Letter 06 Dan-To-John; Christmas Cattle

Dear John                           December 19th, 1970

I feel bad that I knocked football after reading your letter. I had no idea that you are a football player. I think my problem with football on Thanksgiving is watching it on T.V. I've been at a high school game once, and that was fun. I've played in the yard before, and that was fun.

I think you're right about the teamwork part. Being a goalie, I can't score any points. I can only stop the other team from scoring. It is literally impossible for me to win a game.

So cool the Goliath guy couldn't move you! That's almost as good as getting a Christmas present!

Speaking of Christmas, I have to tell you something. I figured out that Santa Claus isn't real.

[Drawing of Santa claus smoking corn-cobb pipe]

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Mom had a bunch of presents in her closet marked "From Santa" to us kids hidden in her closet. I spilled the beans to my little sister and brother. We all still love Christmas though. It's sweet of Mom to go to all that trouble to make it fun for us. I didn't open the presents or anyything.

Last week, my brother was running in the basement and broke the handle on my Mom's iron by knocking it off the ironing board.  My Stepdad was really mad when he found out. When he asked who did it, my little brother lied and said it wasn't him. My Stepdad made all three of us pull our pants down and get our butts in the air on the couch. He asked each of us who did it. If we said "not me," or "I don't know," we got a whack on the butt with the dreaded paddle.

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It was super unfair! My little sister wasn't even there when it happened. We must've been spanked ten times each before my little brother admitted to breaking the iron.

After my little brother confessed, my Stepdad sent my sister and I to our rooms. He gave my little brother one heck of a spanking for lying. I wish he would have just admitted it right away. He probably would've gotten way lerss spanks. He is the most stubborn kid I know.

Mom made a couple of new friends here in town. Arlene has four kids, and Jennifer has six. I think Jennifer's oldest - her daughter Suzy is really pretty. She's our babysitter now. She's fourteen. I haven't said anything to her, but I can't help watching her when we're watching T.V.

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The other night, Suzy let me watch Dracula with her after my little brother and sister went to bed. That old vampire sure was scary! I was really glad when Van Helsing opened the curtains and turned him into ash. I didn't let Suzy know I was scared, though. I don't want her to think I'm just a baby.

I found out that the field down at the end of our block has cattle in it. The other kids say there is a mean old bull in there who will gore you with his horns if he catches you. The field belongs to Doc Cruise, who is the local vet. There's an old chimney out in the field. One of the neighborhood boys ran out to the chimney and back on a dare. The bull must not have seen him. I never saw anything in the field but regular cows.

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The whole field is fenced in with barbed wire. The kid had to climb over it coming and going. The bull may not have spotted the kid sneaking into the field, but the cows definitely got their revenge a couple of days later!

At the other end of our block, our street becomes Main Street. Right where it changes, there is a Catolic church on the Northeast corner of the intersection. There is a State highway that runs along Main Street, and it curves North at that intersection. That curve is marked at fifteen miles per hour. Mom says the ramp curve is tilted the wrong way there. At least three semi-trucks have tipped over at that curve this past year by going just a little too fast.

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Well, a couple of days after that kid ran into the bull's field, a cattle-hauler tipped over at the church curve!

[Drawing of tipped-over 1970-period semi-truck tipped over at limestone church with cattle roaming loose]

I heard that one of the cows was loose in the I.G.A. grocery store, but I didn't get to see it. There were cows running loose all over town! I heard it took the town all day to round them up. They made all of us kids beat it for home, though. Good thing! I don't want to meet up with a scared cow in the meat aisle!

I'd better go. Mom is saying lights out. I hope you have a great Christmas!

Your friend,

Dan

Letter 05: Dan To John - Thanksgiving 1970

Dear John,      November 26th, 1970 - Thanksgiving

I just got your two letters. (Happy Thanksgiving, by the way!) Mom got them both a couple of days ago, but waited until today to give them to me so that I would get my homework done. You're not the only one who needs to get back to his arithmetic! Haha! Mine isn't because of a girl, though.

It's a good thing your friend Jeff was there at the bayou! Otherwise I might've had to find another way to practice cursive writing - like doing homework! Haha! Just kidding. I'm glad the snake didn't bite you.

I'm writing on Thanksgiving Day because everyone else is stuffed with turkey and napping in front of a football game. B!O!R!I!N!G!

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I would way rather watch cartoons like Spider Man or Space Ghost, or ride my bike, or read a book about Davy Crockett or Jim Bowie than that stupid game.

The part about Tracy wrapping you up like a mummy for Halloween sounded really fun. I would love to have seen a picture of that. My costume was Frankenstein this year. My little sister had the really neat costume this year, though. My Mom sewed her up this amazing green dinosaur costume. It had a long tail, and she looked like a cross between the Sinclaire gas station dinosaur and a tyranosaurus rex.
[Drawing of dinosaur trick-or-treating]

I don't know what you are talking about with tracy being "bossy for a girl." I've never met a girl that wasn't bossy! Haha! Not that I listen...

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Wow, it sounds like you have a bad crush on tracy. I had a sort-of girlfriend last year when we lived in Madison, Wisconsin. Her name was Sandy Lee Bailey. She didn't ask me all kinds of questions, though. We snuck into the bushes under the railroad tracks one day. I think we were both shy. I kissed her, and held her hand. It was the first and only time I ever kissed a girl. So far...

Most of the time Sandy Lee and I would ride her pedal Mustang around on the sidewalk at the apartment complex we both lived in. She lived two buildings down from us. She and her family moved to another State this Summer too. I miss her a little. I'll probably never see her again. You know with moving...

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I've never been on roller skates. It looks like fun, but I'd probably fall on my butt! There was a girl in our apartments in Madison that had the steel roller skates that you strap on your shoes and skate in the street with. I never got to try those. She told me that you really have to watch out for pebbles.

I wonder why tracy is worried about kidnappers? Do you think she is reading too much Nancy Drew?

I am so looking forward to Christmas. I'm hoping to get some new hotwheels and track. My Stepdad took a piece of track to use as a paddle! I wish I could burn that thing! I have to go. The apple pie is ready. Write soon!

Your friend,

Dan

[Drawing / diagram of hotwheel-track paddle in left margin]

Historical Accuracy And Changes In Perspective...

Historical Accuracy And Changes In Perspective...               10-22-2017

One: I arrived in Nebraska in the Summer of 1969 at the age of seven, not in 1970. Summer school and the Apollo Moon landing were a year earlier than I wrote of them in this work.

Two: I was not a big writer at the age of eight. I was much more a reader. This is the reverse of my current pattern. Perhaps there has been so much input in my past literary life that the synthesis of it all is boiling over, and must spill out onto pages. It started with a little online poetry in the late 1990's, and the dam has burst.

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Pertaining to item 1; It took me a bit to realize that I was off by a year. I was a child of seven and eight years old when we lived in Nebraska. I am now fifty-five years old. The events I am writing of happened well over forty years ago.

3: I believe that writing by hand satisfies the artist in me. I have always loved to draw. Writing with pen and paper is both visually satisfying and extremely tactile. The feel of pen and paper in my hands touches something deep in me. Also, I can create any kind of special character I wish with ease. There is no waiting for nagging software to update before I begin what I sat down to work on. I can draw an illustration without a mouse.

The freedom to zero in on one task is an incredible luxury of the human mind.

Dan Stafford

Letter 04 - Dan-To-John; Soccer And Such

Dear John,        September 20th, 1970

September has been fun so far. We have been playing soccer at recess. It turns out that I'm not so good on the field, but I am the best goalie in the whole school. Everyone wants me on their team.

[Drawing of foot kicking soccer ball]

The craziest thing happened! Someone stole my bike when I was swimming at the pool last Saturday before school started. My Mom offered a $10.00 reward to anyone who brought it back. A couple of the neighborhood boys found it ditched in the bushes a few blocks from the pool. Both tires were flat. Now I am saving up to buy new ones.

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Some of the cool things we learned this month at school:

1. Nebraska is the "Corn Husker" State. (Also, the word "State" is always capitalized if you are talking about a State or country.) Corn husking is getting an ear of corn out of the green covering and getting rid of the tassles. [Drawing of husking corn]

2. The State flower is the "goldenrod."

3. The State bird is the "Golden Oriole."

In Cub Scouts, we went to a place called Council Bluffs and learned how to make plaster casts of animal tracks. The ones I did were from a raccoon. Pretty cool!
[Drawing of raccoon track]

So how are you?

Your friend,

Dan

John's hand-written reply:

Letter 04 Reply: Football & Siren Song - John to Dan

Companion Notes For Letter 03 Dan-To-John

Companion Notes For Letter 03, Dan-To-John:                                   10-15-2017

I realize that the use of the term "Indian" to refer to persons of Native American heritage may seem offensive to a number of modern readers. It is not intended in that spirit.

These letters are base on actual events in my life. At the time that the events in this letter happened, I don't know if the term "Native American" existed yet. I certainly didn't know of it in 1970. I was eight years old that year. Such sensitivities did not find common usage until much later. I will not revise history. Doing so leads to forgetting lessons we should be learning from our past.

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Companion Letter 03 Notes...
Continued...

I am aware that the term "Indian" in reference to Native American people was born of ignorance, and later became derogatory. However, I am fifty-five years old as of this writing. I had no such awareness at the age of eight.

I have a great respect for Native American peoples and cultures. I was given no say in the conduct of history before I was born. The use of the term is sadly historically-accurate.

Perhaps our culture can learn from the fact that it is necessary for me to write this note simply because I am writing about my childhood.

My apologies to any who are offended.

Dan Stafford  [Vulcan greeting gesture from the original Star Trek television series. L.L.P. P.L.L.
(Live long, and prosper. Peace, and long life.)

Letter 03: August 25th, 1970 Dan-to-John - The Pow Wow...

Dear John,                      August 25th, 1970

It's been a fun month. I made it through Summer school. There are about five more pioneer books I'll have to wait for the regular school year to read.

This past weekend, we went to an Indian powwow at the fairgrounds just outside of town. I was talking to one of the Indian kids there, and he told me that their tribe had been having their powwow at this spot since the Great Spirit first created people.

[Drawing of Native-American drummer and dancer]

The beads on their costumes are way more detailed and pretty than I can draw!

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You remember my red-headed little brother, right? He's only five, and he picked a fight with a high-school kid over Summer! When the Indian kids met him, they gave him an Indian name: "Red Tornado." Ha ha! I laughed so hard at that one!

I'm looking forward to this month. Mom is going to let me be in the Cub Scouts [again] this Fall.

Meanwhile, I need to finish this letter. Mom is taking us to the swimming pool. School starts in two weeks, and the pool will close for kids. I don't want to miss it. This might be the last time I get to swim until next Summer!

So, how have you been? What have you been doing?

Your friend,

Dan

John's reply letter to Dan Link

Letter 02: July 31st, 1970 - Dan To John...

Dear John,                                    July 31st, 1970

We just had the most amazing day in Summer school! Our teacher stopped the class. The n she shut off the lights, and rolled a T.V. out into the classroom. [Black-and-white] She said "You all will have to watch this, children. It is history being made!"

John, we got to watch men land on the MOON! It was the neatest thing I have ever seen!

When the Eagle landed at Tranquility Base, and astronaut Neil Armstrong made the first-ever footstep on the Moon, you could have heard a pin drop! It was totally quiet, except for the T.V. Not a single kid was goofing off.

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Did you get to watch the astronauts land on the Moon, John? I really hope that you did!

I'm still reading the pioneer books, too. Right now, I'm reading about Buffalo Bill. His real name was William Cody. He had a traveling Wild West show. It sounds to me like a carnival.

They have a municipal swimming pool here in Genoa. I'm taking swimming lessons there. My little brother did a belly flop off the high-dive. He said it hurt really bad! Also, there is a Tasty Freeze across the street. They have frozen cherry-dipped bananas! Those are my new favorite!

Your friend,

Dan

[Drawing of Apollo Lunar Lander & astronaut on Moon]

John's reply letter to Dan Link

Letter One - Moving To Genoa

Text:

Dear John                                 June 15th, 1970

We moved to Genoa, Nebraska yesterday.

Genoa is a really, really small town. There are only 1,050 people that live here! I would explore a lot, but I have to take Summer school because I didn't do enough homework at my old school in Madison, Wisconsin.

There are some cool things here, though. The school library has all these books about Frontier Pioneers. I'm reading one now about Wild Bill Hickock. He was a marshal or sheriff. (I'm not sure which, I haven't gotten that far in the book yet.) The teacher is really nice. Her name is Mrs. Olson. She makes the class interesting.

My step dad is giving me .50¢ a week to mow the lawn. I'm saving up for new handle bars, a banana seat, and a sissy bar for my bike. I can't wait to put those on! There is a kid whose dad owns the Standard Oil station on Main Street. His bike has chopper forks and a steering wheel instead of handle bars!

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[drawing of bike with steering wheel]

So that's what the Standard Oil Kid's bike looks like. It's painted a dark purple. He said that his dad welded the steering wheel and extra-long front forks. You can see the weld marks.

There's a huge empty field behind our house, and railroad tracks at the other side of the field. The train goes by late every afternoon. You can't go barefoot in the back yard, though! Sand burrs!

[drawing of sand burr] They stick in your toes and feet, and it hurts like crazy!!!

So what did you do this month?

Your friend,

Dan

John's hand-written reply:

Letter 01: Ice Age Territory - John to Dan Reply