Thanksgiving Day Talk with my brother

My little brother called me on Turkey Day - we spent almost an hour on the phone. This is probably the longest that we have talked in a very long time. We spent most of that time remembering way back when - I was even remembering things that came before his time. He was conceived in Iowa, but born in California. So we made the trip from Iowa to California at the same time, just not in the same way. Columbus Day, 1955 was the day that we hit Donner Pass - at that time the road was two lanes (one way in each direction) and no gaurd rails to keep you from sliding down the mountain if you left the road. My very first experience with "really scary" mountain roads - what a welcome to your new home.

We (or I should say I) talked about family in Iowa - Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, and cousins. Iowa was a happy time for me - I loved my grandparents very much as I lived with them most of the time because grandma took care of me while mom worked - my mother was ahead of the times and was a working mom. She worked as the linotypist for the town newspaper, which just happened to be owned by grandpa and run by Uncle Butch (my mother's brother).

I talked about Richfield and why we moved to California in the first place (Iowa held no future for my dad and Uncle Max said come here and I will find you a job - a furniture factory as it turned out). Six weeks after "Lil Bro" was born we moved to the mountains - that is where most of his memories start.

The mountains was where our parents planted their roots and raised us. It was rough at times. After working in Sloat (a saw mill) as a scaler (he measured how many board feet each log would make) he started with the Forest Service. The first three years he was a probationary employee which meant that he was laid off for the winter - that is when I learned the venison, fish and once in a while a goose were staples in our lives. Our first house in the mountains was at Parkers = you look over the railing of the front porch and you were looking down into the ravine at the river (Feather River). We later moved to Graeagle and started a whole new chapter in our lives.

We were remembering all the people that lived around us - the Kurdupskis, Mrs. Sawtell, the Colliers, the Souths, Willie Burns and his wife and the Bethurams (sp?) and so many more. It is funny just how many things can pop into your mind at the mere mention of a name or place.

It is funny, we were wondering what had happened to the South family the other day and today when I opened my e-mails there was a message from Gwen South, who now lives in Utah with her husband and two kids. That was a nice surprise. I am hoping that we can start communicating and get to know one another again. We spent quite a bit of one or two summers on my front porch playing the games of clue or canasta -

This is how I spent part of my Thanksgiving - besides eating a nice meal with my family here in Maryland I had a nice time talking with my brother - hope that this is a trend that will continue. We only have each other now and it would be nice to get to know each other again - he was eight when I left home to never return on a permanent basis. There have only been visits since then and many miles in between.