Memories ~
From Falls Church to Kilmarnock
© 2007 Abilini's Computer Services
Falls Hill
(1963 - 69)
1963
We
lived on a cul-de-sac (court). Our neighbors at the top of the court had two
cats and a dog. One of the cats was a Tabby named Ambush, Bushy for short. Bushy
was a show cat. One show day, Bushy escaped from her owner and was rescued by
Anne. Bushy had a pink bow attached to her head and another pink bow on her
tail. Anne thought the cat was in pain so she removed the bow from the cat’s
head and tried to remove the bow from the tail. Not being able to simply pull
the bow off of the tail, Anne cut all of the hair off of the tail of the cat!
Then, Bushy escaped from Anne and went home. The owner seeing the cat – freaked.
She grabbed the cat and brought it over to our house. She rang the doorbell and
mom opened the door. She, the owner, handed mom the cat and said “She’s your
cat now” and left. Mom closed the door, put the cat down and said “so what else
is new? We’ve only been feeding her for last year, anyway.”
1964
They didn’t have kindergarten in school when I was growing up. My parents found
a lady, in Falls Church, who would watch children, only two at a time, while the
parents were at work (day care provider). Everyday before school, my mother
would take me and a neighbor’s child, Amy, to day care. We would be taught our
numbers, the alphabet and play games outside if it wasn’t raining. At lunchtime,
we would take turns choosing which soup we wanted for lunch. Her kitchen had a
shelf along the top of the cabinets. This shelf held every variety of Campbell’s
Soup that was available. We always had a bowl of soup and some kind of sandwich.
After lunch, everyone would take a nap. The children's room had a set of bunk
beds and an adult bed. Amy liked to be on the top bunk. I liked to be on the
bottom bunk (typo) so I could punch the bottom of the top mattress to bug Amy.
The lady slept in the other bed so she could keep an eye on us. After our nap we
would play until being picked up by mom, usually around 3:30 pm. We would get
back to our house around 3:45. If Amy’s mom wasn’t home, she and I would play in
the basement.
Falls Church didn’t have trash pick-up in the 60’s. We, like our neighbors,
burnt the trash in incinerators in the backyard (cheap incinerator is a metal
trashcan with 1-inch holes, every 5 inches, up and down the can).
One day, we got home from day care. Amy’s mom was there, so she went home. Mom
said, “I’m going out to burn the trash.” She came back in and said that she
wasn’t feeling well. We went upstairs to take a nap. We woke up to fire engines,
honking the horn. Mom and I jumped up and looked out back. Mom said “Oh Sh..!”
The six-foot tall picket fence, that separated our backyard from our neighbors
was on fire. Mom told me to stay put and she rushed down to the backyard. She
talked to the fire captain for a while, then came back into the house, looking
very upset. The captain told her, “You will have to pay for the fence and for
the Fire Department services.”
Amy’s house was similar to ours, except, it was only 2-stories. Her father
didn’t like to cut grass, so their entire yard had been planted in ‘zoysa’.
During the winter months, zoysa grass becomes brown and brittle. Another day,
coming back from day care, mom saw smoke coming from the back of Amy’s house.
She ran inside and called the fire department. Why? I don’t know! Amy and I
filled a 5-gallon bucket with water and together we carried it across the street
(picture 2 kids carrying a bucket, that is bigger than either one of them), up
their driveway (their house was on a hill), to the backyard. The zoysa was on
fire. We didn’t make it to the backyard, with the bucket. We couldn’t get the
gate opened. Mom ran over to us and pulled us away as the firemen started
putting out the fire. About the same time as the firemen putting out the fire,
Amy’s mother arrived. She came over and yelled at both Amy and me, and said
“What did you do?” At which point my mother stepped in and said “We just got
home and saw the smoke. I called the fire department. They didn’t do anything,
except, carry that 5-gallon bucket of water over here!” We didn’t know why, but
they were both giggling, after mom's comment.
The fire department spent two days investigating the cause of the backyard fire.
They determined that the neighbor's (behind Amy’s house) kids had been smoking a
cigarette. When their parents came out they flicked the cigarette over the fence
and it landed in an old stump. The stump had dried out leaves in it. The leaves
caught fire and fell out onto the grass. Since it was winter the grass caught
fire and it spread across the entire back yard. It was ruled an ‘accident’ so no
charges would be filed and the county covered the bill. Mom was pissed! She
asked the fire captain “Why is the county covering ‘their bill’ and she had to
pay the bill for our fire?” The captain simply said “You lit your fire.”
The following Spring, Amy’s parents found out that zoysa ‘should be burnt’ every
other year. It revitalizes the grass and makes it spread and grow more evenly.
1965
– 1966
We
lived in a large 3-story house. My parent’s bedroom was directly over the den,
which was directly over the laundry room. My parents had a clothes chute
installed so mom didn’t have to carry dirty clothes down two flights of stairs.
Mom would have Nancy, Gail or Mary go to the basement, open the washer's lid,
pre-fill the washer with hot or cold water. Mom, up on the third floor, would
collect the clothes she wanted to wash and drop them down the clothes chute.
They would drop right into the washer. Then mom would yell down the chute to
start the washer. The chute was a great idea, unless you have a 6 year-old boy
in the house.
I didn’t use the chute for dropping clothes, I used it for dropping other
things... like toys, dolls, cats. I learned at an early age that cats have
claws. And, cats with claws can do serious damage when little boys try to drop
them down laundry chutes. Now wait a second! I never just dropped the cat down
the laundry chute - there was a process that had to be followed:
1) Run down to the basement and get out the step stool. Put the step stool next
to the washer. Open the lid, set it to cold water, turn it on to ‘pre-soak’ for
5 minutes (or until the tub was full of water). 2) Close the laundry room door
and run upstairs to where you left the cat. 3) Using two pairs of socks, as
gloves, place the cat into a pillowcase. 4) Drop cat down the chute and listen
for the splash. This was always followed by “Robbie! Leave that cat alone!”
Sometimes, though, someone would interfere with the process. Usually, mom would
go into the laundry room and see the washer lid up. She would close the lid and
turn the washer to drain. A second of two later, the sound of a screaming cat
going down the chute would be heard, then a loud thud, followed by: “Robbie!
Leave that damn cat alone!” After the third time, mom got smarter and kept a
basket of rags next to the washer. Whenever she saw the lid up, she would put it
down and then put the basket of rags on the lid – for a softer landing I guess!
I grew out of it by the age 8 and believe it or not, Bushy lived to the ripe old
age of 18 – very old for a cat.
1969
I was in the front yard playing when mom and Donna came home from the
orthodontist. Donna just got braces. She would have to wear them for 18 months.
The first couple of days she would come home from school crying from the name
calling: brace face, metal mouth, the usual. Two weeks later Anne, Donna’s twin
sister, was to get her braces. Anne’s appointment was scheduled for Thursday. On
the Tuesday before her appointment she went horseback riding. As stated before,
dinner was at 6 pm, no exceptions. Anne was not home from riding so we had
dinner. At 7 pm, still no Anne. Mom and Dad were starting to panic. They called
the riding instructor, no answer. They called her friends, no one had seen her.
At 8 pm, a blue ‘panel van’ pulled up, out front. Anne’s riding instructor got
out of the van and then Anne got out. She was crying, but never said anything.
Mom and Dad talked to the instructor outside. The instructor said, “We took care
of everything, there will be no cost to you or your family.” Mom immediately
said “what happened?” The instructor said “the horse stepped into a hole and
bucked Anne off. Then the horse fell sideways and landed on top of Anne. Her
helmet saved her life.” Mom and Dad both said “thank God.” Then the instructor
added, “Anne’s mouth is wired shut and she will be in the braces for 8 weeks.”
We, the kids, rushed inside to see Anne. Mom, Dad and the instructor talked for
a little while longer. Anne was still crying. Donna asked “does it hurt that
much?” Anne shook her head displaying ‘No’. Anne picked up a pencil and wrote
down on a piece of paper, ‘They had to shoot the horse.’ She wasn’t crying from
the braces, she was crying because the horse had to be ‘put down’. Anne got her
braces off 8 weeks later. Teeth straightened much better than regular braces.
Donna had her braces for another 14 months, but Donna could chew her food. Anne
got food shakes. Whatever mom cooked for dinner, Anne received the same thing in
liquid (blended) format. (Good thing we didn’t have Liver, YUCK!!)