Flashback Friday

Friday Housekeeping Chores:

1.  We received word that regular reader Tom Harrison lost his father this past week.  Our condolences to Tom, Ronda, the kids, and the entire Harrison family.

2.  We aren't receiving any BFE Reporter Monday submissions.  If you have something please send it to bfereporter@yahoo.com.

3.  If you would like Existing In BFE to be automatically sent to your cell phone, send me your email address and it will arrive with every new post.    


The Backyard


We had the greatest backyard of anyone in Seaton. And no one needed a backyard more than us. It really wasn't a back yard as much as it was two vacant lots. The folks bought a tract of land right across the street from where they were renting and built a house on it when the Wombie and I were babies. Right next door lived Bill And Arminta McKelvey.  The properties were separated by a hedge, and they owned the other lot. Combined it made a fantastic baseball diamond and football field.

I thought there was only one picture of the football game that was played with people from Aledo and Seaton.  But, like I was in the Twilight Zone, I wanted to zoom in on some of the players and I discovered it was different than the parent picture.  Cue Rod Serling's music.  

It becomes a bit difficult to determine who is who, but I can try.  In this picture, I am the 14 year old kid 4th from left scratching my head.  Plays must have gotten too complex, but then again it looks like I was on defense.  How complicated can that be?   

Now this picture looks like Herb has entered and is 5th from left with his hands on his hips.  I am to his left.  I have no idea where Phil or Mark are, but I assume they would have been playing and likely on the Seaton side.  Mark or Phil?  Can you provide any assistance?  

Phil throwing a pass to Aaron and Courtney. 

Fast Forward about 25 years and you have the same field with some changes.  For one thing, the house is new but doesn't really detract from the playing field.  The hedges are higher.  The color of Seaton's house has changed from yellow to white.  One other thing you can't see in the latter pic:  the big white house to the far right sustained damage from a fire and the top roofline area changed dramatically.  It also looks like the Seatons planted some trees behind their house and grew tall.  Today, everything has changed, of course.  There are no Seatons in Seaton,  and I don't know anyone who lives around the place let alone ours.  The only person left is Dorothy Levine and her son Lance, still live a couple houses over from our old place.  

Baseball was also something we played as well.  When we had three players one would be in the outfield, one would pitch, and one would bat.  We did break Arminta's window a couple of times, but she was a good old girl and never minded.  It was used so often that home plate was worn away and devoid of grass.  

Another returning picture is looking from the Seaton's toward our house showing you the opposite shot of the Field.  Always mowed in conjunction with the other, it was a fine looking area and perfect for raising three boys.  Neighbor Tim may have had a forested Ravine to play in, but we had a Field (capitalized out of respect).  Both perfect, both priceless.  That's our house to the right and the back porch which was the focal center throughout the year.  Herb would put plastic on the sides so it became a greenhouse in the winter.  Plenty warm out there to congregate and for Herb to have one of his "President" cigars.  And yes, the tree was an excellent climber.  Look at the

Bill McKelvey had a heart attack in his back yard, adjacent from the Field when we were young.  I don't remember him, but funny as it may sound, I remember his truck.  It always coughed at a certain RPM and the gears always ground.  A long time after his death she was married again to Archer Sheats.  She would read the newspaper to him in a very loud voice that would waft over to our place, because of his hearing disability.  He died as well.  Every Christmas my mother would have us take a plate of food and goodies over to her.  Great lady.  She died in 1996 and is buried in Kirkwood.  

The back yard is still there today.  The hedges are not as neat and are not trod by little or not so little feet playing catch or chasing a football.  No laughter is heard from the back porch on one side nor a newspaper reading from the other.  In fact, when last I checked, the back porch had fallen into disrepair and there was junk strewn about the place.

Memories fade, as well as pictures.  Today there are just a handful who remember the yard.  They live still in these photos of a summer day when Seaton pitted itself against Aledo, outcome unknown.  They live still in a father's pass to his son.  It was a glorious place to grow up.