I always considered our family of eight as an older group of four and a younger group of four. Bob, being the eldest of the younger group, was the natural leader and instigator of all activities, both good and bad.
Our early years were spent on a rented dry-land farm located in the dust bowl during the great depression of the 1930s. Bob, it seems, was more or less responsible for most of the farmyard chores and was assisted by the younger three. These chores consisted of (but were not limited to) milking and feeding cows, feeding pigs, gathering corncobs for cooking fuel, caring for chickens, gathering eggs, toting water from windmill to house, tending the garden, hoeing weeds from cornfields and picking potato bugs (one penny per row was standard payment for weed hoeing and bug picking).
On non-school days, after the final chore of dispensing the skim milk to calves and pigs, Bob's imagination led us in the activities for the day. Together we learned the rudiments of trapping skunks. He led us in putting together makeshift baseball and football games. He taught us how to haul cream cans full of water to the pasture, ladle the water into gopher holes and dispense with the half-drowned rascals as they emerged from the openings of their dens.
We would roam the hills and canyons to the south and west of our farm in search of berries and animal dens or to explore the forbidden bootlegger caves on the Caywood property. Cold or rainy days were spent in the hayloft practicing Tarzan skills as learned from the funnies or doing a high-wire act once observed at a circus. Reenactment of a recent Joe Louis prize fight, as heard on the battery-powered radio, was a favorite pastime.
I do not know where Bob learned the many arts and crafts he passed on to me. For instance, the sucker shoots of the box elder tree were useful for making whips, whistles and stems for corncob pipes (in which to smoke the tobacco gleaned from cigarette and cigar butts found along the country roads). Dead sunflower stalks were good for sham battles, teepee poles or guns fashioned from the gnarled roots (hollowed out and loaded with marbles, they were very effective when playing cowboys and Indians).
When punishment came because of mischief or neglect of chores, it was bestowed upon Bob. He never passed blame on or retaliated against the younger children.
As we grew older, the end of the dry years and the onset of World War II came. Bob left for Navy duty soon after graduating from high school. I had lost my leader, friend and confidant for the next three years. His return renewed the camaraderie of working together and spending leisure days hunting and fishing.