The Life of Me: An AutobiographyJohnson, Clarence Edgar
History
The Life of Me: An Autobiography
Johnson, Clarence Edgar
Fisher County (Tex.) -- Biography; Fisher County (Tex.) -- History; Johnson family; Johnson, Clarence Edgar, 1906-1994
During World War I, Frank wanted to join the Army. But Mama and
Papa did their part in talking him out of it. He was too young
to be drafted. But he wasn't at home much after that. He worked
here and there in defense work. He told us he worked awhile in a
powder factory in West Virginia. After the war was over, he came
home in 1919 and worked some for Dawson County, doing some
mechanical work on a road grader tractor. Finally, Papa bought a
big truck and let Frank take it and go wherever he could find a
job, hauling whatever anyone would pay him to haul.
Another source of income for us during the dry weather was in
gathering and selling dry bones. There was a ready market for
bones in Lamesa. A lot of cows had died here and there due to
dry weather and cold weather. We hauled and sold quite a few
bones.
We also salvaged a lot of rawhides--dry rawhides. We couldn't
sell them but we could use them ourselves. They were hard and
stiff, but by soaking them in water we were able to straighten
them out, cut them into strips and use the strips for braiding
whips and making other useful articles to be used on the farm.
Despite all the work, we boys had some time off for fun and
adventure. There were times after rains when it was too wet to
plow. But then there might be bushes to be grubbed or we might
have to build fence or maybe chop wood or do any one of a dozen
things that kept bobbing up to be done. If and when we got all
those things done, and then if it was still too wet to plow or
hoe weeds, then we had some time off for ourselves. Also on
Saturday afternoons we took time off, unless there was something
which just had to be done.
We always had Sundays off for rest and play, but never for work
of any kind, that is, work which was of any monetary value,
except routine work like milking cows and feeding the livestock.
The question of work came up one Sunday afternoon when we put
some new tires on our car to go watch an airplane at Lamesa. But
then, that was regarded as play since it involved only recreation
and had nothing to do with work which could in any way produce
anything of value. Sunday was a day for going to church,
resting, visiting friends, playing games, reading, or just
sitting.
Now, if we boys wanted to go out into the pasture and kill a
snake or two with sticks, that was okay. And if we could get a
rabbit without a gun, that was all right too. But, no guns on
Sundays. When a rabbit ran into a prairie dog hole, we could
twist him out with a barbed wire. That was okay on Sunday.
We would run a barbed wire down into the hole and twist it by
means of a crank at the upper end, which was nothing more than
the wire itself bent in the shape of a small crank. As the wire
revolved over and over down in the hole, it would get the barbs
entangled in the rabbit's fur and we could pull him out of the
hole. That was called "rabbit-twisting."
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