Spooky noises

My great great grandmother was almost 100 years old. She was a pioneer. Came up to Oregon on a wagon train. She looked ever the part.

Her whiskers were like wires that needled my face when she would kiss me every time I visited her.I was six going on seven and was riding my bike from our black house that dad built to her house that the army built. It was about 10 miles. All down hill to get there. Much longer and harder to get home.

She lived in a housing complex that was left over from WWII. They were what were called cracker jack boxes. Very small, all lined up in neat rows with a series of gravel grid streets. There was a small park with a merry-go-round, swings and monkey bars.

I would go down and stay with her on weekends. It think mom was happy to get rid of me. Peace and quiet for two days a week. I didn’t mind.

Grandma spoke few words, but when she did I listened. I don’t think she was ever mad at me, never raised her voice and somehow got me to be obedient. Must have been because she was used to managing farm animals in her time and I was just another kritter to magically keep in line.

I didn’t spend that much time in her house. I was out the door early in the morning after breakfast. And what a breakfast. She made eggs, bacon, toast and coffee (coffee that I wasn’t supposed to have).

Her bacon was perfect. Crunchy, salty and frankly never had or could make anything like it since. She always kept a jar of lard that she used practically for everything. There was a black stain on the ceiling where she had one of her frying pans catch on fire. Probably singed her whiskers.

She used sweet canned milk in the coffee and just the right amount of sugar. It was more of a treat than anything else. I can still remember that strange combination of tastes.

Out the door and on to my bike. Explored everywhere. There was a plywood mill, railroad tracks a hidden lake, waterfalls and the back of store area for the local supermarket. All these places kept me busy exploring and getting into things.

I had some exposure with some of the kids in that compound but they weren’t interesting. They didn’t like adventures. They were only good for pushing the merry-go-round, until I got dizzy and wanted to throw up.

Back to grandmas’ for lunch which was usually tomato or vegetable soup with a side slice of ham, spam or boiled bones with meat on them. And brown bread. She had already eaten so I usually ate by myself as she was doing dishes. The radio would be on in the background. She had newspapers, but her eyesight was not so good, so the radio helped a lot.

Back out to play until it started to get dark. When the lights went on in her car port I knew it was time to get inside.

A quick dinner, which was usually something light. Anyway, I was a skinny kid and either ate too much or not at all.

After dinner it was time to watch TV. Black and white. My favourite was the Rifleman. Those days it was Cowboys and Indians. At that age I had no idea about history but when I look back it was sort of a propaganda that we white folk are good guys and everybody else troublemakers.

Time to go to bed. Grandma would aways prepare my bed on the pull out couch in the living room.

Just before she would head off to bed she would say “Where was Moses when the lights went out?” and I would say “Down in the cellar eating sauerkraut!”. It was her tradition and I was happy to participate.

After that, scary noises. I never heard any sound from her bedroom. It was as if she just disappeared as soon as she went into her bedroom. In fact, I never saw inside of her bedroom.

The clock talked out its ticks, the refrigerator was talking too, on and off with weird sounds that old time refrigerators used to make. The gas furnace also had its own cacophony of sounds. The orchestra of sounds made for a very scary experience because every now and then they combined to make a really spooky experience. I tried my damndest to fall asleep but was tracking every sound to make sure they were not actually ghosts or monsters sneaking up on me.

How I feel asleep, I have no idea. But alas, I would wake up in the morning to the fresh smell of bacon, eggs, coffee and toast.