1960's

 A Winter in the 1960's must have had a fair amount of snow.   I recall that some times riding the school bus that the snow banks were almost as tall as the telephone poles in the ditch....the old fashioned T poles that were probably only about 12 maybe 15 feet tall, remember all the glass insulators lined up on top of the pole? 

 Snow removal equipment was not like it is today.  Heck for that matter School Busses weren't either they were cold.  You had to scrape the frost off the window to see out or get real close to the window and blow on it.  No one ever took off their hats or coats on the bus. 

I believe this photo was taken on the gravel road just North of the farm I grew up on.  I will guess that the photo was taken in the Spring as there is some water on the road.  My Mom is driving and that is my other baby brother standing up in the front seat.  My Dad must have taken the photograph.  The car is a 1962 or 1964 Chevy. 

Far Side

Wistful Wednesday: The Owl

A very long time ago.  Something happened in a pasture..I do not recall exactly what the circumstance was. I  believe a tree went down in a storm and a nest was disturbed.

Our neighbor Walt showed up with a gunnysack slung over his shoulder.  Inside were two baby owls. The other baby owl went to live with his grandson just down the road.

Carey named our owl George Washington, Danny named his Theodore Roosevelt. Very patriotic names for owls!

We fed them grain and bugs..lots of bugs. Owls grow really fast on a diet of bugs.  We may have fed them some ground up pocket gofers too because we always had a trap line going in the summer.  I believe all this happened in the summer of 1962.  One day towards Fall we released them back into the wild.  

That is my baby brother giving the owl his arm he would have been 7 years old, I am holding my other baby brother who was almost 2 years old and I would have been almost 11 that summer.  I cannot remember where we kept that owl..most likely in a rabbit cage in the barn.  That is the old picture tree behind us and I noticed a set of concrete lawn ornaments in the background..a Hen with four chicks.

We always wore long sleeves when handling the owl. My baby brother took very good care of that owl.  Have you ever been pecked by an owl?  I have:) 

My baby brother adds his version:

The baby owls were on the ground in the pasture, couldn't fly or run. I and Danny B found them. They were Great Horned owls. The Owl Mother didn't like the fact that her babies were removed and would sit on top of the barn and watch. The owl George lived in a case by the side of the chicken coop. Sharp claws. Ate hamburger. Released into Smoky Hills state forest, not sure how he faired.