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God Bless America
By Jerry L. Ginther
On one of my bicycling tours of the town when I was twelve or thirteen years old, I came upon a man plowing a garden near the intersection of Seymour and Strain Streets. That, in and of itself, was not unusual, but the fact that he was plowing the garden with a horse caught my attention right away. Even in the late 50's this was somewhat of a novelty to see someone plowing in town with a horse. Truthfully, there was something else about this scene that made it even more appealing to a curious boy looking for something interesting to do. That something else, to which I'm alluding, was the sight of several kids riding on the plow horse. I wasted no time abandoning my two-wheeled transportation for a closer look. Kids were lined up on the horse's back from the hames to his rump and others were waiting their turn. If you think I got in line you are thinking correctly. What more could an adventurous, young lad hope to find on a Saturday morning than a chance for a horseback ride. Even if it was a plow horse, it was a horse, and a big horse at that. At that age, it didn't matter; it made the day and I would join in the fun!
My turn on this magnificent steed wasn't long in coming. As I recall, the garden was pretty large, so, one round was a fair ride and some got more than one turn. Even though it was large, the horse made short work of the plowing job, and since I was a latecomer I had to be satisfied with just one turn.
After the plowing was completed the other kids began to disperse, but I stayed to talk and get acquainted with this fellow. To my knowledge, I had never seen him before, but was familiar with the name. His name was Felix Elder and he and I became friends that day. I remember telling him to wait right there and I'd get him another job.
My grandparents lived only a couple of blocks from there and I knew they always hired someone each year to plow their garden. I jumped on my bike and rode to their house to see if they would hire my newly found friend; they did. They knew Felix, so that made it an easy sell. I left my bike there and ran back to where Felix was still waiting. I told him we were now business partners. He got on the plow and I got on the horse and we sallied forth picking up another entourage of kids as we went.
Felix loved kids and enjoyed seeing them having a good time. If they couldn't climb the harness traces to get on the horse, he'd lift them on. If they couldn't dismount, he'd catch them in his arms as they slid off. He knew and understood a kid's fascination with horses and he was delighted to indulge them.
Some mornings we would walk his beagle hound right after dawn before the sun was up. It was part of his daily routine, which I readily adopted as part of mine. Now, this was never a short walk around the block mind you. There were fields and vacant properties nearby, which were excellent environments for the dog to exercise and explore.
Interestingly, I can still remember how amazed I was with all the sights, sounds and fragrances there were to experience in those early morning hours. There seemed to be more birds and other animals scurrying about in search of their morning meal, more than I was accustomed to seeing later in the day. Time passed, and later when I would go for those early morning walks alone, I would realize that there are some things that are just more enjoyable when you enjoy them with a friend. Now, early morning walks with their sights and sounds, often cause me to reflect on less complicated times and my old friend, Felix.
Copyright © 2002 - 2015 Jerry Ginther, All rights reserved worldwide
