Clueless, but had it made

By Randy Butler
HCP columnist

When I grew up there, were so many things going on that I was unaware of. I can remember seeing things on the news about Vietnam, but I didn’t pay that much attention. The same applies to Watergate, the breakup of the Beatles, Roe v. Wade, or the fight for civil rights. I knew very little about these major events in history.

I also did not know if our household was rich or poor. The fact that the two best movies of all time were made escaped me as well. In case you didn’t know, “Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid” and “The Godfather” were released.

Over the stretch of a mile or so, there were 10-15 of us young kids who were close. Growing up, the “store” was the focal point of the Hoagland community. Almost every night, my brother and I would go there with our dad to socialize. It was just an old-fashioned general store. It was very close to a Norman Rockwell painting. In the rear of the store, was a stove. Men of all ages attended, telling stories both old and new. Us younger ones knew the golden rule that was never spoken but strongly implied, “only speak when spoken to.” It was a blast for all. 

Most summer evenings were spent at our house. We had a large yard on 24 acres. This supplied more than enough room for 25-30 people each night. The yard was filled with pickups and dirt bikes. Most of us would play baseball (more than enough for two teams). Typically, we only had one baseball, which was supplied by me, not sure why.

Occasionally, we would lose it in the weeds or across the road from the occasional home run. This meant gathering funds from all that could help and cashing in pop bottles for a trip to Fairley’s Hardware to get another one. The grand total for the new ball was $2, plus tax. The older folks would play horseshoes (which I still am fond of today). 

We did, however, have our moments. At any time, a brawl could break out. And just like the ball games we played, no one wanted to lose. But the anger didn’t last long, and we were all back to being friends. 

The pranks we played and the fun we had was almost hard to explain. One of my better ones was the idea with a culvert pipe, my mom’s purse, and fishing line. We would hide in the pipe, attach the purse to the line, throw it on Route 50 and wait for a car to stop. I am sure you can guess what the next move would be. When the car stopped, we would then pull the purse back out of sight. The uncontrollable laughter would almost get us busted.

In that mile or so stretch, it seemed like the land belonged to us all equally. We all had to respect the land and the real owner, but it was ours to use as we wished. 

We knew a lot about our small little world but knew almost nothing going on outside our circle. But realistically, should we? Isn’t it best to shield our children from those big things until the time is right? Is ignorance bliss? I think the answer is yes.

One of my grandma’s sayings that stuck with me about kids was, “They are eating their bread and don’t even know it.” What that meant was that as kids, we do have it made and have no clue that we do.

Randy Butler is a longtime real estate professional in Highland County and a columnist for The Highland County Press.