My Life Part 3

 I am not sure of the exact time frame but my father brought home a dog that he got from my aunt. I remember the dog just laying on the floor in the trailer, obviously scared. We named him "Smokey". He was a mix of German Shepherd and....something else. We have speculated on what else he was for years. The prevailing theories are a cross with a coyote or fox. I have read that this isn't normal or even possible, but it had to be one of them. He had a bushy tail, i face like a fox and a tuft of hair that would stand up on his back when angry. He was also smaller than a German Shepherd.

I spent many an hour following that dog around exploring the woods and the area we lived. The dog led me to what I considered a creek back then, which was nothing more than what we call a "run". I spent much time horsing around in the water there. There were no actual neighbors at that time living in that wooded area, we were the first.

Eventually some other families moved out there. A family bought the lot on the east end of the woods, another bought the lot next to my brothers lots that our mobile home sat on and one more family bought the lot next to our lot on the east side. I can't recall which family moved in first, I think it was the family on the east end, but I am not sure.

I remember the family on the east side of our lot had two little girls, the family farther down on the east side had one boy close to my age and two girls on either side of him. The family to the west had one boy about my age and 3 girls.

The family on the west side was a bit different. It was the mother of the children, who worked as a stripper in Lafayette, the four kids and the step father. The kids were left home alone a lot of the time. I can remember hearing the step father spanking the boy on occasion, at my young age it sounded bad, but I really had no frame of reference.