Earlier this morning, I shared my usual Thursday art and music edition, so if you’re looking for it then click here. In the past I’ve done Kat’s Writing Workshop in the same post but I felt it’s time to break the mold and give it its own space, so please continue reading. Today, I’m going to share with you my childhood neighborhood thanks to this week’s writing prompt.
I grew up in southern West Virginia. Coal mining was a way of life for my family and it was just about the only occupation most men knew in those parts. Before I started first grade, my parents moved from our three room house to a mansion. Alright, that’s a stretch but it had double the number of rooms. The house my daddy bought once was housing provided by a coal mines. I’m not sure how that worked but the homes looked a like. I took the liberty of doing a screen capture of my childhood neighborhood today using Google aerial view. Below you can move the up/down arrows to see the aerial with and without text. You’ll find a legend beneath the image in caption.
As you can see my house, Robbie, & Anita’s houses are close together. Off the main road, you turn onto what looks like a drive way that leads to all the homes and basically it does. We kids called this “The Alley”. The kids of the alley included me, Robbie, Anita, Les Anita’s older brother, and Ty. I first met Robbie and Anita in kindergarten.
In the summer, we spent most of our waking hours outdoors in the alley, playing softball, tag, hide n’ seek, shot hops, rode bikes, or explored the hillside. Although, my friends or I never saw for ourselves, my baby brother declared dinosaurs lived in the hills. What an imagination! We stayed out until it grew dark with our parents yelling from the door that it was time to come in. Sometimes, on the weekend we were privileged to set up camp in a friend’s tent. It first started with the older boys, then we girls got in on things when her parents got her a two person tent. It was exciting to sleep outside. Occasionally the boys would pitch their tent in another friend’s yard and we always put Anita’s up in her yard, then during the night we’d take turn spying on the other. Frequently, the boys tried spooking us. We’d tell ghost stories by flashlight and sometimes make shadow puppets on the tent wall. At the start of the new day, the sun sleepily rose in the sky with the glisten of dew resting across the lawn. With the blades of grass damp against our toes, the refreshing cooler morning air sent us scampering indoors for breakfast. I liked eating at Anita’s house because her mom made different things than mine.
We never got bored. There was always something to do. We became the inventor of games and ways to entertain ourselves for hours and hours.
Growing up in a rural community there really was a sense of closeness. You didn’t have the near the worries that something horrible would happen to you and if I wanted to walk to one of the stores to get something for my mom or just to buy a bottle of pop then it was quite safe to do so. There were two small general stores, Steve’s and the Baker Brothers, as you can see in the photo. They had a little bit of everything. In the early 70s, many neighborhood business offered store credit. I frequently remember mom sending me to get a few things and the store owners would just add it to a tab, then once a month my folks paid it off. If I ever bought anything like candy, pop, or ice cream then I was often given a few coins to get something but that wasn’t too often and it was a real treat when I could.
The first grade school I attended was across the creek from my folks. It was about a 5 minute walk if that. I remember walking to school with Robbie and Anita. We’d cross the bridge going toward the post office. There was a footpath on the other side of the bridge that ran along the creek providing a shortcut to school. We walked that way regularly. I wanted to see what’s in the building now but Google didn’t offer a street view. I attended grades 1-4 there before the school district closed it and bused us to a nearby junior high that had grades 5 and 6. The change was both exciting and scary.
My neighborhood had a gas station and post office. Roger’s was a full service station. He pumped the gas, checked the oil, so forth. Inside, he had a tiny store with snack foods and outside there was an old-fashion soda pop machine that dispensed glass bottled drinks. If you’re old enough, then you know what I’m talking about.
Roger’s was located at the fork of the main road and a secondary road that we referred to as the holler. It was a great place for the school bus to turn around as the driver picked up and dropped off kids each day. In the winter months, the kids who arrived at the bus stop would crowd into the store front to keep warm near his wood burning stove. He was a nice man.
I remember on super cold mornings watching for that big yellow bus to appear at the top of Mine Hill through my folks living room window facing Mine Hill and at first sight, I high tailed it out the door running like a streak of blue light. Usually, I was out of breathe by the time I climbed onto the bus. I rarely missed it and the driver always waited if he saw me. He was a nice fella, too.
One thing I loved about the nights when I was a kid I could hear the distant call of the train across the river. Usually as it got closer to our home the steel wheels rumble the track. From my friend, Elaine’s home you could see the train track from the water’s edge.
Another thing I loved, in my preteen and teen years I spent a lot of time with my uncle Roger and his wife, Carol. They lived in a trailer just across the road from my parents. I got to listen to a lot of their music and Carol would teach me dance moves. They’d let me spend the night with them. We’d play cards until late in the night. The first card game I learned was Gin Rummy and that’s what we played. Those were some fun days.
There really were a lot of things I loved about my childhood and neighborhood. I have many fond memories from that period about the people and events I shared my life. A place and time to kindle my heart which I pray never slips my mind.
I’ll be back for Monday’s Music Moves Me with end of summer or back to school songs spinning on my virtual turntable and I’m inviting you to hit the dance floor with me! X💋X💋, Cathy
Discover more from Curious as a Cathy
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Thank you for sharing such lovely memories, Cathy! I love the picture of your and your dad!
Thanks! I love that picture of daddy and me. It’s one of the few I have when I was little. I do have the picture of him walking me down the isle when I got married. 🙂
…I lived in a city and walked to school. Often I was late because I would take “long short cuts!”
The “long short cuts”…that’s good! lol My long short cut wouldn’t make me too late even if I did think along that line when I was a kid. We did enjoy walking it on the way home in the afternoons just because it was different. Thinking about what you said, I can imagine some of the boys at my school doing just this as they were prone to getting into all kinds of trouble. 🙂
You were really close to school, weren’t you? You were a cute kid.
John,
Yeah, school wasn’t far at all. I could even go home for lunch if I wanted. It wasn’t often I did but I do remember doing it. I think we had to have special permission to leave school grounds, though. Ahh, thanks for saying I was a cute kid! No doubt it was that sunset I had on, right? lol Looking back on that I really don’t understand that style. It looks like I wearing large bloomers and a ruffle top. lol All the kids were golden brown in those days. I could use a little of that color now but I’m too afraid of developing skin cancer and making my skin age faster than it is. Thanks for dropping in for a visit!
What a wonderful story about your childhood, Cathy! My childhood was similar in many ways. Those were the days, my friend…😘
Eugi,
Simple lives are the best but it would be hard to go back to those days now. I’m happy I had a chance to live life this way, though. It makes me wonder what my granddaughter will think when she’s my age.
I have no regrets either, Cathy! We’ve come a long way with technology, which what would we do without computers and the internet?
Eugi,
I often wonder the same about technology, what would we do without the Internet and our computers? Scary, huh?
Yes, very scary!
Wow! What a childhood! I love all of the pictures and reading about what life was like in that neck of the woods. It’s like watching a movie!
Ahh, thanks, Kat! I’m delighted you enjoyed it.
What a fun post, it sounds like a great childhood!
Mimi,
It was a good childhood. I was really blessed.
Great photos. Thank you for sharing your memories. XO
Thanks, Ellen! I’m happy you enjoyed the peek into my past.
When you’re little, the whole world’s big. Our train tracks I’m guessing were a little more distant- not so distant that the whole house didn’t shake like an earthquake one early evening when a tanker blew up, and half of it went threw a house a half-mile away….
Ain’t that the truth about everything seeming so big when we’re little! 😀
What a lovely post. You’re most beautiful and your dad was most handsome in 1970.
Have a fabulous day, Cathy. Big hug. ♥
Sandee,
I remember the ladies always thinking daddy was a handsome fella. 🙂 You’re so sweet to say I’m beautiful. I was too insecure as a kid to know that I was pretty. I always felt like an ugly duckling. I don’t feel that way now thanks to a wonderful husband who tells me all the time that I’m pretty. Why are girls so hard on themselves? Thanks for dropping by, my dear!
I think you’re beautiful and yes we’re hard on ourselves. It’s all those beauty magazines and Hollywood. They set standards that most of us can’t meet. I’m good in my skin for the same reason you are. Good for us. 🙂
Sandee,
Even if the beauty magazines and Hollywood didn’t exit, I think we’d compare ourselves with the other girls who are prettier and more popular. It’s a character flaw many suffer through until they see beyond the lies.
Sometimes it’s fun to go back and look around. The last time our Dad was back in WV (Morgantown) so much had changed he hardly recognized the place.
Brian,
The last time we were in southern WV was 2018. There are changes in the area but nothing huge. It’s still a place I would not want to move back to, unless it was for family but now that DH’s parents are no longer living then there’s no reason. My folks moved away from there a year after I got married. They live just outside Bluefield WV just across the Virginia state line in a little place called Rocky Gap. I betcha know where that is, doncha? I visited Charleston WV when I was in junior high. That may be the furthest town north of McDowell County that I’ve been to. I know as an adult while traveling to New England, we crossed the eastern panhandle but it was in the dark of night and it was such a short spurt that one wouldn’t know if they were aware of where they are in their journey. The northern part of the state is supposed to be a lot nicer I heard. It would be good to visit the area someday.
Hi, Cathy!
I enjoyed taking a walk through your old neighborhood during your childhood years, dear friend. I am always eager to get to know you better, see where you came from, and gain an understanding of how you were shaped into the person you are today as one of my best friends ever. The vintage pictures of you and your family are always a joy to behold. Your early childhood was not that much different than mine, because my family lived in a rural area of York County during my early years. Like you, I enjoyed sleeping outdoors in a tent with other kids. As it was in your neighborhood, there was a little store within walking distance. On hot summer days, I’d go there for soda and candy. The soda was in glass bottles, as you mentioned, and they were submerged in a large metal cooler filled with icy water with big chunks of ice floating on the surface. By the time I fished around on the bottom of the tank and found the brand of pop I wanted, my little arm was numb. We played in the nearby fields and took walks along the creek. Like you, I always felt safe. Kids stayed outdoors all day long and played until dark when their mama’s called them home from the doorstep. I remember my mom blowing a whistle to beckon me home. It was a simple life, but I can honestly say that it was a happy one, and there’s no way I would trade places with the children of today. I’ll stop by now to see your Rain Date post. Have a good one, dear friend Cathy!
Tom,
I do recall some places having large tubs of pop packed in ice like you described but what I was referring to are the soda machines where you have to pull the bottle from its tight gripping mechanism, like this vintage machine. In my opinion, those bygone days shaped kids into good adults. We were blessed to have had such simple lives raised with good morals and common sense. Thanks for stopping by today, my friend!