At The Sky Ranch by Esther

[Editor's note: This story was written by Esther]

Skyline Boulevard Redwood City CA

Mom and Dad bought a place on top of the mountain near Redwood City, California about year after I was married to Vernon. They called it The Sky Ranch. It was always a place where the family could gather and spend time visiting. We helped Mom do work around the house or helped Dad as he added on to the building.
Dad was going to build under the house. Part of the house was on top of the mountain and the rest of it was over lapping down the side of the hill. They thought it would help to have more rooms when they had company over.

At that time Marion, Robert and son were staying in the cabin. Vernon and I were camping in a chuck wagon on the property, which was fine for us. Marion was able to cook in her cabin. It was nice for the baby too, as there was so much activity going on, it provided some quite at nap time.

Vernon started to look for work but there were not many jobs available. World War II was over and jobs were not easy to get. So he was able to help with all the different jobs needed to keep things running well.

Skyline Boulevard Redwood City CA

The first thing he and Dad did was to trim some redwood trees so the sun would shine and help to dry the fog when it was so thick and it was great to have the sun shinning to keep it warmer in the cold damp weather

When it was warmer, Dad started removing the dirt to begin working on the new rooms. As that job was getting done, Dad started doing the fittings for the water pipes and the plumbing for the bathroom fixtures. Sometimes I would help or some of the boys would have free time and were there to grab a shovel or hammer or even a saw to work with us while Dad told them what to do. There was five brothers plus Robert and Vernon.

There was Mickey, Charles, Elbert, Richard and Jerry. It was Elbert and Vernon that always had the notion to get a deer and have a great feast and get everyone over to eat and to spend the day helping Dad.  Mom would work right along with them and they may not have worked fast, but they did have a great time doing it.

That year was a memorable Christmas. By this time, Marion and Robert had moved to a nice home just short distant from the Sky Ranch and Vernon and I moved in to the cabin. I loved having a bath room. Marion would make lovely decorations to trim the tree and make a scene of an old fashion country house with Christmas holiday trim. She had the small trees to fit the size of the log house and it look like a picture post card. Marion invited everyone to celebrate Christmas dinner at her house, and she was a wonderful hostess. Robert carved the turkey.

It was along this time that Mom and Dad bought another house in Redwood City. Vernon found a job at Bethlehem steel in South San Francisco. And I found a job at a nursing home. We rented a room from a wonderful lady and we struck out on our own.

We spent every day we had free at the Sky Ranch. 'Till we left and moved to Baton Rouge where Vernon was raised in an old country house. The old country house in Baton Rouge had some huge very old Oak Trees planted along both sides of the drive way to the house.

I never knew what home sickness was like till I moved there. I really liked it there but I missed Mom so much. Vernon and his family were very good to me but I would wake up crying. After several times, Vernon said he would take me home. It was good to get back home.

After that I never was home sick again. It was not too long when Vernon said he was going back and I was ready to go with him. It was after we went back to Baton Rouge that we heard from the family that an earthquake had disturbed water well and the well had gone dry.

I loved that place and remember so many good days that we spent there with everyone having a great time.


Skyline Boulevard Redwood City CA