This is a picture of one of the Blythe twins laying a kiss on neighbor Barb Seaton. I wish I could tell you which one, but either I have long forgotten or I simply didn't feel the electricity of the moment. Staged? Probably. But both seem to be willing participants. Regardless, PDA ain't something' this twin does.
That big old house in the back is the old McPheeter's place. A couple of families lived there while we were growing up, but it was always a bit creepy (as were the families), and eventually was torn down to make room for Ila Mae Keilman's new house. In fact that whole lot was about empty except for the McKelvie's, Rader's, and then our new house we built. Now, besides the one I just mentioned, there are the Hall's, Buster Board's place, and the Rowland home. The trees you see in the back ground are all gone and the whole block is developed.
I'm certain Marj told us not to go over to that big spooky house, even when there were people living there. I can remember a girl who lived there who was quite a bit older than the Wombie and I and she seemed a bit on the weird side. Her last name seemed to fit with their weirdness, too. They weren't there long and then the place was empty again, and soon, it was gone forever.
Where we lived was referred to as the East End. If there was ever anything resembling "new development" in Seaton it was here. Evelyn and Newton Fry lived at the end of the block in a small older place. I ran away from home once and that's as far as I got. I got an old stick of some sort, and tied a bandanna on the end with whatever I thought was important to have, and like some hobo walked the 100 yards down to their place and asked if I could stay. Evelyn plied me with cookies and milk and soon, Marj arrived to fetch me home.
The East End was a pretty neat place to grow up. There were plenty of Seaton and Kingry kids to keep us company. The Seatons had a barn at their place with a horse and we'd go over and take rides or just lounge in the place. Haven't been on a horse since. The barn is still there, too. They also had a small shed in their back yard and we played "Olly Oxen Free" or some type of variation. During the summers we would camp out, and once in a while we'd set up a lemonade stand.
The large lot that was next to our place and Arminta's became an all purpose field hosting baseball and football games. We only needed three to play baseball: pitcher, catcher and outfielder. For our football games sometimes we'd field full teams with kids from all over town and a few imports from Aledo.
Drive through the East End now and you'll find a mix of newer homes (newer meaning 40 years old) and the older ones that were here before they developed the block. Its getting harder to remember when that old McPheeter's place was still there and all those old trees were standing vigil. Its also getting harder to remember when I could steal a kiss.
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