Growing Up in Bandera

One of the pleasures of growing older is utilizing the tools I have collected over the years due to a never ending list of honey do projects. I unloaded almost everything related to plumbing after I retired and only kept a few basic tools. After 45 plus years I figured I had done my share. Any plumbing around our place is now done by the younger folks in the family and supervision being my only participation.

A lack of tools back in the day didn’t hinder me when it came to keeping my bicycle in good working order. A simple pair of slip joint pliers was the entirety of my tool inventory but as it turned out, that’s all I needed. A ten cent can of 3-in-One oil along with a hand air pump and a tube repair kit from Western Auto kept me rolling. The worst trouble I would encounter came when I was forced to wear long pants and had to deal with the situation of a missing chainguard on my bike. Stripped down bikes without fenders and any extras were the coolest.

As I grew older and began working with my Granddaddy Clark building fences in the rocky hills around the area I was usually equipped with only a digging bar and a large sardine can. The oval shape of the can made it ideal for cleaning out the bottom of a posthole. When the air compressor and rock drills showed up things got pretty serious.

I worked on one job over in the Tarpley area where the property owner had a little Ford tractor with an auger attachment for digging holes. The bottom land where the fence was being put in was pretty much rock free. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I worked on that job about a month and never used a digging bar.

Later in life I bought a tractor and I made sure I had every attachment for the different jobs I had to do. You know the old saying about the difference between men and boys being the price of the toys? I found out just how much truth there is in that statement. My bass boat also had plenty of bells and whistles to make my bass fishing easier. I just referred to them simply as necessities.

The simply life I enjoyed Growing Up In Bandera was great but the conveniences available here in later life are a blessing. I think not having a lot of things in my earlier years just makes me more appreciative of what I now enjoy.