Mr. Schaeffer's house in 2014 -- it looks a bit different than it did in 1962.
The first gardening job, one of my first jobs of any kind, was working for Mr. Schaeffer, who was a mail man. He finished delivering the mail about the time I finished school -- I was a sophomore in high school at that time
Mr. Schaeffer lived two blocks down the street, in a tall white clapboard house on the corner of the block and directly across the street from the Convent of the St. Joseph's church and school.
Mr. Schaeffer was short, compact and fairly fit. He smoked a pipe. He had wiry tufts of grey hair coming out his ears, and he wore some kind of hat. He seemed to have a wife in the house somewhere but we never went in the house -- I just kinda knew she was there.
I went over to his house after school and we got in his truck and maybe over to Indian Hill, a more affluent neighborhood, where Mr. Schaeffer had lawn-mowing and gardening work.
He had me mow the lawn, or rake the leaves, while he pruned the roses and the lilacs. He had those nice clippers in a holster on his belt. He never let me do the pruning -- just the lawn-mowing.
But I told myself that someday I would be the guy with the clippers, and I would be the guy who pruned the roses and the lilacs..... That is what happened.
The first gardening job, one of my first jobs of any kind, was working for Mr. Schaeffer, who was a mail man. He finished delivering the mail about the time I finished school -- I was a sophomore in high school at that time
Mr. Schaeffer lived two blocks down the street, in a tall white clapboard house on the corner of the block and directly across the street from the Convent of the St. Joseph's church and school.
Mr. Schaeffer was short, compact and fairly fit. He smoked a pipe. He had wiry tufts of grey hair coming out his ears, and he wore some kind of hat. He seemed to have a wife in the house somewhere but we never went in the house -- I just kinda knew she was there.
I went over to his house after school and we got in his truck and maybe over to Indian Hill, a more affluent neighborhood, where Mr. Schaeffer had lawn-mowing and gardening work.
He had me mow the lawn, or rake the leaves, while he pruned the roses and the lilacs. He had those nice clippers in a holster on his belt. He never let me do the pruning -- just the lawn-mowing.
But I told myself that someday I would be the guy with the clippers, and I would be the guy who pruned the roses and the lilacs..... That is what happened.
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