Who is James David Huff ???

Going up stairs, we hit the second landing and start down the hall

The first door on the left is my room.  Single bed and dresser.  Window, on back wall of house, gives view of back yard and the house behind us.  Spent nineteen years with this as my bedroom retreat and many parts of this journey take place here.

Next door on left, bathroom.  Cast iron tub, toilet, washbasin, little open flame gas heater for cold winter nights (and days).  No shower, that was a luxury for the wealthy. 

Last door on left, at end of hall, was originally a bedroom but converted to a small kitchenette when I was about four. The window was over our flat roofed garage and in later years would provide a way for me to sneak out and back in. Across from it on the right side of the end of the hall was another bedroom.  In order to provide some extra income Momma rented out these two rooms for about a year.  The tenant was a trucker who worked locally five days a week and went home on weekends. 

Every morning he would have six eggs, six donuts and coffee.  I got one of the eggs, one of the donuts and coffee that was half coffee and half milk.  He taught me that when a plate of cookies was passed, "take two, it might not come back again."  He told me that when "Aunt Kate" ( everyone called Momma "Aunt Kate") had company visit, I should ask them for any change they had.  Needless to say, Momma did not find this as amusing as he did.  While I no longer ask for loose change, I still take two cookies first time around.

Back down the hall, directly across from my room, was Mommas room.  Her bedroom window was directly over the tin roofed porch.    I loved to lay on her bed and listen to the rain on that tin roof.  It is a sound I have never forgotten and still brings back memories of my childhood. On her dresser was an old "40 hour mantel clock" that was wound with a key every evening and chimed every hour on the hour.  Between Momma's closet and dresser was a locked door that led to the attic stairs and an adventure land that kept my imagination for years.  The attic was a treasure that would influence and affect my life beyond any single place in my childhood.

Standing out front on the sidewalk and facing the house you would be looking north toward Lake Erie (22 blocks away) and under the shade of a really big maple tree.  The street light, mounted on a telephone pole nearby, would cast shadows on the front of the house that were scary when the wind moved the branches.  Making friends with the shadows was the answer and works to this day.

To the right of the house was our driveway and half way back the East side of the house our garage.  It would be considered a one car attached garage, although there was no entrance to the house from it.  There was a side door in the garage that opened to our small back yard. 

We had a clothes line (double), a burn barrel, some rhubarb growing next to the house and enough dirt for me and Skip to play in.

next - my best friend Skip

(cntd)