THE SHOE LEATHER EXPRESS
The difference between now and then is like comparing the internet to CB radios. I’ll bet there is more than half of the people reading this that have used the term “10-4” to answer “yes” or “I got it.” When I ask some people for their e-mail address by posing the question, “What’s your handle?” few get it. I should stop using it, but it’s worth the smile… and memories…
The old fashioned attitude of days gone by with the freedom afforded us in society in those days left opportunities. Opportunities to respond the way we were led and the kind that legends are made of.
Kids get driven pretty much everywhere they go these days, but that wasn’t the case in the pre-CB radio days. Even as a kindergartener we walked to school and not by modern means… by all means. The trails led through bamboo forests, people’s unfenced yards where dogs we prayed were chained up, but rarely were. The shoe leather worn paths even led us past old man Hatchet’s place. It was common knowledge he’d kill young trespassers on sight… while eating fried chicken. Running fast was a natural part of life in the old days, so was cortisol from stress, we just didn’t know it had a name back then.
My dad warned my second oldest brother repeatedly about not holding his intestinal air. My oldest brother and I wouldn’t have been as bold as number two. It wasn’t the dead of winter, but it was downright chilly. Too chilly to have the windows down in the old hand crank Mercury.
A few more giggles from the backseat of the seatbeltless old car with another devious grin and number two did it again… plum crazy… “I told you, boy! – No more! – One more time and you’ll walk home!” You didn’t question your dad, well not ours for sure, in those days. Little was left open to discussion… Fun was fun, but when “dad” said “enough!” it was fair warning… to go beyond that was to tempt fate in a losing proposition. The school bully was like cotton candy next to the wrath of our dad.
It wasn’t but a few seconds later when our brave or crazy brother crossed our dad again without even an attempt to roll the windows down in the backseat… to the dismay of my oldest brother and I. Not to mention the ire of the enforcer that was always armed with his thin black leather belt, that sounded like a machine gun, as the not so innocent tip of the belt snapped at the belt loops on his pants as he’d pull it at warp speed from his waist. That sound alone could melt hard men… and boys.
Our dad hit the brakes hard as he pulled over to the side of road not much north of the only market in town that sold Icee’s, but I wasn’t thinking about Icee’s at that moment. “Get out!” he said in a tone just a decibel under a yell. Number two brother looked slightly confused through his patented grin that would be his trademark for life during times of trouble… which would usually mean trouble for someone else.
The king of the castle and the Comet repeated himself just a hair louder and the voice raising an octave at the end of the warning for effect, “Get out!!!” Our middle brother was on the edge of laughing as he got out of the old four door family car. He shut the door and off my dad went. My oldest brother who is seven years older than me smiled… but was careful enough not to laugh… just in case…
I can’t remember if anything was said on our drive home, but I remember the smile and pride on our dad’s face as we pulled up to the house… Bobby was breathing hard with his trademark grin on his face for having beat us home… on foot… A legend was born and a real life lesson learned.
I often wonder if that isn’t’ exactly the kind of parenting this society is so desperately missing these days…
I still have no idea how on God’s green earth my brother beat us home… I’ve asked him now and then how he did it over the last forty years… He just grins…
bill (cycleguy)
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 2:32 am
He got chased by that dog not chained up. 🙂 Oh, the memories of walking to school in all kinds of weather, freezing my yazoo off, getting drenched because even then men didn’t use umbrellas. I remember walking home 3 miles every night after basketball practice because my dad would not pick me up or would be working. if I wanted to play, I paid. All kinds of weather…walk. Thanks for the memories Floyd.
Floyd
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 7:05 am
Good for you, Bill! To be that age and be strong enough to do the hard things says a lot about the way our Father wired you… Good stuff. Thanks, Bill.
Dave Arnold
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 7:39 am
Yea things. I’d walk to school, too, explore words, crawl through sewers, you name it. So much of our world lives in fear today – terrorism, shootings, etc. But I remind myself that one day the lion will lie down with the lamb!
Floyd
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 10:54 am
Good call, Dave. I did some crazy things, but crawling through sewers wasn’t one of them! Thanks, man. The vision of the escape in Shawshank Redemption comes to mind! Uhhhhh!
Betty Jo
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 7:54 am
Oh Floyd, you’ve got me giggling with this one. It reminds me so much of my three younger siblings and me; and our king-of-the-castle father. My brother was the brave one, crossed the line too many times only to find out my father meant exactly what he said. I never could understand how my brother could turn around and repeat the scenario again and again. Not me, I was a fast learner! I can remember well that sound of the belt snapping at my father’s belt loops as it passed through quickly to connect with my brother’s bottom! LOL
Floyd
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 10:58 am
That is a distinct sound one never forgets! I’m with you, I tried to avoid that pain as much as possible! Although I still crossed the line, but at least I was trying to get away with it! You gotta give those kind of people credit in some twisted way I suppose… My brother Bobby and your brother Wayne sound like two peas in a pod. I’m praying for Wayne, sister. Keep me posted. Thank you, Betty Jo.
Betty Draper
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 10:01 am
A good healthy fear of a loving father is a good thing. Hard to watch parents allow their kids to walk over them with disrespect. I remember once in Bolivia we were shopping for tennis shoes for Jared. He was giving me fits wanting the most expensive kind pushing me too far with his disrespect. I handed him the money that I had and said you look for them…and here is enough for cab fare, I’m done. He never argued with me again over the expensive tennis shoes. My motto is never give into what ever the child is being disrespect about. You throw a fit , you get nothing. I even use that with my grandchildren….sometimes. It’s my job to spoil them right??????
By the way, Jared was old enough to shop and get a cab on his own in Bolivia.
Floyd
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 11:02 am
Good for you! That’s exactly what I’m talking about! How do children learn self respect if they can’t respect someone else?! It is a learned behavior and our world is missing out. My dad knew my brother would be safe even if it was dark. It was a good lesson, he never did that again either! Good sample and story, Betty. And yes, I’d say you’ve earned the right to do just what it is you believe grandmothers should do! God is good! (smiling!) Thanks, Betty.
Dolly@Soulstops
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 10:39 am
Floyd,
What a story…how did your brother get home first? Wishing you a full of God’s joy, middle of the week 🙂
Floyd
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 11:07 am
He ran through all the shortcuts through the fields and between houses kind of as the crow flies, but it couldn’t have been easy in the dark and he was a fast runner. Thank you for the blessings and God’s blessings on you and your family as well, Dolly. Thanks.
April
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 12:28 pm
My dad was messing with his sisters in the backseat of the car one day on their way home. My grandfather kept telling him to cut it out and finally warned him that if he didn’t stop, he would have to ride in the trunk of the car. My dad made the mistake of smarting off and sure enough, my grandfather pulled the car over, told my dad to get out and made him get in the trunk of the car. He only drove about a mile or two up the road before he got my dad back out, but what a lesson!
Floyd
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 2:34 pm
Lesson learned!!! Seriously, as long as the kids can’t get hurt I think it’s the best thing for them. I know it was for me! Great story! Thanks, Hazel. I’ll bet your dad still doesn’t like small dark places!
tcavey
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 2:08 pm
That’s a great story- I wonder how he did beat you home…wonder if he hitched a ride?
Don’t get me started on the entitlement Sandro plaguing our kids (and many adults) today. Once I get started I sprint!
Floyd
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 2:35 pm
He used the short cuts through the fields and people’s backyards, but never did tell me which ones, plus he is seriously a fast sprinter. Kinda the way you are with the subject of entitlement! Thanks, TC. We’re on the same page… as usual!
child of God
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 3:48 pm
Good for your dad. 🙂
We have a 10k dirt road without much traffic on it and there have been a few times my kids have had to run either behind or in front of the truck to make it home. Love the country life.
Blessings brother. Now I know why you have such good morals, your father instilled them.
Floyd
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 2:38 pm
Good for you! You’re training your kids to be strong and great people with the principles of our heavenly Father. It just doesn’t get any better than that. That is true love! My mom and dad both, character based on Biblical principles was paramount to my dad and still is for my mom. Thanks for the kind words and for doing your part. I love to hear those kind of stories! Thank you!
Barb Raveling
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 5:09 pm
This brings back good memories, Floyd. Although I complained at the time. I had to walk two miles to school each way in junior high, carrying my saxophone one many days. I can still remember switching it from hand to hand, wishing I’d chosen the flute for an instrument. When we walked to grade school, you could see kids all over walking to school. Nowadays in our little town, you hardly ever see kids walking to school. They all ride buses. I feel sorry for some of the things kids are missing out on these days.
Floyd
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 3:03 pm
Wow. You just reminded me of the days of french horn and trombone… I finally wised up and switched to trumpet! The sweaty handles, struggling to hang on, swinging it out in front of us to make the hand off to share the load… So many lessons we received were “built in.” The kids today have such a disadvantage with all their advantages… I’m with you, Barb. Thanks for that stroll down memory lane, I sense a story in there somewhere! Thanks, Barb.
Barb Raveling
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 5:45 pm
Glad to be the inspiration for a story! 🙂
Floyd
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 6:54 pm
And I appreciate it!
Hazel Moon
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 5:11 pm
We lived in a time when a father’s word meant business. As for Bobby, he must have flew home! Maybe a neighbor gave him a ride? Who knows, Bobby is not saying.
I don’t know how healthy my fear of my dad was. I held in a lot of anger until years later God rid me of that anger. I have a chapter in Book One about that. I am sending my last three book one to my cousins, as I have ordered edition two of book one. Also I am requesting BookTango to do an E-Book of Book one and am waiting for their approval.
Floyd
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 3:05 pm
Good for you! I love your books, Hazel. Your stories remind me of some of my own that I’ve forgotten… Nothing better than a story to drive home a lesson or point. Seemed to be our Savior’s preferred method! Thanks, Hazel.
Lynn Morrissey
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 @ 6:34 pm
Well, the hits just keep on coming, Floyd! I don’t know how you do it–how you have so many wonderful true stories to share and share them so well! You’re an expert at this. Oh…..those long walks to school, and the freedom from fear in those days gone by. Not once did we allow our daughter to walk to school. Sad. I remember when I was five or six, asking my grandmother to pick me up from school with the baby buggy. I didn’t get in until we were well away from the school. I liked being pampered even then. But in retrospect, I think I just loved being with my grandmother. I so miss those carefree days, and the love and respect that we felt for those relatives older than we.
Great post, Floyd! Wonderful suprise ending.
Fondly,
Lynn
Floyd
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 3:09 pm
Isn’t it funny how our Father wired us and we can spot our tendencies way back in childhood! That’s so cool. Your grandmother did well, you two were blessed. We all have stories and they are so fun to share and learn from… and sometimes can be used as a reminder as we move forward. It is saddening how we have to watch over our kids in ways that we didn’t have to be. Thank you for the kind words, Lynn. You’re too good to me!
Mia
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 12:55 pm
Dear Floyd
Some secrets are better left alone! And I agree about this kind of parenting screaming in its absence and dire need. In South Africa it is against the law to give your children a hiding and if you get caught you have to pay a heavy fine. And needless to say, South Africa’s youth is out of control. Just last night we saw a video clip on the television during the news hour of three schoolboys killing another schoolboy with knives during the lunch break in front of all the other children. The abduction, rape and murder on young girls of just as young as 3 years by teenage boys are escalating. It reminds me of the prophetic words that in the last days men will be lovers of self and disobedient to their parents. What breaks my heart is the pleas of so many mothers who’s sons are totally lost in the gangs and addicted to drugs.
Blessings XX
Mia
Floyd
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 3:17 pm
Oh man! That is heart wrenching! The fools who’ve ignored the wisdom of God’s words have destroyed the lives of the innocent and have turned the innocent into tools of the enemy! They are blinded indeed! How can people still trust a government to make the rules for families knowing the history of the world and how it’s failed every time!!! This makes me angry and heartbroken at the same time… Utter ignorance… I appreciate you sharing with us the issues going on in your part of the world, Mia. I’m praying for you and your country… as well as this one. Thanks, Mia.
Ngina Otiende
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 2:35 pm
Looks like we pretty much had the same upbringing and dad, though continents apart.
the only thing you missed was a wild animal or two …but the dogs are just as bad 🙂
As kids we don’t enjoy the upbringing until we grow up and see all the good it did and the good that’s missing.
Good thoughts and great story, as always
Floyd
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 3:22 pm
It’s tough being a kid… but it had to be tough being my mom and dad! I’m with you, sometimes unpleasant, but worth more than can be measured by a number. Good call. I so enjoy the stories you share about your dad… Yours and mine were definitely cut from the same cloth! Thanks, Ngina.
Hannah
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 8:13 pm
Haha, that is awesome. My dad the speedster.. 😛 Great post Uncle Floyd!
Floyd
Friday, November 1, 2013 @ 9:44 am
He was a speedster, probably still is! You’re dad is one of kind, but you already knew that! It’s great to hear from you, Hannah girl. I’m glad to hear you’re doing well in the cold country… your dad misses his baby… Thanks, Hannah.
Dan Black
Thursday, October 31, 2013 @ 9:24 pm
I’ve had some good and bad experience walking to school as a child/youth. I remember during my Freshman year I walked the 1 1/2 miles to school (Mostly in the rain because I lived in Oregon). But for the remaining years had a friend who would pick me up (on most days. Great thoughts.
Floyd
Friday, November 1, 2013 @ 9:46 am
It’s amazing how well we remember the details of our early lives… Walking in the rain would be one I’d be tempted to try to forget! Thanks, Dan.
Rachael
Friday, November 1, 2013 @ 10:16 am
What is it about that middle child? The last “spanking” I remember the middle one getting was a situation very similar. We were on a road trip and towards the end the kids were getting a little fed up with the cramped space but that was no reason for…whatever happened that warranted a special stop at the next gas station. Me and the oldest and youngest got out and got ice cream while daddy and the guilty one stayed in the car. There was no belt but the closest object was my husband’s pennywhiistle. We still laugh everytime we pass that gas station somewhere just outside of Nevada as you head back in to CA remembering the pennywhistle spanking. My daughter even admits she deserved that one! Good times!
Floyd
Friday, November 1, 2013 @ 6:33 pm
It’s so intriguing how the tough times can end up being the sweetest of memories… We’re a complex creation! The middle kids do seem to have a tough time in there own way… I guess we all do if we’d admit it! Thanks, Rachael.
Rick Dawson
Saturday, November 2, 2013 @ 4:22 pm
What is this Psychic Friends Network connection we have, Floyd? This is the first time I’ve been to your blog in a week, and you use a CB jumping off point too? Too funny!
Great tale, as usual. 🙂
Floyd
Saturday, November 2, 2013 @ 6:47 pm
I know! I was shocked when I read yours earlier! Beyond coincidence I’d say… I was tempted to use the line, “Great minds think alike”… but then I thought better of it…! Thanks, brother.
Caleb Suko
Monday, November 4, 2013 @ 7:28 am
Floyd your stories are amazing, I love how you bring the nostalgia out of your childhood.
In a way I think Ukraine is a lot like your childhood. We walk everywhere. That’s one of the main differences we notice after coming back to the States. If you’re going to walk in the States you have to intentionally go out of your way to do it and many of the streets are not very convenient for walking because there are no sidewalks and cars a whizzing by!
Here’s another thing my kids noticed. The children in Sunday school were not very disciplined. In fact after the first Sunday here my oldest boy said, “I’m not going back to that class, the kids are out of control”. Now he just sits with the adults.
So maybe you’re right, we do need a return a return to parents who set a standard for their children and then expect them to keep it. Parents who love their children with hugs and kisses and discipline when necessary.
Floyd
Monday, November 4, 2013 @ 5:20 pm
Amen, Caleb! The kids are running the asylum in a lot of cases!!! There’s nothing wrong with teaching kids through discipline and control to a Biblical degree. How else will they learn self control and self discipline! God’s ways are tested and tempered with His wisdom… and the ones of folly are trying to reinvent things based on their enlightenment… I’ve come to realize the best things I ever got from my parents were the things I didn’t get… Thanks, Caleb.
Loren Pinilis
Tuesday, November 5, 2013 @ 4:33 pm
It was a blast of that gas that propelled him home, perhaps?
Your dad reminds me in many ways of my own.
Floyd
Tuesday, November 5, 2013 @ 5:04 pm
Too funny! Could be! What a blessing to be raised by real men of God, faith, and wisdom. Good call! Thanks, Loren.
Nancy
Thursday, November 7, 2013 @ 6:02 pm
This culture seems to be raising kids that have zero respect for their parents and other elders. Delayed gratification is another thing not learned. Loved the story!
Floyd
Friday, November 8, 2013 @ 10:28 am
The delayed gratification is how we come to appreciate what we have. What value is anything if it costs us nothing?!!! Well said, Nancy. Wisdom and commons sense are not so common these days! Thanks, Nance
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