cousins2

1st Row: Doris Cloud, ?, ?, Barbara Sue Hale, ?, Tony Cloud
   2nd Row: Doris Cloud, Lanny Walls, Joyce Cloud, Roger Cloud, Billy Cloud
   Last Row: Mary Ellen Cloud, ?, Alice Hale, Larry Presley, Tinley Presley, Shirley Cloud & ?.

Send me an e-mail if you know who the question marks are. [email protected].

   When we played indians we would catch lightening bugs and use the light to decorate our faces with war paint. Our horses were dead tree limbs between our legs with a striing tied to the end in front of us and we would gallob away. We used to play cowboys too. A favorite was Bonanza. Also we would play Wagon Train. Lanny and Roger would be the wagon masters and Tony would be the scout who rode ahead to look for any signs of indians or bandits.
   Sheila and I were more like sisters than cousins. We spent as much time together as we could. Sheila, her mom was dad's sister, and her family moved back to dizney from Michigan when I was about seven or eight.

When we all got together, my brothers and her sister and brother, we usually ended up in an argument or fight. If Tony and Andrea got into a fight, then Sheila and I would end up fighting because we were each taking up for our siblings. Roger and Lanny usually just walked away and didn't get into the frakus. Mostly we played outside in the summer time.
   We would go blackberry or rasberry picking. These bushes grew wild but were probably planted by someone at some point. The way they spread and continue year after year is through birds eating the berries and their droppings landing on the soil and the seeds taking root. We used to pick them in the creek banks. We had to keep an eye out for snakes no matter where we were playing. Most snakes would rather not cross paths with humans so when they smelled or heard you coming they would leave the area or hide. The only danger was if you happened to step on one while it was snoozing in the sun or get near the den.
   We played in the creek when it was real hot and we needed to cool off. There were baby fish (minnos), tad poles, crawfish and sometimes baby water snakes. The only thing you had to be careful with was the crawfish. They really hurt if they caught you with their pinchers.
   The creek near my house and my grandparents house was safe to play in because our toilets were not built next to the creek bank.. It wasn't deep enough to go swimming in but you could laydown or sit down and get wet enough to cool off. Some areas you could walk right into the creek and some areas had high banks to steep to clim in or out.
     In the spring when the snow melted or if we got a lot of rain at one time the rain came rushing down the mountains into the creeks.   There were small bridges and round concrete cubbards along the way to the stream that ran next to the highway and eventually spilled into the Cumberland River. Sometimes there would be tree limbs, mud, rock, or bolders come washing out of the mountain taking out the small bridges on their way.   This debris would be too big to get through the cubbards and the waters would go over the banks and spread to the surrounding land.
    We lived on the opposite side of the mountain from the creek so we never had to worry about getting flooded. After the rains stopped and the water returned to normal, we would look for old rocks and fossels. Many people have found fossels and petrified wood that had turned to stone. Every time I visit Harlan County to see relatives and I know that there were heavy rains, I would head for the creek to look for rocks to bring back to New Jersey with me. I have many rocks in my flower gardens from Harlan County.
    Every summer there would be relatives come for visits and we would all get together at Mamow Cloud's house or my Mamow Hale's house depending on which side of the family it was.
     Fourth of July was the best holiday. There would be lots of relatives visiting from far away places. There was lots of food, cakes, pop and ice cream.   Since Papow Cloud's relatives mostly lived in the area, the visitors would be on Mamow Cloud's side of the family and daddy's two brothers and their families. We could stay up the road at mamow's house and play with our cousins as long as we wanted and eat as much as we were offered. Any other time daddy didn't like us to eat at Mamow & Papow's house. I guess food was pretty hard to come by and he didn't want us eating their food.
    The worst thing about your childhood is growing up and everyone moving away from Dizney.