JA Meilicke and 52

In this picture JA stands by Arthur's 1952 Ford Pickup. I beleive it was a 1952. It had the front grill with the three lobes, but I recall the center lobe sticking out more than the other two. Leaky carbon based memory. The picture was taken west of the house, looking north west. The compression braced gate post to the pond garden/potato patch is visible. The main garden was on the south facing hill behind the spruce tree. 

Grandpaw never did button his sweaters all the way down, even when they had buttons. But he must have, to lose the buttons.

Self, Spring 1955

This is the only, at least the first "thin" picture of myself, as a child that I have seen. Between this time and one year later, my girth must have doubled. The anxiety of the bus rides, and the post stress relief feeding of insulinogenic carbohydrates did there thing and made me into a porker. This was likely the start of the form of conditioned hypereating that I have struggled with for my entire life, but that is another storey.

Myers Cable tool drilling rig is in the background. The well on NW 3 58 8 W5 was drilled in the spring of 1955 to 305 feet, cased to 283 feet, water rose to about 60, the piston sat at about 77 feet, and had another 20 feet of lead. This dates the picture. I spent several days watching the rods go up and down, up and down. It produce good soft water at greater than 4 gallons per minute.

I recall the water test being sent in, in a quart cellar, and Mr. Myers bringing the results, the water is safe to drink, somewhat later. In the fall of 1955, I went to school and met Wayne Myers, the nephew of the driller.

The rig had a rod rocker that turned the rod a quarter of a turn per stroke. It broke and came down and got Mr Myers on the wrist, and broke the crystal on this watch. At lunch mother put it in the top shelf, where it would be safe, and manual rod rocking was done for the remainder of the day. Why should I remember such details.

Now note the three buckle rubber boots, designed for kids with chicken legs. I never could do up the top buckles.

The girl must be my older sister.

Also in the background is the team team, Fanny, the gray, and Dolly, the bay with a blaze. Fanny was fathers first foal, borne on SE 10 58 8 W5 in 1932, the first year he had the farm. There is a bit of the chicken coup on the left, and the chop granary and pig feeder on the rear right. It was the veranda of fathers first house that had been on the SE 10. Father sold the house off SE10 so he could buy NW 3.