I worked doing laundry. We washed the sheets and towels in a wringer washer and hung them to dry. I became an expert at folding sheets quickly while taking them off the line. We used starch on personal clothes that made them as stiff as a board. The starch was cooked up at the lodge by the cook and was brought to the wash house in a bucket. We used two laundry tubs in addition to the wringer washer. You always started with the cleanest clothes, because you used the water in the tubs several times. We put the clothes through the wringer into a tub of rinse water, then again into a different tub of rinse water. Bluing was often used in the second rinse. It's much easier now, but I still couldn't get along without my one laundry tub.

I didn't clean cabins much unless there were a lot to do in one day. Making beds was mostly my job in the cabins. Waiting tables, doing dishes, and watching the store were also included in my duties.

Arcularius Ranch was a great place to learn to drive. I started by going out on the dirt airstrip where there was lots of room. My first time out, I was concentrating so much on shifting into the proper gear that I ran off into the sagebrush. Later I even got the job of teaching our "displaced lady" from Estonia and WWII to drive. I often had the job of driving the 5 miles to the highway to pick up the newspaper bundle and the mail.

When children did come to the ranch, I had to play with them and "be nice" to them. We would play croquet, go swimming in the river, play cards such as canasta, and take rides on Rex. One time a boy broke a window while we were playing croquet, and I got blamed. Most unfair! Another time a bunch of us got a rubber raft and proceeded to float down the river. The fishermen complained, and that was the last time for that adventure. The fishermen always came first.

When there were no children, I had my horse. I also got to do a lot of reading. That continues to the present.

Learning to swim was a problem as lessons were unavailable. Sometimes we'd try in the river undeterred by the rocky bottom and the freezing cold water. I suffered some really bad sunburns doing this as sunscreen wasn't invented in those days. I'm paying the price for those today with skin cancer. Occasionally, we could get someone to take us to Whitmore's Hot Springs to swim in a real pool. I still like swimming in warm water best of all.

At various times we had livestock at the ranch. We had a milk cow briefly. And we had pigs in a pen across the road that we slopped with all the kitchen garbage. I also remember the chickens when I was quite small. I had to carry the garbage, like potato peelings, down to their pen and dump it. They would all surround me and scare me to death. There were more aggressive roosters in there too.

The ranch was good place to learn about wildlife. I remember finding a canary nest about three inches across. There were snakes and bugs and chipmunks. The sage hens would do their mating dances out on the airport and we would go out at night and watch. We also went out to the airport to hold "snipe" hunts for certain guests.

The Fourth of July was always special. We would get an assortment of fireworks to set off. There were always sparklers and snake pellets for the kids to play with before the actual fireworks display. Daddy would announce, "Mount Vesuvius!" And the resulting fireworks would be about 10 feet tall coming from the cone. This was small compared with city fireworks, but was appreciated by all. We also had small firecrackers to play with. I feel sorry for the kids who don't get to experience these "dangerous" items.

There used to be a fire circle with big logs in a circle to sit on. We'd have a fire and roast marshmallows down there some times. I seem to remember ghost stories and singing too, although I can't imagine anyone in our family leading songs!

I never got interested in fishing although I was surrounded by it. I can appreciate all the fishing gear and the good catches. I did learn how to read a stream and know where the fish are, but getting snagged and waiting for something to happen is not my cup of tea. I know small stream fishing; I just don't do it.

Growing up at the Arcularius Ranch gave me many advantages. I learned to communicate with people (adults). I learned about nature and was free to roam and enjoy it. I learned to work at the ranch and on horseback. The disadvantages were missing playing with children my age. During my high school years I felt I missed some of the activities my friends were doing, even though I was allowed to drive to Bishop occasionally. The summer before my senior year kept me isolated during the big polio epidemic when my friend Audra Jo got polio that put her in an iron lung.

Looking back from my "advanced age", I can see that the Arcularius Ranch made me who I am today: fairly serious, interested in nature, and with an enduring love of ranch and cowboy life.

Read about more of the Arcularius Ranch from Lura's sister, Susan Cullen