Grandpa and Grandma Galley moved out to that homesteaded farm in the 1890's and broke the ground for the first time. It had all be untouched native land before the settlers arrived. My Dad's parents had settled on a similar farm about 20 miles south of Osborne KS, a mile or two north of Lucas KS. That was the way people moved westward and occupied the untamed country and made a living for their families, most of which were quite large.

There were 14 children born in my Dad's family, but there were only in five in the Galley family. Uncle Frank was the oldest and the only boy. He grew up and became a veterinarian in Washington and the Clay Center KS. The second child was my Aunt Edna, who married Charles Campbell and lived in Maywood IL, a suburb of Chicago.

Next in line was Eunice Belle, our Mother, who was born in 1893. Then came Aunt Ruth and finally Aunt Anna. Anna married Bill Vaughan and they lived in Tennessee with daughters Elizabeth and Anna May. Both daughters are still living as I write this story (Feb. 2001).

I didn't stay with Grandpa and Grandma that summer in 1936, but I did see them quite often. I stayed with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Lyle Noffsinger in the "new" house on the farm. Grandpa had built that house in the late '20s and had lived in it for a while then turned it over to the Noffsingers and lived in the old house. The new house was about 200 yards west of the old one that had been built in the 1880's.

The Noffsinger family had as many kids as we did -- actually one more. Clyde was the oldest. He was about 2 years older than I was. Then came Marjorie, Dorothy, Wayne, Marietta Belle, Lyle Carolyn, and Clifford. Clifford was a babe in diapers that summer. We all spent on the large screened porch playing with each other and the baby. Clyde and I slept together in one of the 4 bedrooms.

Aunt Ruth was a wonderful cook and a sweet, sweet lady. Unlimited patience. Unlimited energy. I played some that summer, but mostly I remember working with Aunt Ruth in the garden. She had a monster of a garden, and this was in the Dust Bowl Days so we had to carry tubs and tubs full of water to keep the plants alive. Most of our food came from that garden and from the chicken coop. The water had to be pumped from the well by hand and that became WORK!

Uncle Frank was not the worker Aunt Ruth was. He was a "manager" and kept busy with something out of sight, mostly, from me. I remember one time when I was trying to get Clyde to go fishing with me down on the Solomon River, a small stream that ran near Grandpa's farm. We could walk down there. Uncle Lyle teased me about being a "city dude" wanting to play all the time. Clyde never did take me fishing because he had to work in the corn field. He was good with the team of horses -- old Pete and Jill -- and just couldn't take the time.

Next summer, our Daddy took us fishing on the Solomon where we went fishing by hand. The water was muddy, as most streams in Kansas were, and you'd wade into the stream slowly, feeling along the edge of the water for carp or catfish. I don't remember catching any fish myself, but Dad did. One time when James was about 5, he went fishing with us. Daddy positioned him in a shallow part of the stream between two deeper holes. His task was not to catch the fish but to keep them from swimming upstream into the other deep hole. Well, James was squatting there doing his job when a big old carp came roaring upstream right between his legs, turning the kid upside down in the water. You never ever heard such loud screaming from a boy! You could have heard him all the way into Osborne. You'd-a thought he was being killed! The old fish went on his merry way, and eventually James got calmed down.

Back to 1936. I was 13 then and enjoyed working and playing with Marjorie and Dorothy, primarily. Wayne was a little young for me then, as were the other children. But the three of us worked hard for Aunt Ruth in the early evening on her watering chores. We all got very well acquainted.

Finally it came time for me to leave and go back home to Barnes. Uncle Lyle wanted me to stay and help Aunt Ruth. He offered me "a quarter a day" to keep on the job. Boy, that was a lot of money then and I was sorely tempted but declined the offer. I think I was getting a little homesick by then anyway. I don't remember how I got back to Barnes but I did not hitchhike!