My life in California From the 1950s 'til Now Installment #1 ( January 24, 2010)

My family first came to California for a visit with my father's sister in July of 1955. While we were here, of course Aunt Helen took up to the beach, and to get a view of some Movie star's homes, as well as the La Brea Tar Pits, too.

When we were at the beach, my older sister, Vi, got a terrible sun burn, and was not even able to take off her swim suit for about a month. We had to leave her here, but that was no big thing, as my Dad had already decided we were moving to Sunny California, (as if El Paso wasn't sunny enough).

When we returned to California, we settled in Los Alamitos, a small town in Orange County. We rented a corner house that only had two bedrooms, which was not unusual for the 1950s. It even had only one bathroom.  Still, it was on a corner, and the back yard was fenced with a six foot high wood fence. This little place was located on the corner of Howard Avenue and Enterprise Drive, just parallel to the Los Alamitos Naval Air Station.

We were only a couple of blocks from the Los Alamitos Race Track, too.  That was when there were large pastures for brood mares in foal, with prospective race horses of future years. These were not Thoroughbred horses, but Running Quarter.

Anyone who has frequented Los Alamitos Race Track knows they only race Quarter horses there.
After we had lived there, on Howard Avenue for approximately a year my parents received a letter informing them that our Landlady had been killed in a traffic accident, and offered them the opportunity to purchase this place for something like Nine Thousand Dollars. Before you get yourself in a dither, this was something like 1956 folks.

My dad just didn't care to own a home then, and he decided we would move rather than saddle himself with being a home owner.  He and my Mom had three daughters, and though Mom really wanted to settle down here, Dad decided not to.  So, he discovered another little gem halfway around the block.
This one appeared to have has somewhat better care, and had a chain-link fence, about four feet high, and was also on a corner. Here we were, on Lexington Drive, and Green Street now.

We still had the three dogs we brought from El Paso. Two were litter mates, named Pal and Cuddles. Their dam, or mother, was a purebred Cocker Spaniel, while their sire was apparently some kind of Terrier. The mother dog was somewhat of a runaround, so was kept tied to a heavy iron ball that had a loop where the dog's rope or chain was secured.  She was able to jump their fence, but could not get the ball over to leave, and wander.

We also managed to get another dog, or puppy while living on the outskirts of El Paso. He was named Chico, (Spanish for Little Boy).  Chico looked just like a German Shepherd, although he was only about ten pounds when he was fully mature.  Chico's littermate, was killed not long after he was brought from Mexico City by a soldier while he was South of the Border.

The soldier's parents raised Collies, and they were not accustomed to having small dogs. Since El Paso was very hot in the summer, and practically no one had air conditioners then, there was a rather large floor fan in their living room. Fans were made differently then. There was no screening or grid work to protect anything from the fast spinning blades. One of the small pups ran into the rear of the fan, and was killed.

They decided to get another home for the remaining puppy, as they didn't want it to also be killed.
They gave Chico to my older sister Vi, who was allowed to keep the pup, until our Father could find some other home for it.

I did not understand what Daddy had against this pup. He would take it to work with him, hoping either some other worker would want Chico, or he would wander off. Funny thing, Chico guarded my Dad's tools, as well as his lunch. He had nothing to do with the other people Daddy worked with.

One day, sometime later, Daddy told me why he couldn't stand Chico...

You will have to wait until the next installment. I guess one could call this the cliff hanger...

Skybear, 20100124  1600 hrs