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Thursday, October 2, 2014

Hitch'n a ride....1956

I hitchhiked from Palmdale Ca. to Ridgecrest Ca. My god, I was only 16 year old, had me this little bag what contained the few clothes I owned.....an' I had me some loose change in my pocket. I had become a man.

The clothes in the bag were not store bought clothes. They was hand me downs from the few friends I had. Fergie, Ernie an' Dennis. My two years liv'n in Palmdale was a liv'n hell if'n ya ask me. I lived with my "beer drink'n" dad. Ya don't get new clothes when ya live with a "beer drink'n" dad what don't give a shit.....ya know.

If ya ain't never lived in a beer drink'n house, ya don't know what hunger is. Ya don't know what loneliness is. Ya don't know what family life is. There weren't none of that in Palmdale. I was the raggity little kid that walked the streets at all hours of the night. I was the kid that ate a home cooked meal at Fergie, Ernie or Dennis's house once a week. My teen years sucked....that is until I hitchhiked from Palmdale to Ridgecrest. The next two years of my teen life was real. I lived with Uncle Luke an' Aunt Myrt.

Sometimes when I'm down, I think back on years like that. This is one of them days. It gives me a better view an' understand'n of the "rest of my life". It gives me reason to feel proud of where I am today....an' how I got here. Man!!!....it weren't easy by no means.

Yesterday weren't all that bad. I made me a trip to the post office an' mailed off the actuator thingy for the autopark brake system on "da house". Stopped by the auto parts sell'n place an' ordered a brand spank'n new a/c compressor clutch for the "billy jeep". Ha....an' I got lost. Took a wrong turn by the directions from a local Villa Rica police officer. The clutch part is await'n me as I sit here typ'n my lifes story.

Up at 5:30am this morn'n. This is two days in a row I waked up this early an' couldn't go back to sleep. Ain't nobody gets up while it's still dark outside. Well, wait a minute. If'n ya got a tee time for 7am, ya get up early. Same with a fish'n trip, ya get up early. Other than that, I don't see no need to be wast'n the best sleep'n hours sit'n around in the dark wait'n for the sun to come up. But I know a few who do.

7 comments:

  1. You sure did have a rough beginning!! They say the more you hammer on metal the tougher it becomes. Not sure if that is true for humans but I bet it toughened you up for the rest of your life.

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  2. I guess it's true what they say...what don't kill ya, just makes you stronger! Glad that things slowly got better for ya, buddy! Looks like ya turned out alright,in spite of a shaky start.

    That's a good thing!

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  3. I am physically on eastern time today even though I'm sitting in the middle of Pacific time. I finally got up way before daylight, and woke up even earlier than that!

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  4. I pulled outa my folk's house at 15 1/2 and never regretted it. The Coast Guard straightened my butt up !! Had a good life and still do ! Rolling Earthquake is Southbound for the winter, enjoying being on the road again.In mid Tn. now and headin' to SE Mississippi for a bit. Enjoyin' your blog every day !!

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  5. I've been out of my house since 16. I'm also one of those that get up well before the sun is up, usually around 3:30 to 4:00 a.m.. Just not able to sleep past then, whether I have anything to do or not.

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  6. I must have been a vampire in a previous life...I go to bed before dawn.

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  7. Looking way back when. I was booted out of the house when I was 17 and never looked back. Having a great life no matter what I did.

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