California Historic Route 66 Association

Keepsake vol Two

Title of Tale

LIFE ON THE DESERT AS I REMEMBER IT
by MARY HEY HOLSTIUS 1994

When I was around eight years old, at some kind of carnival, the
V.F.W had an ice cream booth and mom and dad were working in it.
I can remember helping scoop the ice cream into cones.  Then in the
evening there was a dance.  I remember someone sprinkling some
flakes of wax or something on the floor and some of us youngsters
would "skate" on it to distribute them around.

I was about 4 years old, there was a party at Jay's place. The
adults sat around with beers and talked. We, "the little ones",
were laid down to sleep on a bed in the corner.

I remember some of the potlucks held in the school basement. They
were fun times and delicious food.

I remember the big garden we had. I can't remember much of what was
in it except a few grapevines and asparagus that I always looked
forward to in the Spring. I remember the corn field near the house.
We would hold a cardboard "shield" in front of us and run through
the rows of corn.

There was a large cottonwood tree near the house that the three of
us girls often played in.

Dad had put up this swing for us with two old telephone poles and
a long U shaped steel rod. Next to that was a "chinning" bar about
5 feet off the ground. Then we would use old tires, leaned against
one of the poles, and pretend they were our horses.

In 1938-- the year we were hit by a tornado.  First it laid over
one of their locust trees in front of the house, and then the wind
came the other direction and made it stand up straight again.  That
was also the storm that "took" the outhouse.  After that Dad put in
the flush toilet and a shower with solar heated water next to the
washroom behind the house.

1938 was also the year that the Mojave River flooded really bad.
The water ran way past Barstow.

I remember when the river ran every winter past the Hodge bridge
and usually took it out.

Then there was the time the three of us girls tried to ride the
pigs in the barn when it was still over near the turtle pen. It was
going pretty well for me until the pig decided to go under the
rabbit hutch. I think that's when we decided to give up riding
them.

It wasn't many years after that, that we moved the barn over to
about where the boxcar was put. I remember that a terrible thunder
storm came up when we were almost finished moving it.

We had our share of thunder storms and cloudbursters with the flash
flooding.

When I was about 4 or 5, I can remember that Dad hitched up the
team to a grader and graded the road from our driveway up the hill
to the West, towards Hodges place.

I remember when the teacher would heat milk on the wood stove to
make hot chocolate and served in those large enamel cups.

I remember:
-We made beer and root beer every summer.
-The Burma Shave signs.
-Picnics at the Hodge Bridge.
-The Randall's gas station and country store with penny candy.
-Mrs. Teames going around in the old car she had, selling whatever
it was she sold.
-When we got our first icebox. It was so much better than the
desert cooler.
-Our first radio.

In the summers to amuse ourselves, Clara, Barbara and I would draw
a very large circle in the yard and pretend it was a lake and go
"swimming" in it. We would play jacks on the front porch or sit and
do embroidery. We made a "wagon" by nailing old canning lids to the
end pieces of an old lug box while playing with our very small
dolls and animal toys.

We helped Bob make wreaths of desert holly that he sold. He also
sold desert herb tea.

When almost everyone in Hodge was on relief, and since we were one
of the few people that had a cellar, we were chosen as the
distribution point. There was a cheese in a one pound box that we
all thought was so delicious, but I can't remember the name of it.

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