The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1954-05-07
THE HIGHER
THE FEWER
There's Always Plenty of Room
At The Top
By
NANCY j. MIDGET


playing with us in Richmond
Park and of course there were
many other times and places
where he would take us on vaca-
tons, sometimes on Sundays,
morning and/or afternoon.
For the whole family the
morning outings were the most
enjoyable, for mother was able
to get on with cooking the Sun
day dinner in peace and quiet
and when we reached home with
good healthy appetite and E.
nough of our energy gone for
our parents to hope for at least
little silence in the afternoon
when they were ready to take
their nap.
Sometimes even now when
walking past a house where
there is a good beef roast in the
oven the gorgeous odor reminds
me of those Sunday mornings
and how we would lift our heads
and shuttle the air as we neared
home to find out if we were ar
irving just at the right time to
feed. The beast, or should I say
animal, in one does come upper
most at times, especially where
food is concerned
And that reminds me too, of
one of the bedtime stories Dad
used to tell us, serial fashion, His
title for it was Daddy and Num-
my long, long ago. and told of
mummy and daddy monkey and
their children and doings-based
on the Darwin theory suppose,
though Ken and l were too much
interested in their antics and
problems to learn about theory
and too young to know what it
meant anyway. expect the ques-
tons we asked were at times
very embarrassing. The chief
thing was that it got us to bed
without too much to do and
mostly kept us quiet once we
were there, leaving us looking
forward to the next night for the
adventure.
Those stories fixed the idea in
my head that animals as well as
humans could have their prob
lens and 1 spent my teen years
reading amongst other things ma
ture stories written about the
lives and habits of different wild
animals. To the best of my recol-
lection 'Tarsa the Otter was one
of the stories. There was another
about a stag though for the life
of me / can't recall the names
of the authors. I used to retire
to my room and get so deep in
the stories that I'd be deaf to the
calls of the family when there
were chores to be done. Of course
the saying There are none so
deaf as those who do not wish to
hear may have had something
to do with it.
There too animal habits and
humans get very close together.
My elder sister, Christina, now
dead, had a dog: a rough haired
terrier named Jim who was the
most loving dog and the best
friend ever to most people, es-
pecially Tina and her daughter
Betty. My brother-in-law how
ever was one of those people who
felt they had to yell at a dog to
train him and make it obey
them. He would call Jim to do
the energy he put into it for he
this or that, call doesn't quite fit
yelled until the veins stood out
On his forhead, his eyes bulged
and he was purple in the face;
that at least is my youthful mem
DRY of the. incidents. Jim would
just go on his way, calmly
shifting as if nothing more han
a summer breeze had passed by
and stirred the grass until Fred's
breath would give out. Then
when Tina came to the door and
called he would trot home, the
best behaved dog ever. I always
felt that brother-in-law's yelling
was so noisy that it meant moth
ing more than just loud noise
to Jimma with no infection in
it to direct or instruct, just in
fact to duck from and Jim's back
portion with tail aloft, wig-wag-
ging up the road was certainly
most expressive. 1t as good as
said Say pretty please, and I'll
come, or maybe he took it for a
sudden clap of thunder.
Jim lived to be a ripe old age
but at last had to be put to sleep,
much loved and mourned by all
who knew him. He was a great
companion on walks and ever
ready to play fetch and carry
with stick, stones or a ball on
dry land or in water, or just sit
by the fire with the family on a
winter evening very glad to be
there with his good friends even
1