By Doris
Many things come to mind when remembering Nebraska. Last night the College World Series in Omaha was on television and I was transported back to 1971 and our years attending baseball games there. Watching young college athletes play ball was a lot of fun; Kent especially enjoyed visiting the hot dog stand! We went to a hockey game at Ak Sar Ben Arena (Nebraska spelled backward) to enjoy a very popular sport with the local people. Bellevue High School played football games on Friday nights and we would attend rooting for the hometown team. It was great to have a “home town,” even if it was almost entirely military. Our local development was “Cherry Hill” and I bowled on a team with other wives.
Our bowling shirts identified us as the Cherry Hill Bombers!” We made good use of the neighborhood pool in the summer, which the kids loved. Fifteen minutes of each hour was rest time for the children and only adults were allowed to swim. An excellent idea, as kids would never get out of the pool on their own. There was a nearby roller skating rink with music and lights, a magical activity that I recalled from my own childhood.
Although Don was gone often flying the admiral around, we led a very normal life in middle America.
Somerset Drive was very similar to Comet Street, with many kids of all ages for friends. Jennifer had an immediate group of girls and Kent had a group of boys with whom to play football. He was six years old and loved it. A little girl, Donora, in Kent’s class, lived up the street with her mother, little brother, David, and her grandpa. Her father had been killed in Vietnam. It brought the war home to your doorstep and was very sad. Our next door neighbors were an older couple, Harvey and Eunice, who were raising their two grandsons, Matt and Stevie, who were five and two. Their parents were killed in an automobile accident when they were home on leave. We became very good friends and Matt, Steve, and Kent spent many hours together. Stevie was very bright and would converse with Don from his side of the fence. Don also did a lot of car work and one day while he was under the car, he became aware of a little voice talking to him. He was very involved under the car and had apparently tuned Stevie out, until he heard “I’m going to kick you Mr. Lidke,” which got his attention in a hurry!
A month after one Halloween, Jennifer came into our room at night to say “there is something under my bed.” I got down on my hands and knees to deal with this monster, and a frightened mouse raced past me, brushing my arm. My scream could be heard in downtown Omaha! Turns out Jennifer had stashed some Halloween candy there and the mouse was enjoying the buffet.
A mouse story involving Kent happened when we had to set a mouse trap due to cold weather, forcing field mice to seek a warm haven. One night we caught a few and disposed of their bodies by putting them on the back deck, where they became frozen. The next morning we had to dissuade Kent from taking them to school for “show and tell!”
I volunteered at the school library, which was a great place to learn what was going on in the school. A favorite magazine for the boys was National Geographic — they would gather around it to look at pictures of “naked ladies.” Dinosaurs finished a close second.
Ann and Hap Easter and their five girls also lived in Cherry Hill and we spent a lot of time together. One day they were at our house when Kent came in banged up with skinned knees. As he was coming down the hill, the front wheel of his bike came off! Never a dull moment. Don and I, along with Ann and Hap, would attend military events at historic Fort Omaha, often in formal attire. It was like taking a step back in time. Our families stayed close and after we moved to Colorado Cheri Easter, Jennifer’s friend, came for a visit. Also Harvey, Eunice, Matt and Steve visited us there. Good friends for us and good friends for Jennifer and Kent made for a wonderful tour of duty in Nebraska.
One unusual attraction was Fontenelle Forest near Bellevue. It was a great natural area of trees, hiking trails, wildlife and marshlands, and a bird watcher’s paradise. We enjoyed the natural feel and the history which involved Indians, traders and the Lewis and Clark expedition camping nearby.
In the spring in Nebraska there is a great migration of the sandhill cranes in the Platte River Valley on their journey north to Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. It is known to be one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the continent. Jennifer’s fifth grade teacher was an avid birder and when she learned we were going to Colorado via the Platte River, she was most insistent that we go see the sandhill cranes. This meant getting off the interstate and meandering the backroads looking for them. For a great migration they seemed be hard to find. Don commented as we were driving, “Well, I see a Bay City Crane” sitting in a field, but no sandhill crane. We were really laughing at this sandhill crane search, when an entire field of sandhill cranes took off in front of us! It was spectacular and well worth our side trip and Jennifer could report to her teacher that we were successful. We have followed stories of sandhill cranes ever since.
No Nebraska story would be complete without a tornado. Our house was a split level with an under the stairs large closet, which became our shelter when one minor tornado made its way through Bellevue. Fortunately there wasn’t much damage done, although the base had some. Huddled under the stairs you become very respectful of nature. Don, of course, had to venture a peak outside, not wanting to miss anything.
All good things come to an end and orders arrived for our transfer back to New Orleans. This time we would be returning to a familiar place, familiar in some ways but different in others. Our friends, the Easters, would be joining us, and Jennifer and Kent would be attending integrated schools.
We would be living another part of history as it happened.