David C. McLavic - 4. Chapter 4

I was amazed at how cool it was. When I looked up all I could see were branches with apples and leaves. The light broke through in spots, but the air was cool.

“Come, I’ll show you our swimming pond.”

I followed Carl out of the apple orchard and then the heat really hit me.

“Come on. The pond will cool you.” After saying that, he took off his clothes and jumped into the pond. “Come on”

“I can’t swim”

“Stand where I am, you feel the cold water.”

So I undressed and slowly walked into the pond. I walked in slowly, making sure I didn’t slip on the muddy bottoms. When the ware got to my chest, I stopped.

Carl splashed me with the cool water. I had to agree, it was cooling.

“We’ll come here every afternoon and I’ll teach you how to swim. Then we will have a lot of fun.”

I watched Carl swim to the center of the pond and back.

“Let’s lie on the grass and let the sun dry us.”

And that is what we did. I fell asleep. I didn’t know how long I slept but when I woke, Carl was sitting beside me fully dressed.

Smiling, “Get dressed and we can go into town.” While I dressed, Carl went into the orchard to return with two apples.

“These are special apples. There are only two trees and no one has found them.”

I did notice that the other trees had red apples. These were a golden color.

“Tomorrow I’ll show you where they are.”

Walking into town, we passed another pond.

“What is this?”

“That’s the fishing pond. Do you see that stream on the left side of the pond? That’s the stream that feeds this pond and the swimming pond. It starts northwest of us and flows southeast. Every spring the Department of Hunting and Fishing stocks that stream with trout. By the time, those who haven’t been caught reach here they are pretty big. “

“Where does this water go?”

“Several years ago this was just part of the stream. The men dug out this pond and built a dam there. When the water reaches a certain level, it overflows into the other half of that spring.”

“And where does the other half of the spring go?”

“It goes to the swimming hole and continues east eventually joining other ponds and rivers south of us.”

I made a mental note to think about what Carl said.

“Who is that man on the other side? It looks like he’s sleeping.”

“That’s Mister Pugh. He once owned a farm here but when his wife died he turned the farm over to his son and bought a place in town. He comes here to fish but I think the noise in town keeps him awake and he naps here. I don’t remember if he ever caught a fish.”

We walked about a mile, eating our apples. Entering the town, Carl became a tour guide. It looked to me as if this was the business section. There was one street and on the sides were buildings, mostly one level, and appeared to be businesses.

“This is Mr. Haas’s grocery store. His grandfather would visit the farms during the fall when the farmers were slaughtering their hogs and cows for their meat. His son opened this store and now the farmers bring the carcasses here for butchering. He would cut the meat, wrap it and mark it. Now his son runs the business and not only marks the meat packages but also stores the maestro in refrigerated lockers. His father lives in an apartment above the store.”

“Does Uncle Carl use him?”

“Yes, Dad said it is cheaper than doing it himself. On market day, Dad or Mom picks up a package of meat they will need for the week.”

“What’s market day?”

“Every Saturday the farmers bring their products to sell. Mom brings eggs and some vegetables from her garden.”

I knew where the eggs came from but I didn’t see any gardens.

We continued to walk along the street, I was receiving a guided tour.

Next was Miss Emily’s dress shop which was followed by a men’s shop called Howards. Carl explained that the shop carried farm clothes as well as Sunday go meeting clothes.

The next shows a hardware store. “This is Jim’d favorite store.”

Across the street, Carl pointed to the Doctor’s office, the school and the library.

We never entered any of these stores but when we came to what I would call a pharmacy, Carl and I entered.

“Hi Doc”

“Who is your friend Carl?”

“This is my cousin, David. He’s from the West and will be spending the summer with me.”

“Welcome David. Carl the wife wants to bake some apple pies for Saturday.” Doc went to get a container, he came back with a small bushel. Carl said it was a half-bushel.

So taking the bushel we went to the apple orchard. Carl climb the tree, picking apples and tossing them to me. A little over a half-hour, we had enough. Now I needed to help carry the bushel.

Entering the pharmacy, Doc took the bushels noticed he also took an apple.

Then he gave Carl and I at chocolate ice cream cone. I guess I looked confuse. This is a pharmacy.

One bite of the ice cream and I didn’t care if it was a Pharmacy or ice cream store. On a hot day, ice cream was perfect.

We finished eating our ice cream walking back to the farm.

“Tomorrow will come back, I have a job mowing grass and weeding flower beds. You can help.”

I was amazed at how cool it was. When I looked up all I could see were branches with apples and leaves. The light broke through in spots, but the air was cool.

“Come, I’ll show you our swimming pond.”

I follower Carl out of the apple orchard and then the heat really hit me.

“Come on. The pond will cool you.” With saying that, he took off his clothes and jumped into the pond. “Come on”

“I can’t swim”

“Stand where I am, you feel the cold water.”

So I undressed and slowly walked into the pond. I walked in slowly, making sure I didn’t slip on the muddy bottoms. When the ware got to my chest, I stopped.

Carl splashed me with the cool water. I had to agree, it was cooling.

“We’ll come here every afternoon and I’ll teach you how to swim. Then we will have a lot of fun.”

I watched Carl swim to the center of the pond and back.

“Let’s lie on the grass and let the sun dry us.”

And that is what we did. I fell asleep. I didn’t know how long I slept but when I woke, Carl was sitting beside me filly dressed.

Smilling, “Get dressed and we can go into town.” While I dressed, Carl went into the orchard to return with two apples.

“These are special apples. There are only two trees and no one has found them.”

I did notice that the other trees had red apples. These were a golden color.

“Tomorrow I’ll show you where they are.”

Walking into town, we passed another pond.

“What is this?”

“That’s the fishing pond. Do you see that stream on the left side of the pond? That’s the stream that feeds this pond and the swimming pond. It starts North West of us and flows South East. Every spring the Department of Hunting and Fishing stocks that stream with trout. By the time, those who haven’t been caught reach here they are pretty big. “

“Where does this water go?”

“Several years ago this was just part of the stream. The men dug out this pond, and built a dam there. When the water reaches a certain level, it overflows into the other half of that spring.”

“And where does the other half of the spring go?”

“It goes to the swimming hole and continues east eventually joining other ponds and rivers south of us.”

I made a mental note to think about what Carl said.

“Who is that man on the other side? It looks like he’s sleeping.”

“That’s Mister Pugh. He once own a farm here but when his wife died he turned the farm over to his son and bought a place in town. He comes here to fish but I think the noise in town keeps him awake and he naps here. I don’t remember if he ever caught a fish.”

We walked about a mile, eating our apple. Entering the town, Carl became tour guide. It looked to me as this was the business section. There was one street and on the side s were building, mostly one level, and appeared to be businesses.

“This is Mr. Haas’s grocery store. His grandfather would visit the farms during the fall when the farmers were slaughtering their hogs and cows for their meat. His son opened this store and now the farmers bring the carcases here for butchering. He would cut the meat, wrapped it and mark it. Now his son runs the business and not only marks the meat packages but also stores the maestro in refrigerated lockers. His father lives isn an apartment above the store.”

“Does Uncle Carl use him?”

“Yes, Dad said it is cheaper than doing it himself. On market day, Dad or Mom picks up package of meat they will need for the week.”

“What’s market day?”

“Every Saturday the farmers bring their products to sell. Mom brings eggs and some vegetables from her garden.”

I knew where the eggs came from but I didn’t see any gardens.

We continued to walk along the street, I was receiving a guided tour.

Next was Miss Emily’s dress shop which was followed by a men’s shop called Howards. Carl explained that the shop carried farm clothes as well as Sunday go meeting clothes.

The next shows a hardware store. “This is Jim’d favorite store.”

Across the street, Carl pointed to the Doctor’s office, the school and the library.

We never entered any of these stores but when we came to what I would call a pharmacy, Carl and I entered.

“Hi Doc”

“Who is your friend Carl?”

“This is my cousin, David. He’s from the West and will be spending the summer with me.”

“Welcome David. Carl the wife wants to bake some apple pies for Saturday.” Doc went to get a container, he came back with a small bushel. Carl said it was a half-bushel.

So taking the bushel we went to the apple orchard. Carl climbs the tree, picking apples and tossing them to me. A little over a half-hour, we had enough. Now I needed to help carry the bushel.

Entering the pharmacy, Doc took the bushels and noticed he also took an apple.

Then he gave Carl and I a chocolate ice cream cone. I guess I looked confused. This is a pharmacy.

One bite of the ice cream and I didn’t care if it was a Pharmacy or ice cream store. On a hot day, ice cream was perfect.

We finished eating our ice cream and walked back to the farm.

“Tomorrow will come back, I have a job mowing grass and weeding flower beds. You can help.”