It was a lot of fun to partake of the great vegetable garden that Grandpa Anderson grew, and sharing it with Ruth Mac. We used to go pick the peas and sit up on the shanty shed, with him just like kids. How much fun it was, when they were haying and bringing the hay into the barn. Grandpa Anderson would let me lead the horse that was hooked up, to dump the hay in the loft of the barn. It was fun to go with Merrill "up the yard" (up to the little walk where they kept the horse, the cow, and the delivery rig, chicken sheds). We'd go up and shoot the stray pigeons and bring them down, and Grandma would make a huge pigeon pie in a large dishpan. When I went camping out with Grandpa and sat in a cow pie and he cleaned off my britches, we were ready to go to bed, and I was clumsy and stepped on Grandpa's fishing pole, his special pole that he brought from Sweden, and broke it in two. And that reproduced another "My conscience, boy, can't you see where you're stepping!" I can remember the family reunions where all the grandchildren used to come and be seated after the adults had eaten and how much fun it was. And I'm sure many of them would remember the big crocks of sugar cookies that Grandma always had available. In later years he grew the beautiful dahlias where they'd had their vegetable garden earlier. I liked to watch Grandma make the lye soap - It was fun to watch. I liked to help Grandma gather apples: we'd put them in the muslin sacks; collect the juice to make her good apple butter. It was delightful. Did we really want to know this one??? One time, Geneva had lice in her hair - the cure involved a can of urine. Louis C. Larsen says:
Return to John H. Anderson History Index
