Well here it is. I couldn't remember the name of the community that was several miles north of where we grocery shopped. But the following is our Alabama/Louisiana experience.
In Columbus AL Bob worked on a dam. I remember Bruce came down before he went overseas and babysat Rendy while I was in the hospital having Cary (1961). It was the first time I was gone and she cried a lot while with Bruce. I remember the time zone change on the state line but we just went by one since we lived in AL. I also remember Bob talking about coffer dams being constructed on each side of the river, then being removed in the process of construction. One time lightening hit a tall crane located at the bottom of a dam. I think the operator had just gotten out of it when the thunder storm hit. He observed sparks shooting everywhere from the lightning hit.
As that project came to an end the construction company he worked for was awarded a job in LA north of New Orleans about 140 miles to build a mine shaft entrance to a salt mine pit below the earth. The barges that hauled stuff down the Mississippi and needed something to haul north so the barges were not empty. Economics.
We had our trailer we lived in moved to a little trailer park (about 8 trailers maybe) behind one of the local bars on a local highway; it backed up to the bayou. We were not in town. We lived there about 1 1/4 years?? This was Cajun country. Swampy, lots of big trees, a huge dike for the Mississippi River for flood control. It is basically Catholic country which was unusual for the South back then. Hurricanes and rain in the winter and hot muggy summers. Bob left early in the morning, drove south a ways then took a boat over to the island the mine was located on.
My first remembrance of that area was a huge snake dropping out of a tree across my shoulder as I walked back to our trailer carrying a basket of diapers. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. Terrified; I thew the basket up in the air then jumped sideways to the left to get out from under it. The snake wiggled away. I picked up the diapers and headed inside. Our trailer was back by the bayou which had a 2 board wide dock into the bayou where one could go out and fish. I use to go out on it to shoot nutria. After shooting one I would send out our dog into the water to fetch it. I then notified the bar owner; he would call a local black family. They would come get it for their meat. Nutria are big rodent-like critters that will kill small children. We fenced our yard area so they couldn't get to the kids when they were out doors playing. Cary was only one so he would be in a play pen near the front door. A funny experience with the nutria was when a local Presbyterian preacher was visiting me one afternoon. Some local kids ran in to tell me a nutria was swimming around the dock. I grabbed a gun, ran out to the dock and shot it. The Preacher left while I was getting the dog to retrieve it and never visited me again. I hung laundry out on a line and got the worst case of poison ivy. It was winter time and I could see a vine growing up a tree but didn't know it was poisonous. I moved the laundry line.
We also had chickens in the yard for eggs and meat. We had a Weimaraner dog and a parakeet that I had gotten in high school. The parakeet was in a cage hung on the wall in the kitchen near the door. Cary was fed in his high chair by that door. The bird would squawk; Cary would look up and opening his mouth in the process. I would feed him a bit of baby food. Easy way to get a baby to eat for sure. The bird would fly around the living room some. The kids enjoyed watching him.
One time in the kitchen while cooking, I got knocked out. Evidently I laid there on the floor for quite some time. I woke up to Rendy peeling my eye lid back and asking me, "Are you in there?" Cary was curled up beside me asleep. Other time when I just couldn't get Cary to go to sleep I would put him in the back of the car and we would go for a drive along the levee dikes. We would see huge snakes hanging in the trees. One time I drove up to a little armadillo and stopped. It was sitting up with his 2 front feet up looking at me. So cute; I just sat there to watch it. Crash my dog hit my neck as it jumped out the window from the back seat to chase it. We were all amazed to see it run then roll up in a ball and roll very fast down the steep bank into the water. Amazing. I hollered at the dog; she came back.
One time I was watching an airplane land in the bayou. A common place for them to land. There were 2 electrical wires stretched across the bayou and the plane had to either go under the wires or over them. This time the plane got flipped and crashed into the bayou. I called the police immediately. The people were saved.
Kind of peaceful there were lots of other kids for Rendy and Cary to play with. Cary would be in his play pen out doors watching the others playing. It was swampy so I could not take walks or have a garden. Hot and humid in the summer with no AC. Large cotton fields with black workers that lived in shacks. We would see some poverty when we went for a drive around. An awful lot of half black/white little kids would be running around those shacks. Talk about integration. Yes!!!
That summer I went to FL for a visit with the kid's grandparents. Mary Ann, their aunt, came back with me for another summer visit. She was 15 at the time. As I was driving back home I had planned to stop at a motel in Biloxi, Miss. to sleep over. It was full and the winds were really blowing. The road was along the coast line. I parked along the hwy under a lighted area. The kids were all asleep. With the winds blowing I just couldn't get to sleep. Finally I took some pill I had from the glove compartment and continued driving home. I don't remember the medicine identity; but, I got home finally and couldn't sleep for 2 days. Boy was I exhausted. I threw those pills away.
Best investment learning information for years to come: We purchased a set of Encyclopedias on time. That sure was a good investment. I did a lot of reading to the kids. Mary Ann read to them too. Actually we read to lots of kids. All the neighbor kids came over all the time. We played, we read, etc etc. One little boy who was probably 4 years older began showing up every morning; and leaving each evening. One time he brought over 2 little puppies. Every one played with them. When he left for home he forgot to take them. I contacted the bar owner and he gave me the boy's parents phone number. I called it; they wanted to know who I was. I explained that we were the ones that he came and spent his days with. They were surprised. Surprise to me too. Just to the north of us on the highway was a large house with huge white columns. It was the state senator’s mansion. That little boy that I had learned to love was the senator's son. When we finally left that was one of the hardest things for me to do was say Good by to him. He just was with us so much of the time. I did learn to love and say good by to lots of kids in my life. It's hard.
Mary Ann met some other girls at church so she had friends who visited often too. I finally was able to purchase a new bedspread. She sat back on our bed one day and painted her finger nails and spilled a bit of polish on that bedspread. Boy I got mad at her. Oh well it is really just a bedspread. At the end of summer I took her back home and the kids had another visit with grandparents. Not knowing what was going on until later, I really regretted not keeping her with us. I found out later that Elon and Koburn had a big fight. She wondered the streets for a day or so before going back home. Mary Ann was terrified. Other bad things happened that I never heard of and am glad for sure it is long past.
Bob's job was completed and his company had bid and received a contract for a job in or near Anaheim CA. We had a mover move our trailer to CA with the parakeet in it. I had asked him beforehand if he would feed and water it for me. He agreed to. Then the mover told me when he got there that I sure mistreated my parakeet. I told him I didn't think so -- that I had had it since high school; so the bird was at least 7 years old which is pretty old for a bird. When he heard that he agreed that he had lived a pretty good long life. He died within a year from that.
We drove our car across country, camping along the way. As we crossed Texas we took a side trip down to the Big Bend country to see the 'mountains.' I am being sarcastic; what they call mountains I really call rolling hills. We figured we would never get a chance to see that area of the country again (which has really been true), so we drove down to the King Ranch area. Rolling hills, dry country as I remember. Then we progressed on to seeing the Grand Canyon. Wow. What grandeur. We camped at a camp spot just south of there and spent a couple of days observing the beauty God has for us for sure. Traveling on we stopped at Canyon De Chelly in AZ. The old cliff dwellings, irrigation for food. That was quite a accomplishment for so-called ancient Indians. ON to Los Vegas area and the tall cactus 'forests'. Again my sarcasm. They weren't forests, but there sure were a lot of them and so tall and really prickly. Wow. Our cat got treed on one of them and it was a challenge getting him down. The desert area is pretty; however, I am sure glad I don't live there. On to Anaheim.
CA. boy lots of people, lots of traffic. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh dryer weather, lots of winds - Santa Ana winds sure can shake a trailer.