Aileen's Destiny

1934-1944 DUST STORM IN KANSAS When I was around ten years old my father’s sister, Aunt Etta was planning a visit to Kansas where some of our relatives lived. She didn’t want to go alone, so she asked my Mother to go with her. Aunt Etta had a discussion with my Dad, which led to Mother saying that she would go. Mother motioned for me to come closer and said, “Aileen, Aunt Etta and I are going to visit some of your Dad’s relatives way far away, and you can go with us.” I was so excited to think that I would be seeing something else besides the farm and school! “Will Marjorie go with us, too?” I asked. “No,” replied Mother, “she has to stay home and take care of Queenie (our second Queenie dog) and cook for your Dad.” I think Marjorie was angry at first, but then was happy that she was in charge of something for a change. Country is country and looks pretty much the same everywhere, stopping every so often when Aunt Etta and Mother exchanged driver’s seats. We stayed in little motels every night, and I got to sleep with Mother, which was a real treat! Finally we arrived at our cousin’s farm, and I met several men and several women, but no kids my age, only a boy older than my sister. In the barn there were two horses, and stalls for five cows that were out in the field eating grass. There was a small Chicken House that had two chickens sitting on eggs in their nests, that they were hoping would hatch baby chicks; many more chickens were roaming out in the yard and fields. Near the porch steps was a very pretty golden brown chicken just sitting there, and didn’t move as we approached the porch. I said to Mary (the cousin),”Why is that chicken just sitting there? She looks so fluffy and not moving.” Mary laughed and said, “That chicken decided that she wanted to be closer to us, so she made her nest by the steps. She is sitting on five eggs that she is hoping will hatch five baby chicks.” The next day while we were having lunch at the table by the window, Mary said, “Look out there ----- those black clouds look like a storm is coming; we better hurry and shut all the windows!” The wind began to howl thru the window cracks and blow the tree branches sideways and the flowering plants were blown right down to the ground! Sand began to blow against the house, and I could see waves of sand blowing every which way when I looked out the window; it was so interesting that I just sat there at the window watching, not a snow storm, but a sand storm! All at once a spoon flew up out of the crystal spoon holder on to the table! Five spoons were still in the spoon holder; amazing! “Mother, did you see that?” I exclaimed. “Yes, I never saw anything like that in my life!” she remarked. That window had been left open a crack because it was so warm in the house. Mother said, “It’s funny how a gust of wind would pull only one spoon up out of that spoon holder ----- why not all of them?” After the storm passed we went outside to shovel and sweep the sand away from the doors, and to check on the cows and horses. “Mary!” I called, ”what happened to the chicken that was sitting on her eggs, I don’t see her.” Mary was halfway to the barn, but turned around and came back to the porch. She knew exactly where the nest was supposed to be, so she began pulling away the sand, and found the chicken still sitting on her nest. Mary began to laugh and said, “She is so devoted to hatching her eggs, that she stayed right on her nest even though she would be covered with sand.” Mary continued to brush sand off her feathers until she was able to shake her wings; what a chicken! The next day was spent cleaning sand off everything. We even had to clean sand out of the car before we could return home. • (A seemingly dull trip/vacation can bring about unusual surprises; always be positive.) TOM BOY? My Dad liked for me to be with him outside, since he had always wanted a boy. I rode on the flatbed wagon into the fields to see if the wheat was growing as fast as he expected it to grow. The ride was so bumpy that I had to hold onto the seat with both hands; I didn’t care that my butt was sore at the end of the day, at least I wasn’t being teased by my sister or being ordered around by her. Mother was always concerned about me when I was with Dad; she thought I would fall off the wagon and get hurt, or get too close to the horses feet. I was taught to fear horses rather than to pet them and love them; it was always “Be careful of those horses!” My Dad taught me how to drive a team of horses in front of a wagon; that seemed pretty easy; then he said, “I think you are ready to drive four horses, let’s try it with an empty wagon.” I said, “Sure, I can do it, let me have the reins.” He showed me how to hold the reins to each team of horses, and we drove around the barn lot and then out into the field. The next day Dad said, “I have to load those big bales of hay onto the wagon and it will take all four horses to pull the loaded wagon up that hill; do you think you can do it?” I was excited. “But first you have to drive those