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Tuni Gravink (House) (1964)
Craig, I too had to write a paper on the fall out of a war , while at Canada College in Redwood City, Calif. Of course, our teach Mr. Messner required us to write this rebuttal to a article in Time magazine at the time, in satire. I put the fall out as smoke from cigars, and floating about the world, and carried the story through relating it too smoking cigars (which of course, i did not) and that teacher told me then, i should consider writting because i had a natural witt about me, and i said: nah, not my cup of tea. I continued to write over the years in a journal, and did some stories, and my girlfriend who was a teacher at Canada College told me i would be great at doing childrens stories, and i could do all the illustrations, because i was also very artistically talented. That i can absoloutely thank my mom for, her talent of sketch and painting and such was passed down to me. I again, did a nah , not me. I instead did start making cards, and still make them occiasionally when i have time. I do write some articles pertaining to my organization that we started here Paws 4 Life, in the local papers. As for seeinhSanta and his reindeers; i can remember as a young child living on Buena Terra, Santa coming to our house with his Mrs. He asked my sister what she wanted for Christmas and she wanted her dinner, nothing more, nothing less, just feed me! He gave her some candy and she threw it in the fire place. Thank goodness the fat man in the red suit understood her hunger pains. I remember that year mom had painted our portraits (and they looked like us too) on our huge front window, and we were sitting on Santa's lap, and the caption read:"Merry Christmas from the Gravinks." I remember looking out that window from and area not painted, and saw the sled, being pulled by a beautiful white horse. It was truly magical to a young childs mind. Later on found out it was Dr. O'Hara and his wife, and they lived about four doors down from us. I also remember walking around the cudlesac on Hays street during the week before or so of Christmas time.. There was a huge tree decorated in the middle of it, and all the houses had decorated their yards, and their garage doors, and some offered us hot coco and cookies. We sang Christmas Carols as we walked around. I also did one or two years on the back of a truck signing them also. In the fall yes hay rides! My dad decided one year to teach me how to drive a stick shift. He was driving this big truck (or so it looked to me, and i was only thirteen at the time) and it had a bunch of teens on the back sitting on the flat bed on hay bales. He went up this one hill, out by Yolo somewhere, and then said Tuni, want to learn to drive? I had no fear, or so i thought at this time of anything, but i said no, he said yes, i said no, and next thing you knew i was at the drivers seat. Man, i couldn't even see over the danged wheel, much less reach the gas pedal and clutch. Shift what the heck was that? What? Next thing you know i hear give it some gas, and we bunny rabbitted up the hill, and then i killed it, and we rolled back , and they all laughed and some screamed. My dad said do it again, and again, till you get it. I fianlly did get it about the time we hit the Browns Corner area. I said "i do not ever want to own a shift, i want and automatic dad." He laughed. I think he said that kid will never take my car, a shift, and i did not. Now the Buick and Thunderbird another story. Many Hay rides when you belong to 4-H or , Girl Scouts, and even for a birthday we had one, and a barn dance we had for my 16th, That was cool, and amazing how the garage transformed into a barn atmosphere. Of course, we thought in the winter is was a giant roller skating rink, and now that i look back it was not as big as we thought it was as a kid. Or the huge gap when jumping from a loft in a barn ( not going to say whose), onto the pile of fresh bales, thinking man this is a long way down, but it really wasn't but; too a kid it was! And life went on.
We were all products of the 50's and war was still a heavy thought on many. Many of our fathers were in the service or fought in the war, and that thought stayed fresh in their minds for a long time. Our wars now are economy, traffic, population, and much more. Mine is: keeping the rabbits out of my plants, and the rattlers off my porch, and the birds out of my plants that are potted on my porch. Learning to live with Javalina's , cougars, bobcats, Lynx, Hawks that are big, Great Horned Owls that are very tenacious, and chipmunks that Never stop! The art of rock throwing becomes a hobby to some. Tuni
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