ups and
downs and jolts!
Then we would come to a stop as grandpa
checks out another pasture to the west.
The boys jump off and help him open that
barbed wire gate. We go through, and they close it again, and grandpa
starts to drive off and the boys come running to jump on the end of the
truck.
And off we go into that pasture, and it is
full of terraces! We would fall in the bed of the truck laughing and
giggling, getting jilted to and fro, till we get to the west end of that
pasture and checking on the cows.
Sometimes I wondered if Grandpa just made
up the excuse to check on the cows just to give us a fun, bumpity ride! |
| Actually,
when I was a kid, I really didn’t know what Grandpa was looking for when
he went to check on the cows.
I guess he was counting them to see if they
were all there or if one of the mama cows was about to give birth or had
given birth.
Sometimes we would help give hay that was
loaded in the back of the truck and when we came to the cows, we threw
bunches of hay over to feed them.
Sometimes a cow would bravely walk right up
to the truck and stick their wet noses right in your face!
Guess they were mighty hungry, or just
checking us out, thinking we might be some strange cow, maybe…
A mind can go a wondering in all kinds of
directions if you got to thinking all the maybes and what if’s in a
country and its farm. |
| Some
afternoons, if the weather was just right and a simple jacket would be
necessary to suffice the temperatures, Grandpa would take us up to the
Meers store and treat us to a soda or some sweet treat.
He wouldn’t let you sit on the opened tail
gate, but to ride in that old truck was just as fun as if you were in
that bumpity pasture.
We all would huddle in the bed of that
truck, and feel every bump, hole, hill, or any unevenness in that old
two way road.
He would rev up that engine when he came to
the big hill and off we go holding on to keep from falling against the
tail end of the truck.
You could just hear all of the screams and
laughter we all would do as we went up that hill, and the excitement of
getting to go to Meers.
If you were fortunate enough, your mom or
dad would give you an extra quarter or so to get more treats when you
got to the store.
Grandpa would park the truck next to the
store; we all jump off and run in looking at all the sweets and store
goods.
Meers had a post office too, and Grandpa
would check in and chat with the folks that worked in there, while we
all check out the sweets and treats.
The folks would know grandpa by name and
would ask how he was, how is grandma, who are all of us are and whose
parents we belonged too, how’s the weather, and such that grownups would
chat about.
Then you would hear ‘Have a good day Lee,
tell Dorothy hello, and enjoy them grandkids!’ and then it would be time
for us to pile back into that truck with our treats and off we go back
to the farm. |
| Grandpa
would holler to us, if we are all here, then we all holler yea and off
we go back east to the house.
You can hear that engine revving up and off
we go on back the way we came.
That hill we went up was so very fun going
down.
You can hear grandpa putting on the foot
pedal to speed up that old truck, and then zip on down that hill like
someone was a coming after you!
Every time you think you are ready for that
downward slope, you aren’t, with a little bump, we fly up then back down
and holding on for dear life as the descent was rather steep.
In unison you would hear all the
‘Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh’ and ‘ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh’ and
‘wwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee’ then you would hear someone
exclaim:
‘I thought I was going to fly out of the
truck!’
Our hearts would beat so hard, and then we
would start laughing and talking so fast about that ride down the hill.
Grandpa sure knew how to drive that old
truck to give us the rides of our life!
Then the road would be straightened out and
up a little hill where the Diamond R sat, and then we would turn into
the gravely road and on around to the back of the house where Grandpa
parked his truck. |
| We
all would be full of laughter and talk and thanking Grandpa for the
ride, and for the treats he bought us at Meers.
All of us would tell him it was so fun and
when can he do that again so we can experience it again, perhaps even
more thrilling than the other times.
He would just smile and say next time,
whenever that would be, we wouldn’t know, but we knew he meant it.
Grandpa would go on into the house, while
most of us would just hang around his truck eating our snacks or chewing
the penny gum he bought us.
The younger ones would follow him into the
house and probably telling the other grownups all about our adventures
in the pasture, to Meers Store, and especially down that hill like it
was a rollercoaster ride! |
| Those
were some fun days growing up and visiting Grandma and Grandpa, the
farm, even when Grandma passed on, we all continued to visit grandpa and
stay at the Diamond R.
Grandpa would still take us grandkids for a
ride in the pasture, going over those little rolls in the ground, we all
would squeal in delight and laughing like there was no tomorrow.
Sometimes when the older cousins were no
longer around, we got to sit on that tail end of another pickup truck,
letting our legs dangle off the end and feel the grasses on our legs as
we went into the pasture. Sometimes Grandpa would go to the east side of
the house and he would take us fishing to the east pond.
We used cane rods and he would show us how
to fish. ‘Just throw the line in and watch the red and white ball go
under and if it does, then you have a fish on the other end’ he would
say.
We watched and watched, be bored as all get out
but watch anyway and trying to be quiet as ever so as not to scare off
the fishes.
Grandpa got a few fish, I got maybe one or
two, and someone else would get a fish or two, mostly bites though.
He would put them in a bucket with water
and then after a long time at the pond, we all got back in the truck and
back to the house. Sometimes he would drive around a little bit to give
us a fun ride again, with fish flopping around in the bucket and water
spilling out and splashing on us.
We would smell like fish, eww, but we had
fun anyway, because Grandpa would just drive around giving us a ride in
the pasture. |
| Those
days are long gone now, us grandkids grew up, Grandpa grew older and
since passed on too.
The Diamond R is still there though, with
one of the kin folks living in it. We no longer have the same kind of
fun riding in the back of a pickup truck, with our legs dangling on the
tailgate, getting hit by prairie grass or a lone bush, not like it was
back then when we were kids. The pastures are still there, and so are
the ponds. My cousin, Gretchen, that was one year older than me had
passed on from cancer a couple of years ago. The Meers store is now a
hamburger place and known as the best Hamburger Joint throughout the
world.
The old brown Chevy pickup was given to my
brother when he was much older.
The place still faces the Wichita Mountains
to the south and the Slick Hills to the north and my memory comes and
goes of those years spent at the farm, including those fun filled bumpy
rides in the pasture land. |
| ©Copyright 27 January 2010, mccampos |
| The
Earth has music for those who listen |
| ~~William
Shakespeare |
 |
| Kiowa
Nation |
