Work and Play in Southern Indiana

After growing up on a dairy farm in the Maple Grove area, going through my teenage years and getting married, we now lived in our new house near the farm.

Single Engine Over The Speedway 1969

My wife and I were at a boat show at the Indiana State Fair grounds one day. After the show, we were traveling on an east and west street north of the fair grounds. We passed a small airport. I stopped to see if someone would take us up. A pilot said he would. After discussing the price, we got into his plane and flew over the speedway and that part of town. It was my wife’s first time in an airplane.

Helicopter Over Nashville

Another time we flew was in Nashville Indiana.  We were walking around the town one fall day.  Just east of the intersection of 46 and 135, in an empty field, a pilot was giving rides in a helicopter. My son Greg was a small boy at the time.  I was going to take Greg up in the helicopter with me to give him the experience of flying. My wife did not like flying but figured if I was going to kill her boy she might as well go too.  The helicopter was a wide seat type with a bubble over the seating area.  The pilot took us in a counter clockwise flight over the sewage station and then over the town.  It was great!  I was able to take my family with me to do something I love.

Easy Riser Glider 1970s

I saw plans for a glider that could be built at home. It was a by-wing glider. It took hundreds of hours of work to build. I did not think I had hundreds of hours to work on it. The advertisement showed a pilot foot launching off a high hill and gliding for a short while to the foot of the hill. I looked at this many times, but never bought it.

Rat Trap In The Attic 1971

We had been in the house a short time.  I don’t remember what trouble we had, but something in the attic needed repair.  Damn Walt (this is what Harry Reynolds called his brother Walt) came to check out the problem.  He had to climb into the attic through the small hole in the ceiling of the utility room.  I had seen holes in the insulation where mice had started to make homes.  I placed a rat trap in the attic floor.  I forgot to tell Walt.  I watched him as he climbed into the attic.  After a few movements, I heard a snap and a yell.  The snap was from the rat trap and the yell was from the trap snapping against Walt’s knee.  It was not funny at the time for Walt. I had to laugh.

Rocks From The Flail Chopper 1971

That first summer brought the growth of grass in the new yard and driveway.  I could not use a lawn mower in some areas, so I borrowed dad’s tractor and flail chopper to cut the tall grass.  The driveway turned in toward the house at the position where the garage would some day stand.

My wife was standing at the end of the house watching me “mow the yard”.  As I made the turn toward the end of the house, the outside wheel of the flail chopper fell into a deep spot.  The many flying hammer style cutters started to dig up the number two rocks in the drive way and fling them forward.  The rocks started to hit the house.  My wife jumped into the house through the one door at the end of the house.  She did not get hit.  I backed up as fast as I could get the equipment into reverse.  I could not stop the cutters from turning.  They had to slow down and stop by themselves.  Several marks were made in the aluminum siding in the end of the house.  We were lucky no one was hurt.

Cistern Water 1970s & 1980s

The cistern was our water supply.  It was in the front yard.  Harry and Walt Reynolds