We never thought of ourselves as needy, we played with all the kids, rich or poor. My brothers always had a slew of boys around, some game going. My sister took me with her friends for walks in the woods to pick wood violets, trailing arbutus, Jack-in-the pulpit and trilliums. in the summer she would make doll clothes for the dolls of we younger girls. In an alcove in our bedroom we put curtains across the opening, pretended it was a stage, acted out stories we made up. Neil was very good at that, Dorothy had a good voice and sang, Arthur was already a budding artist, set up a place in the woodshed to paint and make things.
Once all the neighborhood kids got a circus together and we had a parade up and down the street. Donnie was "the wild man from Borneo" in a wooden crate, pulled by one of the boys. Our town being the county seat, we had a lot of circuses, tent shows and the county fair, which inspired us to do these things. I guess. We also read a lot--the library was in a small house only a block away. I could read some even before starting school. It helped to have older siblings.
Mama managed very well, considering all the problems that faced her; five children, primitive conditions and a husband that was often away with a road building crew. She was very talented in lots of ways, she was a good cook, read to us stories she had written herself, painted some on china, made a child's chair from a small round agitator like what was used in an old washing machine that was hand operated; made another little chair from wood cut in the shape of cats, with a seat between them, the backs the armrests, the tails the back with slats across.
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