Thursday, March 11, 2004
In the summer on 1993, my family or at least my father, had decided to move us to Springfield, Missouri. This came as quite a shock, mainly, because I now finally had friends. I had adventures to go on during the hot summer nights in Visalia. I had the interest of a girl. I discovered the taste of beer, and life for a 15 year-old boy was good.
My father told us ( us being my mother, siblings and I) that Missouri would be a better life for us. My father said that he could make as much money there, and that the price of living was cheaper. So, it was done. I dropped out of summer school. I said goodbye to my friends and we had a giant moving sale. We sold every piece of furniture and belonging we could part with.
The monies made in our giant garage sale were not enough to move the family across the country, so my father took me the flea market. I watched as he wheeled and dealed for a couple of tents, and some camping gear. The new game plan was to camp all the way to Missouri, thus saving money in motel expenses. This was strangely odd to me because my family had never gone camping. However, my boyish instincts kicked in and I was full of excitement and anticipation of adventures of fishing and exploring.
On this family move, we crammed a family of 6 in a four door Cadillac. The family car was a true hoopty. It was a pea green, with cream color interior. The seating arrangements were as follows; my father drove the whole time, my sister rode in between my father and mother in the front. My youngest brother rode in the middle of my brother Joe and I. I usually sat in the seat behind my father. Now, picture this, a family of six, in a pea green Cadillac, towing a U-Hal trailer. Not one of the Wallace’s finest hours.
Anyhow, I remember one place we stayed at during this surreal adventure. I am not sure what state or city we were in, but I can remember the campsite vividly. After driving all day, we pulled up to this KOA off of the free way. My brother Joe and I were directed by our father to set up the tents. After camp was set up, we were off to explore. We had a pellet gun with us, so Joe and I took off looking to kill something. We found our way to a dry creek bed. Under a bridge we found what seemed to be hundreds of sparrow nests. The birds flew all around us as we entered their territory. I remember the scenery. It was one of the first times, where I found nature to be beautiful. The sun was setting and these little birds were flying all around us in the orange sky. It was very peaceful. Strangely, even though I felt as if I had experienced something beautiful from nature, I was still compelled to take aim at the birds that flew around us.
After a while we were called back to camp, where my mother had prepared dinner. After dinner was finished and the darkness rolled upon us I had discovered something new. My brother and I discover fireflies. We spent the remainder of the night chasing the bugs and catching them in a jar. The summer air was warm, and the grass was green and soft under our bare feet. We chased and chased the fireflies until we could not chase any more.
What I remember most of this one particular night, was the next morning. I woke up to a smell of bacon. When I crawled out of the tent, I found my father cooking breakfast. This took me by surprised because I have never seen my father cook.. It was early in the morning and the sparrows were chirping, letting everyone know that the sun was rising.
As I ate my breakfast, I wondered if my father really wanted to make us breakfast, or was it he just happen to want breakfast for himself. Since he was cooking himself some bacon and eggs, he thought he better throw a couple extra eggs and strips of bacon for the kids.
My father told us ( us being my mother, siblings and I) that Missouri would be a better life for us. My father said that he could make as much money there, and that the price of living was cheaper. So, it was done. I dropped out of summer school. I said goodbye to my friends and we had a giant moving sale. We sold every piece of furniture and belonging we could part with.
The monies made in our giant garage sale were not enough to move the family across the country, so my father took me the flea market. I watched as he wheeled and dealed for a couple of tents, and some camping gear. The new game plan was to camp all the way to Missouri, thus saving money in motel expenses. This was strangely odd to me because my family had never gone camping. However, my boyish instincts kicked in and I was full of excitement and anticipation of adventures of fishing and exploring.
On this family move, we crammed a family of 6 in a four door Cadillac. The family car was a true hoopty. It was a pea green, with cream color interior. The seating arrangements were as follows; my father drove the whole time, my sister rode in between my father and mother in the front. My youngest brother rode in the middle of my brother Joe and I. I usually sat in the seat behind my father. Now, picture this, a family of six, in a pea green Cadillac, towing a U-Hal trailer. Not one of the Wallace’s finest hours.
Anyhow, I remember one place we stayed at during this surreal adventure. I am not sure what state or city we were in, but I can remember the campsite vividly. After driving all day, we pulled up to this KOA off of the free way. My brother Joe and I were directed by our father to set up the tents. After camp was set up, we were off to explore. We had a pellet gun with us, so Joe and I took off looking to kill something. We found our way to a dry creek bed. Under a bridge we found what seemed to be hundreds of sparrow nests. The birds flew all around us as we entered their territory. I remember the scenery. It was one of the first times, where I found nature to be beautiful. The sun was setting and these little birds were flying all around us in the orange sky. It was very peaceful. Strangely, even though I felt as if I had experienced something beautiful from nature, I was still compelled to take aim at the birds that flew around us.
After a while we were called back to camp, where my mother had prepared dinner. After dinner was finished and the darkness rolled upon us I had discovered something new. My brother and I discover fireflies. We spent the remainder of the night chasing the bugs and catching them in a jar. The summer air was warm, and the grass was green and soft under our bare feet. We chased and chased the fireflies until we could not chase any more.
What I remember most of this one particular night, was the next morning. I woke up to a smell of bacon. When I crawled out of the tent, I found my father cooking breakfast. This took me by surprised because I have never seen my father cook.. It was early in the morning and the sparrows were chirping, letting everyone know that the sun was rising.
As I ate my breakfast, I wondered if my father really wanted to make us breakfast, or was it he just happen to want breakfast for himself. Since he was cooking himself some bacon and eggs, he thought he better throw a couple extra eggs and strips of bacon for the kids.
