I Should Be Asleep, But I Did It Again!

I had coffee later in the day than I should have!  Do I have NO willpower???

My previous entry reminded me of a "Lois" story.  My sister Lois is 10 years older than I am.  When she was little my parents lived on a dairy farm.  She used to wander a lot.  They had a cattle dog named Butch that would help my Mom keep track of her.  It wasn't unusual for Mom to be working in the kitchen one minute with Lois nearby and then turn to find her gone.  And she was fast, too!  She'd be out across a field in no time flat.  Mom said she'd call Butch and tell him to go find Lois, and he would.  If they were outside and she wandered off, Butch would come get my Mom. 

Once, though, my dad and uncle had to come in from the dairy barn to join Butch in his search for her.   They looked everywhere and were beginning to get worried, when a car pulled into the driveway, and some people they had never seen before deposited 2-1/2 year-old Lois at the gate to the yard and asked if she belonged there.  They found her walking along the highway about a half mile from the house!

Don't think my mother was inattentive or neglectful.  She had four older kids, my dad, and a farmhouse to take care of, not to mention chickens and a garden.  She kept Lois with her all the time unless one of the older kids was there to watch her, but she'd manage to sneak off as soon as my Mom's head was turned.  When they found her down the road one of the older ones was supposed to have been watching her and wasn't watching carefully enough.  I think it was Maxine, but I may be wrong.

Keeping the gates closed meant nothing to Lois.  She was a climber even then.  I think she could probably walk the top posts of a fence line before she started school.  It's rather funny that she was always wandering off back then, because as an adult, she's the one living with and caring for Mom.  To have always been in such a hurry to run off when she was little, she's the one who has stayed closest to home as an adult!

At Lois' third birthday party, 1959.  Around her, left to right, Maxine, Alton, Dennice and P.J.  According to the caption with this photo, "P.J. blew out her candles"!  She was a few months younger than this photo when she wandered down the highway.