Cousins Story 14
Another Belheumer Ferry story has to do with all 3 families and a berry picking expedition. It was the end of June or beginning of July. My Family rode either with Uncle Fred or Uncle Jake; we had no vehicle at the time. The year was probably 1938; Gerald was just a toddler, whose walking was still very shaky. We arrived and parked, and the men & Rudolph immediately took off to find the best Saskatoons they could. The women stayed within sight of their five kids and we kids played around the vehicles, ventured into the nearby bushes alongside our mothers to eat Saskatoons, played hide-and-seek and just had fun. Eventually, we tired out and stayed close to the car and truck.
Gerald became cranky and tired and so he was put into the back of Uncle Jake's truck for a nap. The three women didn't think all of them were now needed to watch us; one stayed within eyesight but the other two went deeper into the bush where berries were more plentiful. After all, they had brought cream cans, wash tubs and boilers to fill and they were not about to go home with empty containers.
But Gerald would not sleep. This wasn't home. The "bed" was strange. He began to howl. The nearest Mom called to us girls to amuse him. We tried. Nothing worked until we started feeding him berries. Yum! Those were good! Whenever we stopped giving him berries, the howling began all over again.
There he sat, like a fat little Buddha, demanding more, more, more. As dutiful caregivers we gave him more just to shut him up. This soon had interesting results. Every time one of the Moms came to empty her milk-pail full of berries, there was a dirty diaper to empty too!
Since there were no Pampers in those days and Mom only had 6 cloth diapers, they were soon all dirty. They had to be rinsed in the river and hung on bushes to dry.
"Stop feeding him berries!" the Moms would say each time they came to the truck." They're giving Jerry the runs!"
But the minute they disappeared into he bush Gerald began to howl, so WE FED HIM MORE anyway.
Luckily all the berries did no permanent damage and Gerald still likes Saskatoons.
Gerald became cranky and tired and so he was put into the back of Uncle Jake's truck for a nap. The three women didn't think all of them were now needed to watch us; one stayed within eyesight but the other two went deeper into the bush where berries were more plentiful. After all, they had brought cream cans, wash tubs and boilers to fill and they were not about to go home with empty containers.
But Gerald would not sleep. This wasn't home. The "bed" was strange. He began to howl. The nearest Mom called to us girls to amuse him. We tried. Nothing worked until we started feeding him berries. Yum! Those were good! Whenever we stopped giving him berries, the howling began all over again.
There he sat, like a fat little Buddha, demanding more, more, more. As dutiful caregivers we gave him more just to shut him up. This soon had interesting results. Every time one of the Moms came to empty her milk-pail full of berries, there was a dirty diaper to empty too!
Since there were no Pampers in those days and Mom only had 6 cloth diapers, they were soon all dirty. They had to be rinsed in the river and hung on bushes to dry.
"Stop feeding him berries!" the Moms would say each time they came to the truck." They're giving Jerry the runs!"
But the minute they disappeared into he bush Gerald began to howl, so WE FED HIM MORE anyway.
Luckily all the berries did no permanent damage and Gerald still likes Saskatoons.
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