Hayseed - Minibio I

A little kid in North Dakota
Willow City...population 250, give or take

 More background and photos 
Help set the stage at this link... 
"Nort-A-Kota Nuggets" 

At age 8 or 9, a time of boundless curiosity -
That became a growing source of trouble

He once snuck into their neighbor's house to explore
It was his pal's place, Punky Kunert
He knew they were gone for the weekend - holidays

The Hayseed knew he wasn't supposed to be there
So he was pretty excited
While snooping, he came across the biggest candy cane
He had ever seen

It had to be a foot long
And big around as a half-dollar

There's an old expression
"A watermelon tastes better when its stolen"
The saying may have originated with Mark Twain
We'll call it the Watermelon Effect
That's how it was with that candy cane.

Their second house there was rented...like their first
The owner used the detached frame, one car garage for storage
The Hayseed figured out how to get in there
And found a cache of old baseball cards
In a cigar box

The real small kind mostly
They would be worth a fortune today
He had no idea
Yet, the Watermelon Effect kicked in
So he made those cards his own

(A few years later, walking to school one morning in Michigan, he was told part of the school had burned down. It was his part, an old wooden frame addition. The box of baseball cards was in his desk there. He didn't think much of it then as they were mainly a curiosity to him.)

One day, he was sent to his room as punishment - upstairs
He decided he would rather go to the movies
He put on his first Communion suit
(His coveralls wouldn't work for this serious adventure)
Then he tied his bedding together and began to lower himself
From his second story window to the ground

The knots gave away about half way down
And he fell...
Unhurt, he picked himself up
And headed for the lumber yard his dad managed
He asked his dad for a quarter to go to the movies
Told him "Mom said it was ok."

He was all set. Fifteen cents to get in
With ten cents worth of candy
From the next door drugstore
He was found out of course
But the punishment that ensued, whatever it was
Did not measure up to the crime... no way

(This - The first of four, or five chapters in a life is all it is - there are countless others of course, many sprinkled through this here blog...It goes like this; Hayseed, Saint, Sinner, Soldier Boy and Boomer - maybe.  Also - the photos are the real thing. I was able to return to Willow City a few years ago and snapped them then.)