Christmas in the Old Red Barron Days

I thought Id write to all of you about a Christmas my sisters and I share as some of our fondest memories. Maybe it will bring some of fond memories back to you as well.

My Father was naval airman. So when he was away or at home his girls were the apple of his eye. Even though my sisters and I were a small gang of split tails that could sometimes out wit our father to where he had no clue what to do with us when we did do something that was just way out of line.

My sisters and I call it the Red Barron Days. It was close to Christmas. My sisters and I had watch the Red Barron and the Charlie Brown Special on TV . At that time all there was black and white television . But there was enough color in our minds we were going to fly the universe and get that Old Red Barron!

Our Father came home from duty and laid out before him in our drive way, was some two by fours and old piece of wood a steering wheel and some lawn mower wheels. Of course rope and his favorite hammer. He ask my sister and I with great concern what were we building, and to this we replied , "a go cart." We couldn't under stand why he didn't know what this great plan of ours was going to be. We had plan it right down to the last nail! (Laughs)

He went and got his favorite Lawn chair and water the yard and my sister and I went back to working on this flying machine that was going to get the Red Barron. We attach the wheels and with nails and rope to the steering wheel. For the life of us we couldn't understand why our father and mother was laughing so hard. To us we were on a mission!

We couldn't get past the end of the drive without the wheels falling off. Every minute that tick past we knew that Red Barron was out there causing some great havoc on the world. Well that day ended with much discussion at the supper table of why our plan wasn't working. I really think my father was quite impress with the our mission and how much thought we had put into getting that Old Red Barron

The following day my sisters and I were still out in the drive with our go cart of sorts and my father return home with the largest tricycle frame we had ever seen. With our mouths open and our mother given my father that look of , I hope you know what your doing! Our father open up his shop and gave us his tools . Oh boy it was Katie bar the door we were on a real mission then ! We went to work on that frame .

She got a fresh coat of red paint. white stripes that was to stand out so Snoopy would recognize us , just in case we happen to see him . Which my father pointed out that was a good idea. She had tassels that would fly in the wind, red, white and blue of course. Where my father found the wheels we don't know even to this day but it was a very , very large front wheel.

The wheels raised it up so high that my baby sister and I couldn't reach the peddles. So our father suggested that one drive and the other push. He really thought we would never leave the side walk!

Well, we sported this new tricycle about so proud! Because it would go fast it caught the attention of our other sisters. Our older sisters who's feet could reach the peddle. At first my baby sister and I didn't want them riding our new fighting machine. But, after the first ride we knew then this tricycle would go much faster. Faster than my father ever meant or thought it would go !

Christmas Eve was the day we decided we were ready to fly our new fighting machine . With no thought of helmets, knee pads which we didn't know existed. We were dressed in scarfs like snoopy, had our brothers cowboy guns attach to the handle bars (with duck tape I might add ) and we took our new fighting machine to the top of Old Man Glovers Drive way. Now this drive way was very high it was like a mountain to us! This was our older sisters Ideal , we couldn't fly unless we had altitude. My baby sister and I didn't know what altitude was. Though it made sense to her and I . With all the other kids in the neighborhood watching of course we had to make a good show of it .

Our father and mother were doing some front porch sitting. They were just having a normal afternoon. Till my older sister , baby sister and I left the top of Mister Glovers drive way. The mission had started , no turning back now! We flew down that drive way ! We screamed Bloody Murder! Tassels in the wind scarfs flying behind us. We flew so fast past my father and mother all I remember is the shock on their faces . We attack the Red Barron which were everyones garbage cans on our way through. Mrs. Yarbrough's dog that always chased us on our bikes and nip at us got so scared he ran in his dog house! In all our planning we didn't calculate how we were going to stop this fighting machine. So we lost most of the rubber to the bottom of our tennis shoes. Which our mother didn't like at all. Our father on the other hand thought we were genius.

We stayed grounded by our mother for at least a week but our father I think was grounded longer for helping us build that fighting machine . Many missions were flew after that ! Scrape knees , toes in the spokes. Many times my father had to patch us up and send us back into duty because our mother thought it was all his doing.

When we all are together that old story still surfaces and we laugh till we cry. As you read this story I hope it brought some fond childhood memories for you as well.