Description: This picture has a lot to say. You can see my first dog, Barney. He is just a pup in this photo. I must have been really small back then. Maybe I was in elementary school. We couldn’t really play with him because he was always on a chain. I remember the day that I came home and saw him lying dead on the ground with his tongue out. The funny thing is that I was quiet about it and didn’t cry until a few weeks later at the dinner table. I’m guessing that might be why they went ahead and got Marble. He was great to play with when he was a puppy because I could hold him close to me and think about stuff. But before long, he got big and jumpy and was put on the same chain as Barney. The two looked just like each other. Behind Barney is the big oak tree in our back yard. This was our designated play area. You can see a tire swing hanging off of it and a big sand pile as well. There was a regular swing set on the front side of it. I remember just laying on my back and lookup up through the branches. The leaves would blow in the wind with a great sound and I could see the sky in small areas between the leaves. I loved that tree. I hope it is still standing today. My dad was a big fire wood kind of guy. We had radiators all throughout the house, but we also had a large iron wood stove in our living room. My brother and I would come in from the snow and squeeze the water out of our gloves onto the wood stove for kicks. It was fun watching how the water would boil and turn into steam really fast. Dad would also put iron pans full of water on the stove if the air got too dry in the house. Dad had five acres of wooded property up in Delray, West Virginia that we would go off to every now and then. He would cut down any dead trees that he found and then cut them up. My brother and I would grab the wood and haul them over to the van. We would sometimes take turns with who would stack the logs in the van while the other ran and picked up the wood. My back would kill me from bending over when I was in there. Actually, my back would kill me when I ran to get the wood as well. It was hard work. Behind the wood tree is the cherry tree next to the green apple tree. That cherry tree had split in half, but my parents got a winch and brought it back together. The tree survived and we would still make cherry pies every year afterward. We would spend hours pitting them with a cherry pitter. Mom really knew how to make those pies really sweet. She would also make apple pies too. Behind the cherry and apple trees is a shack. There are 4 beds in there. Actually, they were remains of beds. There was wood with rope that you would put a mattress on top of, but it was mainly full of junk. There was a chicken coup attached to the back made of metal. Only dad would go in to feed them and get the eggs. Behind that building is the old willow tree. The building closest to the camera is the garage. I would spend hours up in the attic of the garage just looking through my parents junk. It was really hot up in there. Sometimes I would just stand at the top of the ladder and look out the window at the top just looking at the back yard. I was afraid of heights so getting all the way up into the attic meant that I would have to get back on the ladder. Getting on a ladder to go down is harder then getting off when you are at the top. I still have problems with the step ladder up to my attic today.

Date Taken: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 at 5:31:46 AM

Original Size: 457×469 (30.2 KB)

Accessibility Description (Generated for Search & Screen Readers): This image captures a tranquil backyard scene featuring a wooden picnic table set on a grassy area. In the background, a lush tree provides shade, and a stone wall is visible along with a garage structure. The overall atmosphere is serene, suggesting a space suitable for relaxation or gathering.

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Source: Imported (Monday, March 2, 2026 at 3:30:34 AM) from Flickr Archive (August 16, 2021)

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Originally Uploaded to Flickr: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 at 9:31:46 PM

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