Ora Carpenter Omerza history, 3rd installment

We didn’t live in Eden too long. The crops weren’t too good and Dad had to give up the farm. I felt so sorry for him. He had worked so hard and yet so many things had gone against him. He made a trade for some land in Ashurst. It was just across the river from Eden. Such a desolate place. Mother described the house we moved into as the dirtiest house she had ever seen. It was a lumber house. As I remember it the walls were just boards and the floor was bare boards. I think we scrubbed it from ceiling to floor with lye water. I can remember how tired I was that night lying in bed smelling the wet wood.

The railroad tracks ran in front of the house so it was pretty noisy when the train went by. We didn’t live there too long, then moved into a cement block house close to the hills. It was dirty too. About this time Mother was ready to have a new baby so as soon as school was out all the family but Dad went to Thatcher to stay with our Grandparents until the baby was born. 20 May 1922 was the day our second brother Afton J. was born. My Aunt Flossie, Mother’s sister, named him. I didn’t like the name because I thought it sounded like a girl and he was a big husky boy. But a ten year old doesn’t carry much weight and my protests went unheeded and he was named Afton. When we went back home to Ashurst we went to the cement block house. There were a lot of bugs, lizards, snakes and scorpions there because we were so close to the hills. Mother worried constantly that her new baby would be stung by a scorpion. I remember the day Afton was blessed. We went to church in the wagon and because it was quite a drive we didn’t go home in between Sunday School and Sacrament meeting. We waited the two hours in between at the church. It seemed like a long hot day to me.

About the only thing I remember about living in Ashurst was the school. It was in one room and the teacher was a man. I don’t even remember his name but the only door to the room was in the back of the room and the rule was if someone came in the door and you turned around to see who it was you got three swats with a ruler. I think the only thing I learned that year was not to turn around when the door opened. I lived in constant fear of being hit.