STORY PAGE
Walking To Town
If my daughter was writing this it would start out: “Dad used to walk to town. It was up hill both ways.”
Before I had a car, if I had to go a long distance, I begged a ride from my relatives or friends. If that didn’t work, I hitched. If
that didn’t work, I walked or didn’t go. At home there was a lot of traffic and I do not remember not getting a ride at least part way. From Sandy Pond
it was a different story. This story.
If I wished to go to Pulaski or Sandy Creek, I usually caught a ride or hitched. Going to either early in the evening was easy. The way
back, I often walked. It was also harder to get a ride with a friend with me. People would pick up one teenager alone seldom two, unless they knew one of
you. I therefore hitched alone.
At home it was always lit up. Even on the darkest nights. Hitching from camp on a cloudy night, you could see little of nothing. On many
nights I would walk in the center of the road. I could hear and see the lights of any car before they became a danger. Most country roads had a crown. You
could easily stay in the middle. Walking on the edge had its problems. Often you would trip where the macadam met the dirt. If you were off the macadam you
could easily fall in a gully if not paying attention. Especially bad were the very dark nights.
One such night I was returning home. I had gotten a ride in to town to visit a girlfriend, but was walking home. It was dark. A car approached. By the time he reached me, I was at the side with my thumb out. He screeched to a stop, rolled down his window and yelled. “Goin’ Up?” I returned, “Yes, Thank you”. He then yelled, “Watch out for the rain.” And sped away. You could tell it was a smart-ass rich kid. He had personalized plates with SNOOKY on them.
Tired and not in a good mood, it was at least 3 miles before I again saw lights. I moved to the side, and again put out my thumb. They
never slowed. I stepped back on the macadam. I never saw the second car following behind the first with its lights out. I do not know what happened. I
wasn’t hit, but I spun around and fell to the ground. If the second car saw me it did not stop or even slow. I walked the remainder of the way.
That was the last night I hitched on that road.
My friend had the same problem as I did. He came up with an idea. We took his stepfather’s small garden tractor (The kind with only
two wheels and two handles.) We attached a cart that had room for the two of us and a can of gas. Great idea. Not fast, but fun. We headed for town. It was
dark when we started to return. There was a moon however, but I thought then, this was not a good idea in the dark.
About a mile from town the tractor was overheating. I wanted to leave it, but his step dad did not know we had taken it, so we started
to push. He pushed. I pulled the wagon. Next, I pushed. He pulled the wagon. We would never make it. We were tired after 30 yards. I then said, “Lets put the tractor in the wagon and we can take turns pulling them.
(I have added a story "SNOOKY" you may wish to jump to.)
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