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Donna Harbertson (Persinger)
I am sitting in a Hilton Motel in Bozeman, MT typing two fingered on my iPad. My husband is here on Masonic business and is in meetings so I thought I would catch up on the Forum. Great to read stories from Bev and Steve. I knew others were out there reading and so now we will learn more about each other. Charlie and I hoped to go to Yellowstone on the way home, but did not plan well and could not get reservations. But we will try for Oct. maybe cuz it won't be so crowded. Anyway, Janet, somehow I did not get the copy of about your living in the Terrace. My first address was H3 Navy Way. My dad got a job in Japan when I was 11, and we moved there as a family. That was 1955, and so Japan was still somewhat post war. We lived in one of maybe 12 small houses owned by Mama and Papa San. That is the only name I remember. All renters were American. Not lots of kids, but all ages so we had friends. My dad built me wooden stilts, not fancy, but learned to walk on them. We rode a bus to school on the military base. We used to sing on the bus rides, 99 bottles of beer on the wall, and "the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the worms play pinochle on your snout". You know wholesome uplifting music like that. Papas San took car of garbage and sorted through it and recycled anything usable. I got in trouble a few times for throwing away something I didn't like and mom found out because if it was clothing it would be washed and hanging on MamaSan's clothesline. We had a maid, Yoshiko, and she wanted us to sponsor her when we went home, but my parents did not want the responsibility and could not afford to. This makes me think of things we did and saw. We went to see the big Buddha, went swimming in the ocean, saw many rice patties and people working in them. I saw men fishing with ducks or some kind of larger bird. They had some kind of noose on their necks and when they caught a fish would tighten the noose so the fish wouldn't be swallowed and would take the fish. It doesn't seem possible, but that is my story, and I am sticking to it. Our maid, Yoshiko, handmade me a child's kimono, which I still have. Come to think about it,I bet it would fit my granddaughter now. Their produce was huge, but we weren't allowed to eat it because it was fertilized by human manure to put it nicely which was carried in "honey wagons". They bathed in outside hot tubs,and as we drove by sometimes we saw naked people. Quite an eye opener for innocent me. My brother was only six so not quite enthralled as I was. We went to a private bathhouse where you would wash in a separate area, and then be rinsed off before getting into a pool. My dad wanted to do it Japanese style where all ages and sexes mixed, but my Mom refused so we had a private bathing area. We went to outside fairs and I actually tried eating a baby octopus on a stick, it was not so tasty and kind of rubbery, my dad was an adventurous man and would try almost anything or try eating most anything. I wasn't that way when younger, but now willing to try new foods within reason. There is a show on TV about foreign countries and their food. I have only watched a few times, but wouldn't try most of it. If dad were still alive I am sure he would and try to get me to try it too. We were in Japan for less than a year, I think there were marrital problems,so kids and mom came home and lived with grandma and grandpa Steed at 952 - 12th street. I finished 6th grade at Gramercy where I met many of you. We then moved back to the Terrace when dad came home and I went first term at South Jr. High with old friends from the Terrace. We lived on B something close to Washington. I had to share a room with my brother, gross. But my parents bought the home I grew up in, it was in El Rancho, a subdivision just east if the old Industrial School, where bad boys were sent. I lived there until I married and mom lived there until we moved her to assisted care and then a nursing home because she had Alzheimer's, it is my most feared disease because mom had it, grandma Steed had it, great grandma Moore had it and one of grandma Steeds sisters had it. By the way my grandma steed grew up on 12th street. Her house was right at the bottom of Jackson Hill on the North East corner. When Grandpa steed had married Grandma they bought the lot just west of my grandma's parents from them and built their home next to her parents. After my great grandpa Moore died my great grandmother Moore married great grandpa's brother, Uncle Henry, we called him, and they moved to 16th street. Just a little family history thrown in. So I then went to Mound Fort Jr. High and Ben Lomond with all of you. My grandma Steed went to Mound Fort, my dad went to Mound Fort, and my mom for a while, then her family moved to Heber City because of the depression when my grandpa was finally able to get a job with Utah Power and light. She graduated from Wasatch High in Heber. Did I wear you out ? But my two fingers are tired and so I will say adieu until later. Love all your stories. Donna
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