Growing Up in North Dakota

I remember the second house we lived in here was newer, was single story and was painted red. My bedroom was off the kitchen while the other two were off the living room. My room was wall papered with rose wallpaper and had built-in cabinets where I could display some pretty things. It was very small, however.

As an outing my family would often visit the little country school houses that were going to be abandoned. At one of the schools we found what is now our family room coffee table and took it home with us. It had been taller – it was actually a plant table – but my dad cut it down. I think it’s rather pretty still.

I remember in that school house my mom sitting at the teacher’s desk, opening the drawers and snooping, when we heard a loud scream! Inside the top right-hand drawer was mouse nest holding a mother mouse and several tiny, tiny babies!

It was, as I’d mentioned earlier, the summer between 6th and 7th grade that we traveled to California so that my parents could decide if we should actually move here. Up until that time, we’d never really been on a “vacation,” instead going to my Uncle Freeman’s cabin at Lake Metigoshe each summer. For this long road trip, my parents purchased camping gear, and we camped our way from national