Country Cousins
Every year I couldn’t wait until summer so we could go back to country life in Idaho and I could visit my favorite cousin Anita. My father was a dry farmer. He would go to Utah to teach school in the winter and return every summer to farm. My siblings and I would always count the towns as we got closer to the home place, Rigby, Rexburg, Sugar City, and finally , Saint Anthony! When we hit Saint Anthony we knew it was just a few more miles to Chester.
Chester was a very small town. It only consisted of two gas stations and a general store, post office, and meeting place. My Uncle Delbert was the proprietor. When we first got to Chester, we always loved to stop at Uncle Delbert’s store and say hello then go over to the penny candy case that displayed all the candy in a slanted window. There were root beer kegs, salt water taffy, bubble gum, Smarties, and fresh black and red licorice. The fragrance of the fresh candy case has always stayed with me through the years. My Uncle Delbert would always tell us to have a nickels worth of candy as a greeting.
The first thing I did when we got to the cabin was ask if I could go to Uncle Dees and see my cousin Anita. I spent at least half of my summer at their place and I got a real taste of country life. My Aunt Donna was one of the best cooks in Chester and always cooked a delicious country meal at the end of a hard day. Mashed Idaho spuds were a staple along with a tender beef steak, salad, and ice cream and homemade cake or a root beer float for dessert.
Everyday we’d get up bright and early and do the chores. I learned how to milk a cow by squeezing just right to get a steady stream. I also learned I needed to cut my fingernails! My cousin Rick would stop milking into the bucket sometimes and squirt some milk into some of the barn cat’s mouths. The cats seemed to enjoy it even though they got milk squirted all over their faces. Then we would take some milk to feed the calf that had lost it’s mother. Next we’d take some milk and pour it into the bottles for the bum lambs. Ten or twelve lambs would run to the fence and empty those bottles in no time.
Everyday we’d get up bright and early and do the chores. I learned how to milk a cow by squeezing just right to get a steady stream. I also learned I needed to cut my fingernails! My cousin Rick would stop milking into the bucket sometimes and squirt some milk into some of the barn cat’s mouths. The cats seemed to enjoy it even though they got milk squirted all over their faces. Then we would take some milk to feed the calf that had lost it’s mother. Next we’d take some milk and pour it into the bottles for the bum lambs. Ten or twelve lambs would run to the fence and empty those bottles in no time.
After chores were done, we were able to have a lot of free time to play, and play we did. My Uncle's ranch was a paradise of adventure. Anita and I were horse crazy. We ate, drank and slept horses, so much of our time was spent on them. Every night we would curry comb them and then kiss their soft muzzles good night. Anita’s horse was a fast Albino quarter horse named Pinky and mine was a big Morgan palomino named Buck. We changed their names because we thought they needed more beautiful names. She named her horse Silver Star and my horse was Golden Flame. We always rode bareback because my dad couldn’t afford a saddle back then, but we became better riders that way. Anita was a real cowgirl and her horse was so well trained she could ride her without a saddle or a bridle. She would just lean and use her legs and turn Pinky with her mane. One day I decided I wanted to try riding Buck like that. He was up against a wooden fence and I kept trying to turn him with his mane, kicking him, and yelling “Yah!”, “Yah!” Buck really didn’t know what I wanted him to do but he was kind of a jumper so suddenly he lunged forward and tried to jump the wooden fence. I was so shocked I slid off him to the side as he jumped, but then we had a big problem. He’d knocked the top board of the fence off with his hooves and he was straddling the fence with two boards between his front and rear legs.
We didn’t know what we were going to do but he was kind of a spooky horse and we didn’t want him to do anything crazy and get hurt. We pondered our dilemma for a while and thought of trying to hammer off one of the top boards but were afraid he might spook at the noise. Buck just stood there for a while with the boards under his belly. Finally we tried to risk hammering a board off. We got the top board off without a mishap and the second board half way off and Buck was able to step over the other boards. I never tried that stunt again.
One day I accidently did a little trick riding Annie Oakley style. We were in a field and decided to have a race between Pinky and a horse named Flash. My cousin Rick was on Flash and I was on Pinky and really wasn’t used to riding her or her style of racing. Before I was ready and had a hold of her mane, Anita yelled, “Go!” from the end of the field. Pinky took off right out from under me and I started falling between the two horses pounding hooves. Pinky was slightly ahead of Flash and I was about even with Flashes neck. Purely out of instinct I guess, I lunged over and across Flashes neck at a full gallop. I was bobbing up and down like a jack hammer trying to stay on. Rick didn’t know what to do. I yelled, “ Stop him!” It was kind of hard for Rick to control Flash with me on his neck but he finally got him to stop. I got off and my legs were shaking like a leaf.
We had a lot of other horse adventures too. Pinky was such a good kid pony that we could ride her triple bareback. One day my sister, Anita, and I were loping through a newly plowed field. The ground was pretty soft and we all started sliding off Pinky’s back. We tried to right ourselves but it was no use and we landed in a heap on the ground. Luckily it was a pretty soft landing. One of my favorite things to do on the horses was gallop through the pastures and jump the irrgation ditches. When we sailed over the ditches it always felt like I was flying.
A couple of years we rode our horses in the July 24th parade in Saint Anthony. We would get dressed in our best western gear and cowboy hats. We'd brush our horses manes until they were silky and curry them until they shined like gold and silver. I still remember feeling so proud riding our beautiful horses in the parade. My childhood memories of Idaho and riding with my cousins are some of my favorite. I still miss Idaho and go back often to reflect on those good times and look up my country cousins.
We didn’t know what we were going to do but he was kind of a spooky horse and we didn’t want him to do anything crazy and get hurt. We pondered our dilemma for a while and thought of trying to hammer off one of the top boards but were afraid he might spook at the noise. Buck just stood there for a while with the boards under his belly. Finally we tried to risk hammering a board off. We got the top board off without a mishap and the second board half way off and Buck was able to step over the other boards. I never tried that stunt again.
One day I accidently did a little trick riding Annie Oakley style. We were in a field and decided to have a race between Pinky and a horse named Flash. My cousin Rick was on Flash and I was on Pinky and really wasn’t used to riding her or her style of racing. Before I was ready and had a hold of her mane, Anita yelled, “Go!” from the end of the field. Pinky took off right out from under me and I started falling between the two horses pounding hooves. Pinky was slightly ahead of Flash and I was about even with Flashes neck. Purely out of instinct I guess, I lunged over and across Flashes neck at a full gallop. I was bobbing up and down like a jack hammer trying to stay on. Rick didn’t know what to do. I yelled, “ Stop him!” It was kind of hard for Rick to control Flash with me on his neck but he finally got him to stop. I got off and my legs were shaking like a leaf.
We had a lot of other horse adventures too. Pinky was such a good kid pony that we could ride her triple bareback. One day my sister, Anita, and I were loping through a newly plowed field. The ground was pretty soft and we all started sliding off Pinky’s back. We tried to right ourselves but it was no use and we landed in a heap on the ground. Luckily it was a pretty soft landing. One of my favorite things to do on the horses was gallop through the pastures and jump the irrgation ditches. When we sailed over the ditches it always felt like I was flying.
A couple of years we rode our horses in the July 24th parade in Saint Anthony. We would get dressed in our best western gear and cowboy hats. We'd brush our horses manes until they were silky and curry them until they shined like gold and silver. I still remember feeling so proud riding our beautiful horses in the parade. My childhood memories of Idaho and riding with my cousins are some of my favorite. I still miss Idaho and go back often to reflect on those good times and look up my country cousins.
