Show My Old Town Has Disappeared by Mary Timothy Anyone who has been away from their old home town for thirty years and comes back to find it has yet an experience to live the I said as we jolted along the old where Cedarview used to We approached the old There it was just where it has stood for fifty Not another recognizable thing in Gone was the creamery and just a memory remained of the old hitching where the horse vehicles and ponies had lined up for half a Even the old chick sale toilets that stood in the How well I One for the men I and one for the Ours had seating capacity for three and a box in the corner for outdated I just couldn't believe A lump arose in my throat as I looked over the townsite where the two-room school house had The Rural Route had obliterated the post The store that sold and other now only a few rocks remained of the foundation where it had burned to the my taking a cantaloupe from the trunk of the car insisted 1 do my own you just run he taking his pocket he cut the melon in enjoy a bite while you look her He grown up here and didn't have my feeling for the old I doubt he even recalled it was in this very building we had met for the first I jumped the ditch and crawled through the barb-wire The whole town was made into a Cattle and horses grazed The irrigation water soaking the grass almost to the old house's The siding that covered her frame was checked and The building had never been painted and boards were pulling away from the rusty The wide doors were gone from their A slab was nailed across the The wooden steps had been taken I leaned against the board and peered A horse enjoying the nudged mc with his as much to all Go on I squeezed beneath the slab and emerging on the a flock cf sparrows mado their exit the Some in their haste beat against the poor old I exclaimed my eyes taking in the Kay half filled the large hiding the dingy evidence of a better The ceiling was brown with-unclean Spots where the water had leaked made ugly patches of loosened A few old yellow-jackets buzzed aimlessly Then from the soul of the old house was feel so Seat yourself on that bale of hay and let's have a little chat-It's been so long since anyone was here just for a Oh the men come now and then pitch hay either in or out the windows and I always have the cows and horses seeking shelter in my presence I catching my are not just an old barm You were built for an edifice of A place where the whole community could gather from miles around to vote and I the voice but an ola house also learns to serve Age mellows youth ambitions and one learns to ar life as it but we had such I said scraping the hay so I could see the ban The beautiful the pride of the now each board waB warped like a remarked the years wrinkle the skin by the way have you looked in the mirror know I you old but you don't need to remind me about I he grew up along with the other Let s I believe your folks moved here in about Christmas Yes it was the Christmas I first saw I was new The two big pot-bellied one in each end of the gave warmth and the laughter of huppy children with older folks tree had real I was that day I met Mary A we were just six How we danced around and We have remained friends to this i was quite a bunch of growing he of them respected me and some Many is the right in the middle of a good dance my old doors have been rushed open as all the male member have beens emptied into the yard to witness a big Even the musicians laid aside their instruments to join the The females gathered in little groups with an anxious eye on the With the skirmish the dance resumed with a lively topic for One winter it got so bad Old Dance-Master Perry carried a wooden potato masher to keep law and wasn't always a rough I of course reflected THE OLD CEDARVIEW CHURCH This is the only recognizable of what was once a townsite located north of Roosevelt about made me almost burst with The on the the watched you kids grow with the made note of the first long skirts and hair You had your wedding dance How vividly I was go I old Cedar-view MIA Dramatic Club was some in character ten steps before you're the director well do you apply this to your life very I'm I The old house was going mornings the hall was divided into rooms by use of curtains drawn along wires to separate the At this point my eyes caught sight of the scars where the hooks had penetrated the The house was kids learned a heap from humble teachers about the I really ad mired the respect and real sympathy by the whole community when the strip of carpet was laid down in reverence for the uncounted the Relief Society One by they came to be placed on the two chairs at the front of the Here in their last the town with bowed heads placed their geraniums in a last token of The voice was far away it are just a few of the old timers You know I too be gone with just one earless drop of a are you going to be in there all It was in at the In his hand he held a half slice of is a good you better come before I eat it I Arising to my as the old town melted into Today's pioneers are tomorrow's Procrastination Is the thief of Edward Young |