Going to Grandma’s house down on Goat Ridge was always a special treat to the kids in the Bullard Family. Well, especially to me and my older brother Gerald. My sisters? Not so much.

There was no electricity, and heat was obtained by burning logs in the two fireplaces. Sometimes my somewhat grumpy Grandpa J.T. would fire up the second fireplace in the parlor. This was seldom done and as I recall it this was done only on Christmas Day. You could really reduce the height of a woodpile running two fireplaces plus a cook stove on a cold Christmas Day. Cooking was done on Grandma’s “Detroit Jewel” cook stove. She was very proud of this giant “thing” and she turned out delicious meals on it.

If you were overnighters your only source of light was from kerosene lamps which were dim. Grandma did have one Aladdin lamp to do her reading by. Nice and bright and on kerosene. Eventually my dad and my Uncle Jack built an addition which contained a nice bathroom. They did this mainly for their mom. A Sears gas powered water pumpsystem was installed (running water!) and a kerosene powered hot water heater followed. What could be better? Well, grandpa wouldn’t use the toilet in there, would not light the water tank (he was afraid of it) so grandma had to heat her bath water on her cook stove and after a few trips with her teakettle she could have her bathwater warm enough for a bath. She too was scared of that hot water tank.

They accepted their new upgrades, and I thought it couldn’t get any better, but I was wrong. Later on, during a visit I saw electric poles lining Goat Ridge Road. No wires yet, just poles. I found that grandpa was a nervous wreck over this unwanted intrusive improvement. He was afraid of electricity. Fearful the high wires would draw lightning right into his house and burn it down. Worse yet, he thought luxuriating under bright electric lights was likely the reasons Americans had so much cancer. Even worse: this expensive and unneeded luxury cost money. And grandpa was very “tight” with his money.

Bright lights shouldn’t have worried him so much. He went to bed every night at 7PM but he negotiated tirelessly with the poor linemen for a giant “knife-switch” to cut the power off if there were reports of storms coming. He lost that battle. When he found it would cost him $2.00/month minimum he nearly died of shock. But grandma had already picked out her new electric refrigerator and my unknowing grandpa had lost this war before it really ever started.

Later he admitted to me that he had saved money by not having to buy ice twice a week nor did he have to buy any more kerosene. The nice little plug-in radio had eliminated his having to buy those high-priced radio batteries. And grandma? Free ice! She had never had it so good. Her radio worked great and now she could listen to “Our Friend Bill” all she wanted to and even the commercials (thanks to grandpa’s battery saving ideas). Even grandpa enjoyed the radio now, I think. But he never let on nor did he ever admit it. With the battery radio, grandpa required the set be turned off during commercials to save the battery.

Later on, when my family drove down to the ridge for a visit, mom carried along her fan for her young ones and my sisters had their hair roller gadgets. My family could in no way understand the extent of the feelings of grief grandpa had with this wanton wasting of his electricity and I guess we must have driven this poor old selfmade miser crazy on our visits. Of course, Gerald and I were grown and gone by now.

I figured that he must have decided this power wasn’t so bad. His house never burned down and grandma was pretty darned happy with it. He paid his two bucks, but he never smiled about it.

Hope your week is going great as we watch summer fade away. Be sure and go to church this Sunday.

Wayne Bullard, DPh Cwaynebullard@gmail.com