Diving Under the Bed=Early Memories from Aunt Violet

I remember Mother picking weevil nests out of the government issue farina so that she could fee the family. I remember a supper of lettuce out of our garden that the deer had not eaten yet, sprinkled with a little vinegar and precious sugar. I remember a big bag of huge white beans and a bag of grapefruit , also government issue. I remember Mother coming home from the store with a few oranges and I remember eating half of one. It was so good!!! I remember carrying quart bottles of milk that we sold for 3 cents a quart to Osterbergs store at the lake that he then sold to the tourists. I remember wearing one of my sister's old blouses as a dress and I was so ashamed that I had no underwear to shoes. Mother used to make underwear from flour sacks but sometimes there was no flour. I remember a man who delivered cattle to St.Paul to sell for slaughter. He took a bull from us and said he sold it for $39.00. I remember Mother crying because his fee was $30.00 and the slaughterhouse charged the rest. We got nothing. We could have eaten it. I remember Eugene poaching a deer that he had to hang in the forest because it was against the LAW. We ate off of it for a while until one day we found that the wild animals had finished it off. The game warden whose name was Franny Johnson paid a token duty call to investigate the major crime. He was a compassionate man whom I shall never forget. I remember we had a skunk take up residence under the kitchen floor.. Mother followed it's movements with a loaded shotgun and when she was sure she was on top of it she fired. The killed the skunk and Neil had to climb into the crawl space to remove the carcass. We filled the hole in the kitchen floor with old rags. I remember once when Mother walked over to Silvi's . She usually walked across the field. She did not come home for a long time and I was very worried. She finally came home and her hair was mussed and she was quite disheveled. I asked her what had happened, and she said the bull had chased her and she had to climb up a tree to get away from it.. I remember the cold winters when spilled water froze on the kitchen floor because it was dangerous to keep the little barrel stove going at night. I remember my legs aching so badly I would get as close to it as I dared and cry with the pain. There are so many dismal memories and all this went on until FDR was elected president and Harold Stassen (a Republican) was elected governor and things got a little better. But at least it taught me compassion in my later years and disdain for the mouthings of politicians who, like the full broker, love money more than their immortal souls and they still broker bull but in a different form. I wonder what they will remember when they grow old?