Whiteley Creek Homestead

I received a photo calendar from my sister Marlene for Christmas. One of my favorite childhood photos is of my brother Greg and I sitting by our hand pump that supplied all of the water for our daily needs including drinking, cooking, and washing clothes and for water for our milk cows. This photo taken in 1955 is a favorite, as well.

 
It has the look of homesteaders as in Laura Ingalls Wilder's day. The old door opening into the kitchen with the tablecloth so welcomingly draped over the table, the bib overalls (handed down from one to the next), the dirt-packed yard with patches of weeds… My mother's apron is missing. She always wore a bib apron. The baby in my mother's arms is my sister Rita. My father is holding me. My brother Greg and a sister Mary Ann are missing from the photo and there were three more not yet born (Ron, Rick, and Marlene) when this photo was taken making a total of 12 kids in all. The others in the photo L to R back row in front of my dad and mom are Ken and Bill with David, Darrel, and Cliff L to R front row.