Lester, Allen, Coon Dog...
Going through old notes on facebook, I came across a few pictures of my Dad up to his usual antics. 70-something and we still have to worry about his carrying-on more than the toddlers or teenagers. However, we all do hope that we can grow up to enjoy life as much as he does when the opportunity presents itself.
He always was a hard worker. He would have fun while he worked, even in the summer heat to earn college money.
That's him in 1957 when he worked for Del Monte, out in the fields bringing in the harvest. Oh, to hear those tales of Del Monte coming to the mountains and getting a load of college kids to live in bunk houses to earn money for another year of school.
Dad always rattled off to ditty to us: Allen Lester from Winchester. Well, it did help us learn where we lived. He is the son of Douglas Irvin and Mary Emmer (Holcomb) Halcomb of Gordon, Linefork area in Letcher County, Kentucky. Irv is the son of Jesse & Susanna "Susan" (Stamper) Holcomb. Mary is the daughter of Joseph "Joe" and Nancy (Cornett) Halcomb/Holcomb.
That is Dad in 1981 in front of Granny Halcomb's house. The house he grew up in from school age to adult. It is along the Linefork Creek, near Gordon, Letcher County, Kentucky. Poor creek is wider than a lot of rivers I've seen, but is was just shy of having enough length to be classified as a river. It was so cool when they moved in that house for a little boy. There was a "window" that was built in that really was an old car door. All they had to do to let in a little fresh air was crank the window down.
Sadly, the house burned to the ground years later after no family was living in it. Then the land became overgrown with weeds, and there is no sign of it having had a house, outhouse, couple of wells, barns, not even the long sidewalk that went up to the roadside. On an adventure there, I did find a small chunk of the old sidewalk. Both homes I've had, I put it out in a flowerbed area I walk in often. Little things like that help give pause to days gone by, as well as thanks for having been picked to be a part of this family.
That is Dad enjoying life with the kids. This merry-go-round is best EVER when voted on by my kids. It is in Berne, Indiana. I highly recommend it for there are giant swings and old monkey bars. The great toys that we kids loved, and now deemed unsafe for school yards, but totally waiting on adults to play along with kids on them. It was taken Labor Day 2009. The weather was drizzly. We had stopped for a picnic at a covered bridge just south of the area. And of course always stop to play in the park.
Dad saw I had my camera out (as usual) and hollered: "Howdy, folks!"
I think my Dad dreams of the days when the grandsons get "toys" that he can play on. In 2006, that is him jumping right on a go-kart one of his grandsons had gotten. He isn't a playing sports kind of guy. Get out a big boy toy or anything to do with hunting & fishing... and he can't get there fast enough to join right in on the fun. He did well, no accidents or crashes. I don't even think he had a near miss that day.
On a Saturday after Christmas in 2008, the kids & grandkids gathered as usual. One of his grandsons had gotten a brand spanking new dirt bike from "Santy Claws". Dad loved watching how much fun the older grandsons and sons were having.
He got a quick rundown on the operation of the machine, declined a helmet, and took off.
Dad rounded the barn with the bike pushed to full throttle.
I had to jump back to avoid getting hit while trying to take a picture that wasn't blurry.
This is what stopped the bike, and Dad.
Dad rounded a big pine tree in the yard, still having the bike roaring at full throttle. He couldn't swing the bike to a wider curve, mind you still going full speed, thus wasn't curving wide enough to avoid the bar... and hit it full force head on, going over the handlebars.
It was quite the heart-stopping moment. Most of us had come outside to watch him, and every one of us were frozen in our shoes in shock for a few seconds. He had mud all over his bibs, it shows a bit in the following picture.
He had scrapes down both legs, a little gash on his hand I believe, but he had his spirit still in tact. There was nasty bruising for a few days. But he got back on it after supper and was on it about once a year given a chance. However, it seems that the boys tend to have 4 wheelers and go-karts and not so many dirt bikes around to catch his eye.
Oh, the biggest lesson to everyone was always asking first where the emergency shut off switch is located. My sister-in-law summed it up well when she said she will never forget him on the dirt bike, even if she loses her memory, for that vision will be her forever.
In July 2011, here is Dad with a roasted banana. He had heard about folks doing it. Someone had recommended he try it, and of course that meant he had to try it. If I recall, he didn't like it. I don't allow bananas at home during the summer -when you eat them, your body emits something that attracts mosquitoes and the kids & I seem to be hypersensitive to the bites & get whelts, thus no 'naners.
Dad brought his own, even had his name wrote on it. I must say, an ink pen marks a banana pretty well. We had all gathered for fireworks. We were worried we'd have a no fireworks gathering. The weather had been a nasty drought with terribly high heat for many weeks. There was just enough rain and break in the weather for the celebration. Sadly, the heat returned and garden harvests for everyone were pathetic.
On 23 January 2011, Dad made dinner for us. One of the best parts is he also does the clean up saying we need to "go visit with your Mother." It is the usual hill-jack dinner. Ribs (not Hoosier or western style; KY style where you boil them blandly with taters). Of course I grab BBQ sauce to pour over mine, because they raised me in Indiana. Mac & 'mater juice, corn, green beans, two pones KY corn bread, soup beans. AND, stove top peach dumplings. He took a plate to Mom and said: We sweated when we put 'em up last summer -now we're freezing eating them.
Last thoughts are what fun he creates for The Boys. My sons are lucky to be able to have outings with him at times. Here, he was taking the older one on a hike through a muddy woods. September 2011 will be one they both remember well. You can never go wrong with fashion or comfort when you wear your "Papaw Pants" -bib overalls.
