Where Did All the Cowboys Go?

Gravel roads lead to the eighty-acre Ulrich Farm where Gene lives with his family. In the spring the ditches are full of wild strawberries, plum bushes, and poison ivy. In the fall the ditches reveal milkweeds and cattails especially near the low lying marshy areas. The long lane leading from the gravel road to the house is as full of surprises as the Yellow Brick Road in the Wizard of Oz. Wild roses climb over foxtails and sandburs in the ditches along the narrow lane, and in the spring the hilly pasture is a carpet of dandelions hiding beneath wild daisies. Honey bees buzz around the dandelions, and collect nectar from the yellow flowers. The farm scenery changes every season and brings surprises in the springtime with the birth of new calves, piglets, and kittens born in the barn’s hayloft. In the summer the huge burr oaks hide the summer sun and provide nests for the squirrels. When fall arrives, acorns drop from the trees providing food for the squirrels, and Gene rakes the leaves into large piles where he hides and lies quietly. He feels secure and protected under the large mound of oak leaves while the squirrels and an occasional rabbit discover him spying on their world. In the winter the narrow dirt lane becomes packed with snow and provides a slope where Gene slides on a shovel that is used to scoop snow in the winter and corn in the fall. The lane leading to the house is no Yellow Brick Road for his parents. In the winter it is blocked with snow and in the spring impassable because the spring rains turn it into a muddy quagmire. His dad is forced to leave their 1933 Chevrolet parked at the end of the lane. The car remains there until the family uses it to go shopping on Saturday and church on Sunday. What's more, in the summer you wouldn’t find a scarecrow, lion, or tin man skipping along with Dorothy. Instead, the dry wind blows the dust from the dirt lane into the house. No, this isn’t the Land of OZ. It’s rural Iowa in 1941. The house and the farm buildings lie between forty tillable acres to the north, and a hilly pasture to the south full of giant burr oaks and gnarly cedar trees. Twisting around at the base of the hills is a small meandering stream, which leads to the Raccoon River. The only useful purpose for the tree-covered pasture is to provide a grazing area for the farm animals. More importantly to Gene is that it provides a great playground for him and his brothers. The winding stream is a great place for boys to play. Gene and his two older brothers build mud dams in the creek, and on hot summer afternoons they cool off in the trapped muddy water. After a downpour the rock and stick barriers wash away, giving the boys an opportunity to improve their engineering skills. The house is a two-story farmhouse that needs painting. The home’s worn shingles and weathered wood siding are in part protected by three large burr oaks. Additional oaks extend down the hill and merge with cedar scrubs near the creek. In the winter the house is drafty, and Gene’s dad nails tarpaper around the lower outside of the home to keep the winter wind from invading. There is no modern plumbing and no electricity. Drinking water is pumped from a hand pump located about forty yards west of the house. A rain barrel catches water from a downspout, and that water is used for washing clothes. There are no modern conveniences, and the outhouse is fifty yards east of the house. Family members waste no time when using the privy and doing their business. In the winter it becomes an especially quick trip when the temperatures fall below freezing. On the enclosed porch that is attached to the kitchen is a chamber pot. The small enamel pot is available for those needing to go to the bathroom on a cold winter night. The next morning it is dumped in the outdoor privy, and washed and scrubbed by the person who used it during the night. In the summer a sticky fly strip is fastened to the ceiling of the outdoor toilet to reduce the number of flies. The Des Moines Register and a battery-operated radio are the daily connections to the world. Saturday’s movie newsreels provide a visual capsule of the weekly world events. At night the family listens to radio programs like the Lone Ranger and Mystery Theater. Once World War II begins the family gathers around the radio to hear President Roosevelt’s fireside chats. During the day his mom listens to Kitchen Clatter from Shenandoah, Iowa, and her two favorite soap operas One Man’s Family and Lorenzo Jones and His Wife Bell.