Audrey Mae Spencer

Audrey: I am glad I’m old. I would not want to be 20 years old now.

I am so upset when they take the older reporters on TV off and put a younger person in the older person’s place.  Old newscasters are taken off. I’m reading Tom Brokaw’s book. That’s a different story. It’s nice and interesting. I’ll grab a book and pick it up anywhere I am and begin reading. I’m always reading back and forth. I keep reading. All those I’m meant to read, I really want to read it. Every book get everything upset or up in arms in the first part of the book and then the end is what happens. I have been so busy. I’ve got a lot of books to read!

Tom (Audrey’s friend at Alpine Nursing Home), he’s about to die. He’ll he dead.

Audrey: Alice in Wonderland! I always did like stories. I like to read. Mother always read in bed. She didn’t want me to read at night. She thought it would hurt my eyes. I got a flashlight so I could read in bed. Grandpa was always reading a newspaper. Grandma was always reading a story.

Audrey: They hung a can with a lid and handle down the well which was the only cold place in the summers. In the winter, we had a bench on the outside of the window sill. We set the can and food on the shelf outside the window. We just open the window and get food or can of milk.

Later we had a wooden ice box. The bottom half of the ice box was shelves for food and top of box goes up (lifts up) and put ice in the top.

Audrey: We had a big square building called the ice house. It was filled with something like saw dust. Grandpa would go to Carr’s Pond with horses and wagon. The horses could walk on the ice pond. Grandpa would cut squares of ice out. He would cut as large a square as could be cut and bring ice back to the ice house and throw it in (to store the ice). Neighbors would come down because they needed ice.

Audrey: I don’t think so. Later we had an ice man after a while who would come in and throw ice in the box and leave. The ice man had ice in the wagon. He would bring ice around with a team of horses. After a while, he had a truck that he brought ice. It is hard for me to remember whether it was a truck or horse and wagon.

I don’t remember when we first got an electric box. My life (span) is when everything started. In the 1900, the changes began. I’ve lived through it all! I’m an important person. I’ve lived through it all. I’ve lived through all the changes.

Audrey: I’m afraid I will live that long! (Laughter)

Oh, here are the mourning birds! They walk around. They move all the time. They make a mourning noise. I thought it was morning birds at first. Then I read it was mourning birds. They make a sad, mourning sound. There goes a robin hopping along. Oh, the robin is walking too. I guess he does both?

A: Oh, I think so.

Audrey: I do not know yet.

I’ve seen the outside of Amber’s new house. I’ll see her sooner or later. She gets in here every other thing.

Audrey: Yes, once Ed got a white rat and let it loose in the crib where we stored all the grain. The crib did not have air tight sides so air was let in but it had a good roof.

Audrey: They would pull corn up by roots and stack the corn in the corn crib. A person goes in the corn crib and pulls the corn off the stalk. They shell the corn outside the crib and cook the corn inside.

Oh there are two squirrels jumping back and forth. They are either playing or fighting. I do not know which. Now they are just looking at each other! (Laughter)

They weigh me here at Alpine in my chair! I always weighed 110 or 115 lbs. I like to be 110. I made sure I never got over 112 lbs. Now I am 129 lbs! That walker. I never use it! The caretakers are all very nice. I can’t find any fault with any of them.