Classical Music + Relaxing Nature sounds

TAXI, TAXI.

                             Taxi, Taxi.
In the early 1970's we, (Donna Cynthia and I) moved to Seattle from Klamath falls Or. and moved in with my brother Jerry and his family. Work was scarce and we all scraped to stay fed etc.I cant remember if it was an ad in the paper or how we got wind of an opportunity to stave off hunger. It turned out that the owner of a service station owned a taxi cab and needed to operate it 24 hours a day.
     Enter Jerry Bell and Bob Bell. We were to operate it as if it were ours with a percentage of the income to be given to the owner. Can't remember the percentage but remember it was fair to us.
We each operated the cab 12 hours changing as we needed.
    This gave us a job , an income, and a vehicle to use. All went well for a year or more that we were in the Taxi business And decided to move to Bellingham our hometown.

   During one of my night shifts I had a male passenger that wanted to go to a bar in south Seattle, by the way our Cab was called 'South Town Cab' our call # was 45 we were given our customer address from a dispatch service in downtown Seattle. As I turned into the bar and parked to let the Gent out he pulled a knife and wanted some cash. I thought to myself 'something is wrong here' I'm the one should get cash

   Before I continue I need to tell you that during my many nightime shifts I became friends with 'Red'
I never knew his last name, Just 'Red'. Oh! I almost forgot, he Was with the King County Sheriff Dept.

   Now back to 'knife man', he was quite drunk and his knife was a pocket knife, but a real knife.I said "if you get out I will give you what I have" he opened the door and fell down, I quickly shut and locked the door and called dispatch. telling them my situation, the knife man was standing alongside my cab jabbering something when a Sheriff Car screeched to a halt alongside bandit man.

 Red was not only a big man but very, very intimidating to those that didn't know him.

  "Are you okay he asked me" "he hasn't paid his fare yet" Well lets see what we can do Red told me and frisked the man that he had in hand cuffs and lo and behold I got my fare plus a little.

I found out that Red was tuned in to the Taxis frequency and was nearby when I made the call.

Asked why I didn't drive away when i closed the door on him, I think I said He hadn't paid me yet.

A Blizzard at Bell Creek

One evening during the winter in the early thirties (I was probably about seven years old). It had been snowing off and on all day, and now it was being accompanied by strong winds.
All of us kids went to bed early, I suppose it was so we could stay warm.
Our upper floor (gained by climbing 5 or 6 steps) was where all of the young ones slept. Mom and dad slept in the one downstairs bedroom with the youngest one (baby) ( Betty I think).
Before midnight the blizzard was blowing snow through the eaves and perhaps some of the roof shingles.Anyway, it was snowing on our beds.
Mom and Dad got us all bundled up and away we went to Grampa bells house, about a half mile or so distance.
For us Kids it was truly an adventure because we were all put up in cozy little places to sleep at our Grandpa bell's home.

P.S. Our log cabin home didn't suffer much, just had to wait for the intruder (the sifting snow) to go away 

                                Crazy Alice
Here is one of my favorite memories that took place during my early teens at our ' Samish Valley' home.
The farm across the road,lay on an upper level which required some effort to get to. But there was a cherry tree in the orchard up there that made the effort worth it.
The cherries from that tree were so sweet and thinking back now, having to 'sneak' up there to get them is probably what gave them their extra 'goodness'.
The farmer and his wife were quite elderly so you'd think 'no problem' sneaking up there after dark.
Not quite! this old couple that owned the farm had a daughter 'Alice" who had just returned from a stay in an asylum.( the reason she was referred to as 'Crazy Alice'.

This too is why we decided to creep up there after dark.
We (several of us boys) were up in the tree stuffing down cherries, when a voice from below said "Hey!  there" throw me down some.
We were all giving our apologies at the same time when she gestured saying "you can have all you want come anytime".
She 'Alice' turned out to be a very nice lady, with no sign of being crazy.

Guess,What?,After the invite to the cherries at any time we wished, they didn't taste any better than the ones from our own orchard.

Remembering the Camping trips

When the the four of us older boys (Jack, Dick, Bob, Jim) were able to navigate the mountain trails
we did a lot of camping . Most of our trips were to the good fishing lakes. The first big trek was with our Dad. we carried every thing on our backs and the loads were not light. It was up along the Canadian border and ended way down in a ravine to a lake that had "land locked" salmon. We feasted on fish like  never again. It was a paradise camp. The trail was miles long and I still today think we were lucky to have not encountered "Big Bears".I will now skip to the Trip that my Dad took us four older boys  on in 1947 . We were all back from our WW11 service and discharged from the Navy (except Jim) he hadn't joined the marines as yet.
We were packed in by a local man with several horses. Again we walked (hiked) all the way to a lake in Canada called "Mirror Lake". what a wonderful time we all had celebrating our being home from the service and all being in one piece.

one of the faded pics show Dad,on the right next Bob. next, Dick and Jim on the left.

Blizzard at Bell creek
One evening during the Winter in the early thirties (I was probably about seven years old) the snow that had been falling all day was being accompanied by some strong winds.
All of us kids went to bed early, probably to keep warm.
Our upper floor(gained by climbing 5 or 6 steps was where all of the young ones slept except the baby who  shared the downstairs bedroom with mom and dad.
Sometime before midnight the blizzard was blowing snow through the eves and some of the roof shakes. Anyway it was snowing on our beds.
dad and mom got us  all bundled up and away we went Grandpa Bells place, about a mile distance.
For Me (and the other siblings) it was an "Adventure" because we were all put in cozy little places to sleep at our Grandpa Bells' place.

P.S. Our log cabin home did not suffer too bad, just had to wait for the visitor (the snow) to go away.

 

Watching a steam "donkey" being built from the ground up.
While growing up at Bell Creek, I and my two older brothers were able to see a steam donkey (logging) being built from start to finish. I remember that the two men doing the work were friendly and didn't mind us being around.
As near as i can remember the two skids (runners) were logs about 30ft. long and about 3ft. in diameter.
Each end of the logs were tapered up (all by hand) and all with an ax.This enabled it to travel like a sled. The two logs were connected by big planks to support the steam boiler the housing covering the winches that contained the cable. When it was completed, the engine (steam powered) turned the winch (operated by one of the men pulling the cable in (which had been secured to a tree) up the direction they wanted to go.Pulling the cable in caused the sled to go up to the point where the cable was then secured further up the hill, thus the steam donkey would eventually reach the top of the area that they intended to log.

Note:This type of enjoyment for us boys cannot be described by just words. Our (mine) life was filled with treasured happenings that makes me grateful that I have been (above money) wealthy my whole life.
Thanks for enduring me again. I will be back