In the summer of 1954 my father had a problem. His wife and his mother both hated each other as much as they both loved, adored, and worshipped him.
My parents lived in Humansville in a brand new house my father had to build my mother so she’d marry him. He’d drive five miles to Bug Tussle to work his 300 acre farm while Mama taught school.
Mama wanted a brand new house on the farm.
And his own mother, recently widowed, had married Charlie Stockton (grandson of the founder of Stockton) and divorced him soon afterward (he complained about her cooking) and the summer of 1954 she decided to go to Idaho where her brother Leo had a big farm.
Daddy said he had five thousand dollars to build Mama a new house on the hill and only a couple of months to get it built before his mother came home.
And he did get it built, on budget and on time, during the worst heat wave since 1936, or 1934, or 1901.
journals.ametsoc.org
When his mother returned, she had a good orchard chopped down so she could see her son and daughter in law across the hills.
Only my birth in 1958 caused a total reconciliation between them that lasted until Mammy died in 1960. If she walked in the door today I’d run over to her, and want to have her stand with me and watch Daddy across the hills, and my Mama driving up to Mammy’s house in her brand new white 1960 Ford.
Never say anything around a toddler you don’t want them to remember for life.
(And never marry an extraordinarily beautiful woman unless you can afford one.
)
I see on television there’s a heat wave that may equal 1954.
The worst one I remember in my time was 1980.
My question is, what causes a bad heat wave?
I’ve heard those old men talk about people starving to death during the Drought of 1901.
en.m.wikipedia.org
I think it’s how the cosmic dice roll lands.
My parents lived in Humansville in a brand new house my father had to build my mother so she’d marry him. He’d drive five miles to Bug Tussle to work his 300 acre farm while Mama taught school.
Mama wanted a brand new house on the farm.
And his own mother, recently widowed, had married Charlie Stockton (grandson of the founder of Stockton) and divorced him soon afterward (he complained about her cooking) and the summer of 1954 she decided to go to Idaho where her brother Leo had a big farm.
Daddy said he had five thousand dollars to build Mama a new house on the hill and only a couple of months to get it built before his mother came home.
And he did get it built, on budget and on time, during the worst heat wave since 1936, or 1934, or 1901.
The Prolonged 1954 Midwestern U.S. Heat Wave: Impacts and Responses
Abstract The highest recorded temperature in Illinois, 117°F (47.2°C) occurred on 14 July 1954 in East St. Louis. This occurred in the midst of a widespread, long-lasting heat wave covering significant parts of 11 states: from eastern Colorado through Kansas, Oklahoma, part of Texas, Missouri...
When his mother returned, she had a good orchard chopped down so she could see her son and daughter in law across the hills.
Only my birth in 1958 caused a total reconciliation between them that lasted until Mammy died in 1960. If she walked in the door today I’d run over to her, and want to have her stand with me and watch Daddy across the hills, and my Mama driving up to Mammy’s house in her brand new white 1960 Ford.
Never say anything around a toddler you don’t want them to remember for life.
(And never marry an extraordinarily beautiful woman unless you can afford one.
)I see on television there’s a heat wave that may equal 1954.
The worst one I remember in my time was 1980.
My question is, what causes a bad heat wave?
I’ve heard those old men talk about people starving to death during the Drought of 1901.
1901 eastern United States heat wave - Wikipedia
I think it’s how the cosmic dice roll lands.
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