In the wee hours of a chilly autumn morning, our Mama (Helen Santala Pickens) woke up my brother Kenny and me, where we were sleeping together upstairs in the old farmhouse north of Flagler, Colorado. Mama told us that our Grandpa, her father Herman Santala, was very ill and that our Daddy (William Charles Pickens) […]
Herman Santala’s Passing Read More »
Even when we were very young Gary and I had basic chores that we had to do when we got home from school. The chores revolved around milking the cow, feeding the pigs and chickens. We also had to gather the eggs and carry them into the house. In the chicken house we kept a
Ken’s Memories of the Old Chicken House Read More »
Sleeping in the cold, upstairs at the old farmhouse in Colorado
Memories of Sleeping in the Cold Read More »
The first time that Kenny and Gary camped out by themselves was an adventure!
First Time Camping (Without Our Parents) Read More »
The old bunkhouse on our farm was a house that had been moved from one of the country schools near our farm. I think the teachers had lived in this house while teaching at the country school. There were two rooms in the house, probably for two teachers at the school, so that the students
The old barn on our farm had an interesting story. When I was in the fifth grade my teacher, Mr. Dorsey, told me that he had grown up on a homestead (a farm still held by the family of the first settlers) four miles south of our house. He said that long before my family
The well house had originally been a barn at one of the rural schools north of us, before it was moved and re-purposed. As I will explain, it eventually enclosed a new water storage tank that was supplied by a new well and windmill that Daddy put in after he moved to the farm from
The Old Well House Read More »
