originally published in the Goering Gazette July, 1989
Herb remembers a breakfast of wheat cereal. Somehow in the passing of the bowl from his hands to someone else the bowl slipped and landed right on John’s head and arms. He screamed. Breakfast ended. Later John came outside, arm all bandaged up. He saw Herb outside and gave a silent arm and fist signal (connoting anger and you’d better watch out!) Herb was reminded of this story recently when Kate (Kate Goering-Anderson, grand-daughter of Herb and Dot) was upset and made the same gesture.
Once when Walt and Elva were playing in the haymow, there was a load of hay hoisted high up in a hay sling. Somehow, Walt tripped the hay sling and the load came down n his head, burying him underneath. Elva couldn’t find him, and ran to find help. Dad came, used a pitchfork to push hay aside until he finally found Walt, slightly blue, but alive.
Walt, Bill, Dan, and Al were playing tag in the silo. They ran up a couple of steps then jumped in again to dodge the tag. All of a sudden, Dan missed a step and fell all the way down. The ground underneath was soft, thank goodness. Walt shook Dan a little and he started breathing again and the game resumed.
One day some of the younger brothers noticed a car driving into the yard. Wow — it was a driverless car! Just at the right moment (and before hitting anything) Walt jumped out of the back seat, jumped to the front and stopped the car.
On cold nights the bathroom downstairs seemed very far away, especially since you only had to do a little chore. So some of the boys took to going out on the upstairs porch roof for that little chore. This particular night it was very cold and the porch was slick. Right during the execution of the waterfall, Bill’s foot slipped and he went right off the porch, barely missing the foot scraper down below.
Remember the rock fights? You just don’t see those anymore nowadays (I wonder why?) Jim got hit between the shoulders and lost his breath. Bill came to the rescue (and that’s why we still have Jim).
One day John was washing his feet in the rain barrel. He innocently reached out and grabbed the electric conduit pipe He yelled. Nobody came to the rescue right away, they thought “there is John yelling around again.” But Herb realized the trouble and rescued John (and that’s why we still have John!)
At Moundridge in the chicken house someone had used a penny as a fuse. Bill wanted that penny, so he simply reached up to pull it out. He certainly hadn’t counted on the kick he received. Wonder if he got that penny!
One very wintry day Elva was out driving. The back seat was full of little kids. Even though she drove carefully, she hit an ice spot and the car started spinning, in fact, it spun one whole round and ended up pointing the same way she was trying to go. The little kids in the back were all white faced and frightened and they said they never wanted to ride with Elva again. (What’s the matter, little kids, didn’t you recognize a free fun ride???)
Then there is the story of the stubborn mule. It was really a stubborn mule and it made Walt mad. He threw a pitchfork at it and caught it in the shoulder. It eventually got blood poisoning and died. (You see, it didn’t have a guardian angel, I guess).
One day Dad was backing out the old Nash. Either John or Len was playing behind it. Walt jumped over the fence and pulled little brother out of harm’s way just in the nick of time. And that’s why we still have Len — or was it John?
Walking on stilts was fun — the higher, the better! In fact, some of the stilts were so high that you to get on the hayrack so you could get onto the stilts (is it possible the stilts have gotten higher through the years?) According to Bill he had the highest stilts of anyone — and he has the scar to prove it!
One time Art and John were hauling a load in from the creek where the gang had been cutting wood. Art was driving the team of horses and he turned too short which resulted in a pinched foot for John.
From Walt — “You want a guardian angel story. I’ll tell you a real guardian angel story.” It seems that one Sunday after a big rain the cattle got out through the gate across the creek (watergate) which had been mostly away with debris. Walt rode through the water but didn’t see the barb wire line still strung up. The barb wire caught on the saddle horn, then ripped across Walt’s upper thighs. At first Walt continued riding, he was ashamed of what had happened and tried to hide. Eventually he had to go in to be sewn up (and if you’re gentle Walt will let you touch the scars through his pants). Grandma Goering (Freni) said, “My you must have had a guardian angel riding with you.”
And then there’s the story of why Art has the big scar on his face which required four stitches (?!?). Walt was sinking a post and swung back with his big axe, hammer, or whatever. Several of the little brothers were very close behind and Art was one of the them. Considering that, four stitches and a mark for life ain’t bad.
Question — why did Herb throw a stone at the Nash which Walt was polishing?
Harry and Larry were playing the big farmer. Harry sat on the tractor, Larry on the back wheel. Harry turned on the switch and the tractor started out. Larry fell off but Harry and tractor went down the hill. But never fear, a big brother was close — this time it was Bill. He ran after and succeeded in stopping progress before it reached the creek. Harry still cringes when this story is told.
One day Al was bolstering a fire under the rendering kettle. The gasoline backfired and Al’s clothing caught fire. Dad saw this and ran and rolled Al on the ground.
A group of the younger boys were out caroling and it got late. Harry was driving and fell asleep during the last 1/8 of a mile. He ran off the road. He then begged Leonard to say that he had been driving. You see, Harry didn’t yet have his driver’s license.