Chapter 24

Dad and I went to the grain elevator and then on into town. After picking up the parts he needed, we drove over to Lake Wales so he could show me the land he had picked up there. He first showed me the property he had sold to the developer. There were already over a hundred houses built with a bunch in progress. When I asked if it was smart to build so many houses in anticipation of hopefully selling them, Dad told me there wasn’t any hopeful about it. All those that were built were sold, plus over a hundred more being built were sold already.

We looked at some more property in that area and then went off to the other side of town to look at the property that had been unsold at Christmas. I was surprised to see huge billboards advertising homes for sale. We drove up to a home in the front of a big development and went in. The house was being used as a sales and construction office. Everyone was saying, “Good morning, Mr. Johnson” and “How are you Mr. Johnson” and “Can I get you coffee Mr. Johnson.” When I looked at my Dad funny, he just winked at me and shook his head to keep me quiet. He talked to a couple of guys that were obviously the construction people, and then had a word with a guy wearing a tie who was obviously sales, and then took me back out to the truck.

“What do you think, Chuck?” Dad asked.

“About what, Dad? Those guys were all over you like they owed you money or something,” I said.

Dad just laughed softly, “They don’t owe me money, I probably owe them. They are my employees.”

“Employees?” I asked.

“Yep,” Dad smiled. “When I saw how well the guy was doing who bought the other land, I thought I should start my own development. So I did. I hired a couple of architects, and hired a bunch of construction people, and now I have it started. So far we have twenty-two upscale homes built and sold plus almost seventy more with deposits on them. All of these homes have bigger lots than anywhere in the area, plus the homes are twice as big. The community will have a central swimming pool plus a community center. It’s going to be real nice. I might even build a country club out here.

He drove me to an adjoining area where a big store was being built with buildings on each side that suggested more shops. Dad said that Publix was opening a store for him, plus he had most of the other shops already leased.

Wow, my Dad, the landlord!

On the way back to the farm, he described what he had in mind for the family. He had picked out a nice area for the boys to build houses so they could live on the farm and work it with their future wives and kids. He said that if any of the girls wanted to stay on the farm, he would do the same for them. As the kids graduated from school, he would give more and more of the farm work to them and migrate to Lake Wales. Mom had already designed the house she wanted, and it would be started later in the summer.

He had stopped the truck by one of our orange groves, and we had walked into the grove a few rows.

“Son, I don’t know what you’re going to do yet, so I can’t make plans for you. As soon as you decide what you’re going to do, we will make a plan and get it done. You’re the only one interested in education so far, and I’m proud you’re doing so well.” My Dad was happy to be in the midst of an orange grove full of the wonderful smell of flowering trees. The fragrance of orange blossoms is one of the most sensuous smells ever. But Dad just continued, “I’m kind of disappointed you didn’t get to go to Florida like you should have, but at the time the scholarship was your only hope of going to school. If the coaches there could see you play, they would be kicking themselves for not taking you. Guess it all worked out for the best though, you have some very nice friends.”

We went back to the house in time for lunch. We had some soup and sandwiches and then went out to the tool shed to work on a tractor. I was surprised to find three guys working on other equipment. Dad said they were ready to weed and trim the groves soon, plus they needed to plow up the strawberry fields and start the summer vegetables in the covered gardens.

When I asked how many folks he had working, he said he didn’t know at the time as he now had a farm manager that handled the farm workers instead of him trying to do it all. He said he now had twelve houses for workers and was planning to build some better quarters instead of the bunkhouse arrangement he had for the migrant workers. He was always proud that all his people now had indoor plumbing and electricity. He said happy workers were usually good loyal farm hands. He always did believe in treating his people well.

With a wave we went back into the house to find the three girls busily trying to tune the piano. They had taken the bellows and roller apparatus out in order to get at the soundboard more easily. Sandy and Delta were re-covering hammers, while Trish was gently adjusting the wire strings. Mom was putting a couple of pies in the oven for supper while trying to supervise the girls.

Dad and I had a cup of coffee and then went out to fix some fence around the garden. Mom had been complaining that the deer and wild pigs were getting into her garden and eating her vegetables. We found where the pigs had rooted the fence up so they could go under. Then we found an area that was pushed down enough for a deer to jump over. We drove stakes around the bottom of the fence and stapled the fence to them and then set another post and pulled up the fence that had been pushed down. Dad did some magic with the gates to help them swing easier, and then we walked back over to the machine shed to tell one of the guys to spread some horse manure on the garden and then to plow it in.

As we were walking back to the house, the kids were walking up the lane from the school bus. We made quick work of the evening chores and then cleaned up to eat. After supper, the kids quickly did their homework so we could settle down in the living room with Mom at the piano.

The girls had done wonders with the old piano. With new felt on all the hammers and the perfect tuning job they had done, it sounded beautiful. Mom and Dad played a duet that was smooth and gentle. Dad played his old violin like a Stradivarius. Their music was so nice; they should have been on a stage. Next, Sally sat with Mom while they played one their favorite pieces. As soon as they finished, Dad started his hoedown fiddle playing. This just meant that banjos and guitars were brought out, filling the house with sound. Danny surprised me by playing guitar very well. Carl displayed his new talent with a new banjo. At ten, Dad called a halt for bedtime. Everyone was having such a good time – the hours had flown by.

Before going to bed, I asked Dad if he would like to play some golf. I told him that the girls and I had brought our clubs and were planning on playing when we got down to Ft. Lauderdale. He said that as soon as he got up in the morning he would call and get us all a tee time.

The next morning I helped with the chores while Delta, Trish, and Sandy helped my sisters with the chickens and breakfast. When we came in for breakfast, they were all laughing at tiny Sandy being chased around the chicken yard by a rooster. Dad suggested we might have the rooster for dinner if she wanted revenge.

Dad took Trish, Delta, and me to the new Lake Wales Country Club. The biggest grove owner and cattleman in area, Ben Hill Griffin, recently built the place.

When we went into the golf shop to get caddies, the kids almost had a war to be our caddies because of the two girls.

Dad couldn’t believe that I learned how to drive so well. He complimented me on my short irons, but laughed at my attempts at putting over six to ten feet. He showed me how to look at the greens to see how the ball would travel and gave me some hints as to the speed of a putt when putting uphill or downhill. I actually beat my dad on our first trip to the golf course by a stroke. I shot 88 and he shot 89. I learned something, though. Before you play a course, you should walk it to see how the greens lie and what all the traps look like up close. I had a lot to learn if I was going to help the golf team at school. The girls had shot pretty well and both were in the low 90’s.

The next day Mom, my sisters, who were playing hooky from school, and the three visiting girls went to Lakeland to go shopping. To go to really big stores, they would have to go all the way to Tampa, but Mom thought Lakeland would do fine.

Dad and I worked with the grove trimming crew, cleaning out dying trees and trimming back brush around the edges of the groves. When my brothers got back from school, we drove over to Frost Proof so Dad could talk to another farmer about some calves he heard about for sale. He made a deal for a hundred head of weaned white face calves and said we would get them in the morning, and then we all headed home.

After supper we played music again, entertaining each other and enjoying the closeness that we had always shared. Sandy played the piano some with Mom. I thought she was acting strange around Mom until my mom reminded me that Sandy had lost her mother at an early age, and she needed some Mothering. She got it, as Mom did everything she could to give her some love.

The next day, we fired up the big truck, hooked up the forty-five foot trailer, and took off for Frost Proof. Dad drove; Delta and Trish were in the middle, with Sandy setting on my lap. Just a little crowded. The girls helped load the calves into the truck then we headed back home. Dad had already made arrangements for the calves to be put in a smaller pasture near the barn. He said we would have to make sure they were all eating and doing all right after the trip. He said he would give them all shots and ear-tags that weekend.

That night was our last before heading south, so we had a great time playing and singing silly songs. We ended up playing every funny piece of mountain music we knew. It’s kind of hard to laugh and sing at the same time.

The next morning, we drove to Ft. Lauderdale, arriving in the early afternoon. Delta and Trish had gone whole hog this time. We had a large one-bedroom suite on the top floor of the hotel. There was a nice kitchen with a table, a big living area with a television and radio, and a bedroom with a huge bed. The girls said it was a regular king-size bed. I had never seen anything larger than a double, so I was really impressed.

We changed into swim trunks and headed to the beach just outside the hotel. Sandy had never seen the ocean before, so she ran to the water as soon as she saw it. We played, splashed, and swam for an hour and then went to the room to shower before supper. In the room, there was a small red flashing lamp over the table where the phone was. Delta said it was a message lamp, which meant she had to call the front desk to get a message.

The parents had arrived. Delta called the parents’ room and then hung up and walked out the door, leaving it open. I looked to see what was up, and she knocked on a set of double doors at the near end of the hallway. Carol opened the door. Behind her, I could see Cecile, and behind farther, Dan and George. They hollered for us to come have a drink with them before we showered, so we all joined them for a few minutes. Trish and Delta had a margarita while Sandy and I had a coke. I declined the booze, saying that we had a long night ahead of us, and liquor made me sleepy.

The parents were in a huge suite that had four bedroom suites off the main sitting area. It was really fancy, but I thought a little much with all the unused space.

We went back to the room and showered to get ready to eat. At supper, George and Dan said we had a tee time at eight in the morning. They would take the girls and me if the girls wanted to go to the course in the morning. We were to meet Terry and Fred Weathers there for a foursome. Cecile, Carol, and the girls said they would come along and play together. Sandy commented that she guessed she would have to start taking lessons to keep up with all of us. Dan joked that we should be able to find clubs for her in the kiddy department. Sandy tossed a roll at him.

George said he had made reservations for us at four different courses, and we could play every day either at seven or eight. He said that that way I would have almost a full day on the beach for all of the festivities that happened there. Dan was grinning and said we had a surprise coming Monday.

Saturday’s golf game was pretty good. When I told Fred that I thought it would be better to walk the course first, he said if we were playing a match, we would do that, but since we were being tourists and playing for fun, we would just use the course notes published by the local pro.

This was a tough course. The fairways were very narrow. Some had trees pretty close on both sides. All of the holes had water hazards in the fairways, and some had great big sand traps right in the middle of the fairway. We actually played with five in our group. The guys said that with two threesomes of women behind us, we would be fast enough to keep well ahead of them. Terry and Fred tutored me on every shot for every hole. They chose clubs for me and told me why they had selected what they did. My drives were great, except two of them were in the center of a pond, and one was buried in a sand trap. My irons were not too bad, and my putting was abnormally good. Even with a couple of double bogeys, I ended with a 79. I was tied with Dan and George, while Fred and Terry both had 74s.

Fred said for me to keep playing just the way I was now, and he would be happy. When I asked how soon I could start shooting par or better, the four men laughed loud enough to draw attention. I thought it was reasonable to want to play par golf, but they kept saying I had years before I could consistently shoot par regularly.

I now had a new sports goal.

The afternoon at the beach was a blast. Sandy and I got a little carried away with some sweet umbrella drinks filled with rum. We were both trashed and could hardly walk back to our hotel to sit in a cold shower sobering up and then taking a little nap before supper.

We ate at a fancy seafood restaurant on the beach. When Sandy and I were asked if we wanted a cocktail before dinner, we both declined. We were a large group of twelve: Trish and her parents, Delta and her parents, Terry and his wife, Fred Weathers and his wife, and Sandy and me. It looked like we would need to get reservations for most everywhere we went.

After a leisurely dinner, we walked to the nightclub we had gone to last year. When we went through the back door, a large man greeted us and then escorted us to tables near the band. When he looked us over, he told Dan that he didn’t think he could serve Sandy, saying, “We don’t usually serve pre-teens.”

Sandy stood, all puffed up with indignation and tossed out, “I’ll have you know I am a second semester sophomore in college.” She then looked around sheepishly and smiled at the man, “But I don’t think I’ll have any liquor to drink tonight, so thank you for looking out for me.”