When Children were Children
The Schoolhouse
by Sharon Hopper 

Now I have to describe where this schoolhouse was. It was in the country and we used to walk about a quarter mile to the next farm and get fresh milk from the cow. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr was their name. Funny how you can remember some people and cannot remember others. Skipper our dog used to come with us on these visits. Mr. Kerr tried and tried to teach me how to milk that cow but I never did get on to it. She was a pretty cow. I know they had chickens because we used to get the eggs from the refrigerator in the kitchen. Mrs. Kerr usually had some milk and a cookie for me and Skipper. These people were our friends and neighbors. 

 We lived at a (t road) intersection and we were about part way down a sloping grade from the railroad track that was quite busy. There was an old brickyard that was no longer in business up by the train track. I remember that because my cousins and I used to go up there and play. Those old round houses for firing the brick made great forts. And we did not have store bought swing sets. Instead there was a long black pipe out by the road about 15 feet away for separation of our yard and the road right of way. We used to use that like a monkey bar and I actually learned how to walk that pipe. I wonder how long it took me to learn that. We were all like monkeys in those days. 

My grandpa helped my dad a lot at night to try to get that house livable and when he was going to come out he would call and I would hike up the road to the railroad track and wait for him. He had and old Hudson with a running boards and I would jump onto the running board and coast down to our schoolhouse. That was the highlight of my day. Skipper would wait at the driveway for us. Grandpa always had a piece of Juicy Fruit gum for me and something for Skipper. 

When it was time for the furnace to be installed, it was discovered that were many rats in the basement. My dad and uncle would sit on the steps for several nights shooting those darn rats. Heck I was terrified of a mouse let alone a rat, so my dad was very careful not to let me see them take them outside. It took about a week for the man to put in the furnace. It was a big mammoth thing and it took up a lot of room. Those big old pipes were wrapped in asbestos and today that would be totally out of line. But we lived with asbestos in about every older home around. I do remember my dad painting those wrapped pipes to the registers. And I remember the big old coal truck that brought coal to the house. They dumped it through a window into a bin in the basement and of course it was my dad’s job to shovel the coal into the furnace morning and night. But Big Ben did a proper job of keeping us warm. That was the name given to the furnace. However Big Ben could be a smokey problem if dad forgot to damper it properly. My mother had a “special” vocabulary for my father when things went wrong , hence I knew when to start pumping that old piano. My grandpa and dad continued to build kitchen cabinets in the evenings and things were starting to take shape in the old schoolhouse. My mother had pictures all over of her new blue and white kitchen. I assumed the kitchen was going to be blue and white. 

I was getting on in years and it was time for the first grade. Well that is definitely another story……