I must be a Redneck

Reading Dave's post below reminded me of the time me and the wife hauled some stuff home from a sale. It would have been in the late 1970s when I had a 1969 Ford Galaxy 500 convertible.(The only other thing we had to drive was a 1952 Chev pickup) It was between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We had gone to Madison WI. to see sister. Her sister got called into work so we left just a short while after we got there. On the way home I stopped in Mt. Horeb to get gas. There was a household auction going on next to the gas station. While I was getting gas the wife went over and was watching the sale. Things where not selling very well. She bought a queen size bed with mattress and box springs still in the new plastic,$25. Then they got to the kitchen stuff and there was a antique walnut corner cabinet. She got it for $40.

So here we where with a queen bed and a huge corner cabinet with just a car to haul it home on. I put the top down on the car. I then laid the mattress on the trunk and back seat up to the front seats. Then put the bed frame on the mattress. I then put the box springs on top of the bed frame. She had bought a lot of old bedding so we where able to wrap the frame so it did not get scratched. Then to top it all of I laid the corner cabinet on top of the box springs. I did buy a rope to tie it all on with.

So here we where with the furniture stacked five feet tall on the trunk and back seat. The side windows would still go up. So we put them up and turned the heater on high and took off for home. It was really not too bad as that car had the best heater of any I have ever owned. Then to just make it better it started to snow about half way home. Just powdery stuff it did not hurt anything. We did get quite a few stares when we went through down town Dubuque. LOL.

We slept on that bed until her cancer made her need a bed that would raise the head up. Daughter still uses the bed frame. That corner cabinet was a real antique. She refinished it and it shines. It is in perfect shape. She had it appraised just before she died. The guy said it would easily bring $5000-6000.

We laughed about that trip home for many years. We did not started out with much but we did alright. We loved each other and raised five kids. I kind of feel sorry for the kids today that don't get to grow with each other when they get married. They are starting out with more things but fewer ties of growing together.

I can remember going to work with just a simple ham sandwich, apple and jug of water because I did not have the money to buy a can of pop for lunch. I don't mean that I would not spend it I mean I did not have a quarter to buy a pop in my pocket.

I remember making the farm payment in the early 1980s and not having ten dollars left in the bank. I had five growing kids at home. So it was push the harness and make darn sure there was money there the next grocery day. We made it but not many women would live like that today. She would make do with whatever we had. Lots of dried beans, ham bone and cornbread there for a while. We always had meat because we had beef and pork we raised but boughten things where few and far between. They where good times really.

That does not make you a redneck. That makes you a resourceful hard working man with a great supporting cast. That is what this country is missing today.

No, I would not call you a 'redneck' whatever that really means.. I'd call you inventive, "making it work" regardless of the circumstances..

Sounds like you have a great life.. In my case bringing-up 2 special needs children, took a toll on our marriage..

Took two horses to pull the cart, then the demands of the children. Out of 26 years on marriage I think we only were alone twice on vacation..

I really don't know about kids today, you are right though..

Thanks for the story. I am now 73 and look back on life's lessons. We had nothing but God's blessings, which amount to far more than can be earned.
My wife is in the hospital today, had a modified radical masectomy yesterday. God answered many prayers.

Well - I'd say he's got a little redneck in him. : )

But that's a good thing.

Some of the best memories come from when you decide not to take life so seriously.

And good memories like that are what a good full life is all about.

Thanks for sharing that here - sometimes a reminder is needed.

Heck, JD. I think a lot of us started out that way. When I came out of the Navy in '73, I didn't have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out. Ex saw a house in the paper for $27k. Payment was $225 a month, and I wondered at times if I could find it at the end of the paycheck. Then, I used the equity in it ten years later to buy the farm. Boy, did I wonder where that was gonna come from. That bill was over $1400 a month. And then machinery bills. And then.. well, you know. If you don't get your hands dirty, and a sunburn, you ain't gonna make it in this business. Yeah, I'm a redneck, and d@mned proud of it. I earned it, it's mine, and no one can take that away. It's a badge of honor. Now, if I only had two nickels to rub together, I'd be the happiest guy in the world--

Drove from SE Ohio back to Ft Lewis (WA) with 3 deer strapped on back of my 64 buick special, trunk full of junk, back seat half full and a bigass dog with the xwife ridin shotgun..... Lookin back, wish I'da dropped her off at a shelter and let the dog up front......

JDSeller,

Thanks for the post. I guess we've all been there, but it's encouraging to hear about others also.

A Country Boy Can Survive

Tom in TN
A Country Boy Can Survive

At least I know my SIL IS a redneck. He went hunting out in Greenridge in western Maryland a few years ago. Came all the way back with a buck strapped on the back and a red ball stuck on the critters nose- three weeks before Christmas. Gotta a lot of horns and more than a few fingers from yuppies he passed---

I unloaded a trailer with three nice round round bales by unstrapping and backing down a sharp incline in a field and hitting the brakes.. yep they all rolled off.. last one took extra bump but it finally went...Im sure Im not the only one thats done this..

Great Post, I ran onto a box of our records in the basement. I made 62.50 take home and had a 80.00 dollar farm and house payment a 83 dollar car payment, that Dodge would run! plus a 30 dollar motorcycle payment. If the light bill was over 10 dollars we just read it up to 10 anyway. That was 66 still live in the same house today. and same wife. Vic.

I didn't know much about Mom, and Dad's finances growing up in the 40's-50's. Dad raised lima beans. I know we ate a lot of lima beans. We three kids always had good clothes, and food, and loving parents. I didn't appreciate it back then, but as I look back, I was one lucky kid. Stan

Red necks, white socks, and blue ribbon beer. BTDT. Dave

Thanks for sharing, stories like these give me hope. We struggle, work hard and love each other and have faith that things will work out. Hearing that successful people went through the same things makes it easier to bear.

Convertibles definitely have their extra uses, because the top goes down. They're also less expensive especially if you buy one in the fall, I've had several and still have 2 today.

One is finally wore out and needs to go, but the best story I can come up with besides hauling small materials and tools, ('91 mercury capri XR2, 4 cyl. turbo, got excellent MPG, so I worked out of it for awhile) is riding home in a rain storm without a top and or one in terrible condition.

I made it home with a ratty top, frayed and flappin, 30 miles in the rain, not heavy but more than a drizzle and made all the traffic lights (9) when I got close to home without stopping, which is almost impossible to do now, very rare to time it right + traffic, just does not happen, the remains of the top was dry, I never stopped from point to point, and made it into the garage, I thought that was pretty cool.

Another time, had packed a dashboard and some other items for a ford ranger in the back and was returning from the junk yard, big ole thunderstorm was upon me and it let loose, I zipped past some traffic and cheated, got home and not much got wet, trick was not to stop.

Put a new top on 'er myself and soon after she was just worn out, not the motor or trans, all the other stuff, had 'er for 15 years.

LOL we kinda did the same thing in Dec 74. I moved my wife and oldest son, then just a year old to Ft Riley. Everything we owned was in and tied down on top of a 71 AMC Gremlin. Raised 7 kids on a soldiers pay. Things were tight until I made SSG.

Still married to her today.......don't think we did to bad. We are past the point of buying things for each other cause we se somthing we want we just go ahead and buy it.

JD thanks for sharing that.

Rick

Hmmmmm.... maybe I can talk the wife into a convertible if I approach it from the angle of a back up for the pickup.... of course, that is what the new flatbed trailer was supposed to be. Perhaps I'll have to wait a year or so more to use that justification again.

Christopher

There must be alot of Mexican rednecks here in Georgia cause I see them all the time going down the road with 4 of them all holding onto the mattress. I see this 3 or 4 times a month.

Cherish the memory. We forget all the humdrum days of doing the same old, same old, but in every life there are a few wild and crazy days that stand out forever. Great story. Thanks for sharing a wild and crazy day.

You know JD, that was a pretty good and very touching story, all of it. Every last bit of it. I can relate to all of it, and envision it.

Thanks for sharing. It brings back many memories.

Mark

JD, thank you for your story . The wife & I really enjoyed it as we used to farm 40 miles straight east of Dubuque. We have been thru Madison & Mt.Horeb many times. We could picture you all going thru Dubuque as we have been there lots of times. We got a good laugh out of it. Do you live in the Dubuque area now? clint

I still live just fifteen miles west of Dubuque.

Great story!