Story told by Richard Burton, 1999
Whiskers
One of the rites of passage was to bring your girl or boy friend to the Thanksgiving gathering on the ranch. Also at that time you had to grow a beard to prove your manhood. The first year I brought Carol, I had a nine month growth on my chin. This was a red flag to the Swagerty boys. After dinner Clem and Jack got the razor while Floyd and Darrell sat on top of me. I think that Floyd being a teacher had to put up with a lot from boys at his school and he could get his revenge. This got them all a “Lord of Gosham.” I survived and even Carol came back the next year. She probably came to see what other plans the uncles had for me.
Christmas in Milpitas
Right after World War II, Darrell came home from the army and moved to the Standish Ranch outside of Milpitas. This was when Milpitas and Mission San Jose were two separate towns and not one big subdivision. For a couple of years the Burton family would go out there on Christmas Eve, spend the night and have Christmas dinner together. I must have been seven years old because Nancy was just a baby then. My big gift that year was my first electric train. Dad and Darrell set it up and checked it out for three hours. I wasn’t allowed to touch it that night and all I could say was, “My train sure looks like fun.” After that Keith, Tom and I were thrown into a bunk and told to go to sleep while the adults played cards.
Swimming Lessons from Uncle Jack
When I was between eleven and fifteen years old I would spend one month of summer vacation from school on the farm in Escalon. Grandpa would put me to work usually moving the irrigation water, milking cows, or working on his bean field by Tracy. He paid me room and board and fifty dollars. That was a lot of money to a junior high kid in 1950. I’d sleep in the front room by the east window. Every fourth of July right at dawn, Grandpa would let loose a shotgun blast right outside the window. He thought that was a big joke. It would send me under the bed and Grandma up a tree. Uncle Jack and Aunt Jean lived there in a cinder house about 200 feet from the main house. I never knew their working arrangement but knew at times it was pretty hostile.
My first summer there, Uncle Jack and I were walking along the main irrigation ditch. He asked, “How come you never come out here and go swimming?” I then made the big mistake and told him the truth. “I don’t know how.”
The old cow dog was with us and Jack picked him up and said, “Watch the dog”, and proceeded to throw him in the ditch. The dog paddled around, got out on the other side and went back to the house. Jack then grabbed me by the neck and seat of my pants and said “You do the same.” I paddled around, got out the other side and went back to the house.
This earned me a “My Stars” from Grandma and to Jack a “Land of Goshen.” I’ll explain those terms later. The next morning Aunt Melva picked me up and took me to Escalon High School for swimming lessons where I learned properly. Fifty years later the school and pool are still there.
Back to Grandma’s language terms. When she said “My stars” it meant she was surprised. “Land of Goshen” meant she was upset and you should consider yourself cussed out good.
Train Ride
When I was a little shaver, Aunt Lucy and Uncle Mel used to babysit Tom and me. Once Uncle Mel had to go to work on a weekend. He was a train engineer. He took me with him and I lived every boy’s fantasy. I got to move the engine around. For years after that every time Tom and I got into an argument, I’d have the last word by saying “At least I drove a train!”
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 