Cabin Tales 3

On a hot summer afternoon we would hang out under the maple trees by the fence and watch what we called "the horse races"

We used to really enjoy watching the cousins, Fum and Wu, try to catch Dusty, the horse. Dusty was nothing special as far as I know, as a horse. Just a dark brown gelding with a black mane and tale. The second cousins kept him for riding, they said. It looked to us like they kept him for chasing.

The horse was quick, limber and smart. The cousins weren't. Dusty could turn on one hoof. He'd raise up, stand on one hoof, spin, leap forward, land, raise up, put his weight on the other hoof and spin the other way. He would put his head down between his front legs, brace himself then leap backwards!

He delighted in running over by the shade trees, waiting for them to come at him from both sides and then leaping between them, making them back peddle to avoid being run over.

We were cheering for the cousins because we all wanted a ride but we cheered for Dusty because he was so good at evasive tactics.
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Mom's bro, Uncle Ar, used to come up and spent days with us. He would help get wood for the stove cut and fix things, like the car, for mom. It also gave her a chance to get some shopping done without the "horde" tagging along.

We liked Uncle Ar but he was a little daunting for such a small uncle. We learned quick that we couldn't trick him, he always looked under the beds if we were cleaning our room. He knew just the right way to sweep floors so the dust bunnies didn't run off as he ran the broom. He tried to teach me but I was a "fast" sweeper and never really managed to get the bunnies all corralled.

One time we were all going to the beach. Uncle bought us dogs and buns to cook on the way to the lake. Aboy got cranky and we left early for home. While mom was putting Aboy down, Uncle built a fire and got us all weenie sticks with his pocket knife.

We all sat there and ate the dogs that had been in the car for a whole day. Boy, what a mess 4 sick kids make for two sick adults to clean up. Cee still won't eat a hot dog!
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Dad came up a few times that summer and we were always glad to see him but he didn't stay long. We were told he had to get back to be at work.

One weekend he came up to help us pack up and go to the new, white house we were moving into.

I ran back into the cool, dark, empty cabin to tell it good bye while the rest were loading up the car. It seemed so sad to have us leaving that it made me sad to go.

By being "last in" I got a window seat in the car. I hadn't learned to not look back yet so I got up on one knee and watched as the cabin got smaller and smaller. The breeze made it look like the lilacs and the willow were waving good bye.

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