Dudleys Diary

seven years of his life. It is located at 4809 Earl St. Dudley can still remember the phone number we had way back then, 767-6865. It is funny I can remember that after all of these years. I can't remember half of the shit I did yesterday but I can remember an almost fifty year old phone number and address. From what I can remember the house looks pretty much the way it did all of those years ago. Just a typical three bedroom one bath house on a pier and beam foundation with a detached garage. It looks like someone took down the screened in porch my father had added to the back of the house and replaced it with a more permanent addition complete with a fireplace. I would like to know what my parents paid for that little house when they purchased it new back around 1954. Probably a hell of a lot less than the cost of a new car today. Prior to the subdivision being built, the land was a cow pasture covered in prickly pear cactus and mesquite trees. There was a huge mesquite tree out in the middle of the back yard by our swing set out past the big concrete patio we used to ride our tricycles and pedal cars around. You had to watch out for those thorns, they would stick and bite if you were not careful. I remember tearing apart the mesquite beans every summer, that was a lot of fun. If I wasn't doing that I was climbing on the Jungle Gym or playing in the sand box or seeing what other kind of trouble I could get into. I remember the square hole my father cut into the side of the garage so our dachshund "Prissy" could get in out of the cold in the winter time. I have an old black and white photo in a box somewhere of my dad out in front of this house before I was born pushing and old reel mower cutting the grass out by the sidewalk by the street. You know the old mower with no motor and revolving blades that cut the grass. Like the one from the start of Leave It To Beaver. Those were the days I guess but I don't know many guys who would trade in their gasoline powered Briggs & Stratton for a manual reel mower.