How I got my start~

I was born in Presho SD, I don't remember the event but I was told that the Dr. had a big house and used some of the bedrooms as hospital or birthing rooms and that's where I came into the world. My name is actually Theodore Paul but my dad's name was Theodore and I guess they didn't need two Teds in the family so I have always used my middle name. I probably should have legally reversed the name order because it would have reduced the confusion level for drivers license, social security, etc.

The first recollection I have may be a real memory or a memory of what I was told but in either case it's very vivid. I was playing/crawling on the floor when suddenly my mother rushed past me and began to strike a snake that had slithered into the kitchen. (snakes were an everyday occurrence in SD) I don't know what she killed it with but as I got older I was aware of a noticeable chunk out of the wood floor.

The kitchen in our farm home was important because that's where we spent most of our time. There was a big wood burning cast iron cooking stove with a water reservoir on one end. I watched my mom cook and bake bread and I was fascinated by a tall flour bin in one of the cabinets with a sifter on the bottom. It seemed to me like it was 10 ft tall. (Home baked bread fresh from the oven is an incomparable treat, especially with home churned butter.)  Everything happened in the kitchen. We ate at a large table there, I took baths there in a big galvanized metal tub, usually on Saturdays. I even brushed my teeth at the kitchen basin because that's the only sink we had. No indoor plumbing, no running water.  And, there's nothing that gets your blood moving in the morning like a frosty outhouse seat. By the way, friends my age can't believe I lived such a primitive life as a child. My explanation is that living on a farm in So. Dakota was at least 20 years behind Iowa in terms of rural electricity, plumbing and other life conveniences.