Here’s a little fun fact about me for you. I’ve gotta tell you about something that happened to me when I was five years old. It sounds funny now but at the time, I don’t think it was. We would visit my grandparents in Pittsburgh, PA but we’d always spend time with my aunt and uncle who owned a dairy farm in East Liverpool, Ohio. On this farm, he had tractors, hay bailers, a donkey that liked to eat cigarettes, and of course cows. Lots of cows. We would visit every year until I was sixteen and we ate farm-to-table every time we went. Fresh milk, fresh butchered meat, and tons of vegetables. There was nothing better. I would also spend hours in the stinky barn with my uncle around the cows. I loved being around them. They also had a bull named Colonel. Colonel only liked one person and it wasn’t me.
He was behind an electric fence. (I didn’t know anything about electric fences at five) and it was just one wire between sets of two poles. Me, being a nosey five year old, wanted to see if I could get Colonel to come up to the fence. I remember vividly what happened next. I got to the fence and just like any kid would, put my little hand on that wire. Oh my God! That jolt went up my arm and it felt like hours before someone heard me and came running. It was probably under a minute. My uncle grabbed me off the fence and sat me down. I was pretty shaken up, but ok. I remember asking him if there was any smoke. He doubled over laughing before he said, “No, there was no smoke and you’re not burned. Those fences aren’t meant to hurt anyone or anything, it’s very low voltage. Just enough to let Colonel know not to try to get out” Didn’t mean a thing to a five year old who just put her hand on an electric wire. I thought I was going to die. Neither my parents nor my aunt and uncle were freaking out about it and the issue disappeared. Needless to say, I never went near that fence in the years that followed. Now I laugh looking back on that. Of course, I was told not to do it again by my father but I remember it sounded more like a dare. A dare my sister took up several years later.
She was too young to remember when I did it, but she was now about seven, and getting sassy with everyone. She just looked over at my father, while he was telling her she was going to be sorry if she touched it, and just like that she put her hand on the wire. She yowled like she was getting her arm cut off. I bent over laughing but before anyone could get her off, I went over and bumped her off the wire. My father was furious with her, but she was able to avoid his hand until my aunt told him to give it up. My sister is gone now but I’m sure she’d remember that day quite well. Needless to say, the ride home to Connecticut was a very long one. We were supposed to be quiet on the ride home.
Now picture a seven year old and a nine year old in the backseat of a car for over nine hours. Quiet wasn’t going to last too long. It’s a good thing we didn’t have seat belts back then, we were able to duck and jump from the inevitable arms and hands that came swinging across from the front seat. Trying to swat somebody for something. Most of you baby boomers can relate.
There are many more stories of childhood in the fifties for many of us. We all have at least one that’ll make someone laugh or cry, care to share? Kids of the generations after us have no idea of a lot of the things we had going on between 1950 and 1970. And I’m sure you all have something to say about it. We had few worries, few cares, a lot of fun, and no one hovering over us all day except maybe a teacher. Well, the streetlights just came on. Time to get home!
I hope you liked this and thanks for reading.