Vernon Moulton"s Memories

I also don't recall too much about Grandpa Moulton.  As I read Richard's stories, I was wondering how he knew him so well.  But then, It's the age difference.

 

Grandma, after GP died, had a toilet that didn't work so well.  It would back up and flood and the plunger was always right there beside the toilet for convenience.

 

We Moulton kids would use the toilet and it seems like every time it would flood.  Not pleasant and pretty scary.  One time I got off the toilet, anxiously pushed the handle and sure enough the contents and all the water came flooding over the rim.  Oh no!  After the cleanup, Grandma said, "You kid's terds are just too big for my toilet!"

 

Of course I remember the raisin filled cookies and we too tried to duplicate them, but they just didn't taste as good.  Why is that?

 

I remember Grandma fixing scrambled eggs and calf brains for Grandpa for breakfast.  Is that for real, or were they just trying to scare me?

 

Donna says she doesn't remember this, but one time shortly after she and Earl were married, she was at Grandma's and she was fixing Earl a ham sandwich.  She very carefully cut the fat off of each piece before she put it on the bread for Earl.  When Grandma saw that, she was pretty disgusted that Donna would have to remove the fat.  (I couldn't eat fat either.  It would gag me.)  One time at home during supper I was cutting off the fat of a piece of beef roast.  Dad, who sat next to me, said,  "Why are you cutting off the best part?"  Then he reached his fork over to my plate, speared the big juicy piece of fat and gobbled it down.  I almost threw up!  But Dad and those who grew up in the Great Depression didn't have the luxury of throwing away food, even fat.

 

Grandpa had mink in some cages in back.  They always warned us not to stick our fingers in the cages because the mink were mean and would bite down hard on a finger and would not let go.  Do I recall an incident when one kid did get bit and grandpa had to go out and smack the mink on the head to get it to let go?

 

My Dad, I think, would have liked to have his own successful mink ranch, but never did.  He had a friend in Daniels who did had a big mink ranch and an apple orchard.  We used to go out there to pick Johnathon apples (boy were they good) and look at the mink.  They stunk to high heaven.  It was interesting to see the owners feed them with the ground up meat.  Naturally, some of the meat fell on the ground under the wire mesh floors of the cages and that's what, along with the dung, produced the pungent odor.  I'll bet the neighbors loved that  smell!.

 

Us Moultons didn't have a TV until about 1966, so we would always love the chance to watch Grandma Moulton's TV.  We probably kept her up more than one night watching her TV.. Her house was the meeting place for Moulton kids who were waiting for a ride out to the Plant.  (the Power Plant 5 miles north of town, where we lived)  Have you ever met anyone who did not watch the Brady Bunch, etc., etc., while they were growing up?  I think we were somewhat stunted emotionally for that reason.  Or not!  As we would read and listen to the radio for entertainment as teenagers.

 

I remember being at Grandma's one day when Donna and earl came driving up in a brand new 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air.  It was tan and brown.  I was sure impressed.  I loved that car!

 

I think I remember the yellow rose bushes to the west of Grandma's house.  I would love to get a clipping of those roses also.

 

I also remember the chickens.  One day Grandma and Grandpa (I guess) were butchering chickens.  My dad was helping by cutting off their heads on a wooden chopping block.  He would chop off the head, then just throw the chicken into the tall weeds where they would thrash around a while, bleed out and die.  After killing several chickens, he gathered them all up to find there was one missing.  We searched and sure enough, the dreaded axe had missed it's mark one time.  The poor chicken was unscathed, hiding in the weeds thinking it had escaped certain death.  But it didn't, as the axe once again fell and even that chicken was soon prepared for the pot. 

 

I remember when Grandma got her first electric range.  We all thought it was marvelous, as we too cooked on a wood stove.  When we moved to the Plant, we had an electric range.  At first we would turn it on, then off, then on again several times just to see the burner glow as it it were a miracle.  After cooking with dutch ovens for a while just for fun, I told my wife, "Now I know why they invented the electric stov

 

 

Vernon J. Moulton