Santa Maria to Houston

Santa Maria was the best time of our childhood a and I think it was the Best time for our parents to o. I remember mom crying as we left.  She was just amazed that All of the people in our street came out in the street to wave good by as we drove our.  I've never seen that again anywhere.  

Santa Maria was just perfect. I was in second and third grade when we lived there.  Second grade sucked, I had a racist teacher but I didn't know that word for it yet.  Third grade was much better. I had the best teacher I ever had at Rice Elementary or anywhere,  Mrs. Wolf. She noticed that I liked to readand started encouraging and challenging me to read everything in the evil m evil m school library and I almost did.  I read the entire biography section and lived it.  They were books about famous people as children like Martha Washington,  Annie Oakly, and so much more.  There was a whole rite of children's biographies and I read them all.  

I wish I could remember the drive to Texas better. All I know is that it was an adventure itself. I remember being at a little hotel that had a small stream out back where kids had made a dam for a small swimming area. I remember the car overheating in the desert. The unreal looking cacti. I remember Mike holding his comb in front of his eyes and telling us he could see into the future through them. And maybe he could.? He would peer through his comb and say something like,  "There will be a blue farm house with a man working in the yard around the next curve" and he would be correct!

Daddy took us to a small apartment he had rented until we got our house. I think it was on Redford street in Pasadena. Not sure. I have one memory of that apartment because it was traumatic at the time. I had a doll named Dolly who was 3 feet tall and had a cloth body and a particular face.  W were on a second story balcony and Herbert grabbed Dolly and said,  "Do you wanna watch Dolly fly?" and he threw her over the railing.  I screamed and ran to get her.  He gave was all cracked and I cried and cried!! Herbert felt terrible,  he helped me bandage her face.  I believed my dolls and stuffed animals had feelings then.  Oh,  I guess I still do...

Then we moved to our brand new house in Sagemont, a southern suburb of Houston. It's huge now but then it was about 20 streets. We moved into a 4 bedroom ranch style house on Sagevalley Drive. Sagemont only went a few blocks beyond our street then with more houses being constantly built. I imagine a lot of them were bought by those answering the call to put man on the moon.

There was a very nice front room that children weren't allowed in connected to a formal dining room I dont remember ever using. There was another dining room by the kitchen where we ate. A huge family room. That's where the only TV went and beyond it was the hall leading to our bedrooms. The boys and I all had our own rooms finally. I hoped my room would be done in pink or blue but Mom did it all in sunny yellow. I had barbies and a barbie house and a growing collection of stuffed aninals that i slept with. I also had books.  In third grade I had discovered a love of reading that would last forever and for birthdays and Christmas everyone would gift me books because it was the main thing I wanted. 

Living around houses being built and wilderness beyond the last street was exciting.  We played in the house being built climbing on stacks of lumber and sheet rock and went into the wilderness climbing trees and playing around the bayou. That word should be plural but autocorrect keeps changing it.  Workers would light fields in fire and a line of men would walk in front of the moving fire with clubs and guns to kill the rats and snakes that would be running away from the fire.  Herbert caught my 11 pet turtles beyond Sagemont. Tessi, Turvey, Popsi, Clopsie, Fungy,  Gungie, Misty, Klitsky, Soffy,  and Streaky and I can't remember the last name.  

Daddy died while we were living in Sagemont.