A set of photos I uncovered some time ago that were taken when I was four years old. We were living in an area near Strasburg called Pout’s Hill at the time. I don’t really remember the photos being taken but I do remember the surroundings.

I loved that front yard as a kid. It served as my view of the world. You can see the fence in the back which actually totally enclosed the front yard. I learned to climb that fence fairly early. And sit on top and look up and down the road to see who was going by. I often waited out there for my sisters to come home on the bus. Occasionally, my mother would pull out an old red checked blanket that we always used for picnics and spread it out in the front yard. She would make sandwiches and bring them out and we would have our own picnic. I always wondered if she enjoyed those impromptu front yard picnics as much as I did. I learned to watch the clouds during those times and find the shapes of various animals.

And I do know that dress was rose pink just because I would run across this photo from time to time before it began to fade. Mom made most of my clothes in those days. I never really thought about it being because we didn’t always have money to buy store clothes. Actually my mother was a pretty good seamstress and in looking back at other old photos of my sisters and I, I’d say her clothes were better made and better looking than a lot of what you would see in the stores anyway.

You can see there is a lot of clover in the yard. My dad always worked late so the yard did not get mowed as often as it probably should. I don’t remember anyone fussing over having the perfect yard in those days anyway. I am sure Dad never fertilized or put new grass down. It just grew as it grew. And it definitely grew a lot of dandelions and clover. Which actually I thought was quite pretty when I was a kid. In fact, I would pick bunches of dandelions and take them to my mom and she would ohh and ahh over them as if they were the finest bouquet of roses in the world.

I don’t think I realized at that age what a magical time that was.