Our
Neighbors

The neighbors that lived on the farms that surrounded ours were very friendly and we made some very good friends with two of the couples. When we first moved there they helped us with the farming and many other activities that made ranch life more interesting. Wilson and Mary lived on the last farm on California Mesa before dropping down off the mesa to sundance road that lead to our lane. At the bottom of the hill was a T and turning left took us to our lane and just a little farther past our lane and up the abobe hill to the left was Charlie and Jeanie's home. Both are marked on map.

Wilson was a farmer but also worked in the Beet factory as a millwright. He was a very interesting person with a great sense of humor. Mary was a an awesome cook and had to be very patient to be able tolive with Wilson. He kept promising her an indoor bathroom but never seemed to get around to it.

Charlie and Jeanie had just retired and moved to their farm shortly before we moved in. Charlie had been a carpenter but grew up on a farm and was knowledgeable about milk cows, horses, chickens etc. We helped each other out when the occasion needed it. One other neighbor was Bob and his family which were on the ranch just across our fields to the west, up on a small mesa that his ranch sat on. On the other side of his ranch was the Roubideau Creek and along the creek was a Colorado Work Camp for troubled young men. To the west of there was BLM and National Forest. Bob helped me with the crops by combining the oats and gave me tips on irrigating. He also gave me a Warm Morning Parlor Stove which I put in our kitchen.

One day Wilson asked me if I could help him with butchering a few of his hogs. Of course I said I could help and I had helped my father when he butchered a hog every 4th of July and BBQ it so I was experienced But dad's hog were only about 225 pounds and Wilson's was 700. It was alot of work but we finished it and then Wilson cured the hams and bacon with salt in his root cellar in wooden boxes. He added some venison to the pork and made homemade breakfast sausage which was seasoned perfectly and was the best I have ever eaten. However the hams and bacon were so salty they were difficult to eat. On birthdays and Holidays the six of us would get together and have dinner and enjoy just each others company as we had no relatives close.