Tag Archives: Memories of Westcliffe

Min’s Cafe-Part 5

22 Aug

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Animals

Free photos of Horse

I was six years old when Dad came home from WWII, and we bought Min’s Café in Westcliffe. Dad wanted my brother and me to have a horse, so he bought us a part Shetland pony, a small horse breed. We called him Yankee. At first, Dad would help me into the saddle, but the minute he let go of the reigns, Yankee took off for the corral where he and the other town horses lived. The small horse was the master until Dad showed us how to rule over him when we rode. 

We soon outgrew Yankee and Dad got bigger horses. We were free to gallop on dirt roads when no cars or tractors were there. But not on the prairie, where there were many Prairie-Dog holes for the horses to step into and break their legs. We went out to the rodeo grounds and played with the horses, with my brother changing from one to the other. 

Photo Credit:Pixabay

Another time we played with the horses by having them step over the treated logs that would soon be supporting street lights at the end of Mainstreet. My horse stumbled, and I flew off his back. It knocked the breath out of me, but I got up and mounted again, which Daddy had always told us to do. Otherwise, if we walked away, we would grow afraid and never get on a horse again. 

Photo Credit:Pixabay

We had Brownie the dog, a tiger cat, two family horses, and later two donkeys for packing on a fishing trip. Yes, many donkeys are indeed as stubborn as three-year-olds. My brother and I never got them to do anything we wanted. Each of us was given a calf, but mine died. It was the first real heartache I had ever experienced. Why did she have to die so young?

The train station was built during the silver rush in Silvercliff, now a tiny town. It was a toss-up whether Denver or Silvercliff would become the capital of Colorado. The train station’s history now includes the story of why the tracks that ran on the side of a mountain were taken out. In wintertime, heavy snow piling up pushed the tracks off the mountainside, and the line had to be constantly repaired. 

Needing a bigger place to live and a place to accommodate paying guests, Dad bought the old train depot, and he and Mother renovated it.

Of course, the building had a wooden walk, and Dad had to take it out. It was spring, and baby rabbits ran everywhere. Dad gave me a soft baby rabbit and sent me upstairs to pet it. There were too many rabbits in the valley to keep as they harmed the terrain. Naturally, we had to “get rid” of them. It was like living in the Old West. The mountains always soothed me, though. I knew God had made them, and they were our fortress.

Photo Credit:Pixabay

In this place, I first became aware of the sound of coyotes in the night. I wasn’t afraid because I knew they were God’s coyotes, and he wouldn’t let them hurt me. 

Photo Credit:Pixabay

 We lived in Westcliffe until it was time to move on. I was twelve years old. Then we moved to Los Alamos, the heart of the Atomic Bomb, where Dad became a gate guard, and later, after we moved to Albuquerque, a courier for carrying bombs in a big semi. 

To be continued, but still in Westcliffe

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

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Min’s Cafe-Part 1

25 Jul

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Photo credit: Come to Life Colorado

Min’s Café, Westcliffe, Colorado

1945-1952

The seven years between 1945 and 1952 in Westcliffe, Colorado, were some of the best years of my life. This picture shows the mountains we saw from our bedroom windows.  

Dad (Ivan) and Mother (Dora) bought Min’s Café with the G. I. Bill. They kept the name because the restaurant had a fine reputation in the town, and Minnie was a favorite cook and bottle washer. The Wet Mountain Valley, where Westcliffe was located, had two major enterprises, ranching, and fishing. Saturdays, the ranchers, and their families came to town for staples such as coffee, flour, and sugar. Their ranches yielded meat. And vegetables grew in the spring and summer and were preserved in cellars in the winter. The Ranchers’ main product was cows. They had milk from cows and sold the milk and many herds of cows. They cared for chickens for eggs and meat, and they grew vegetables for their use. In autumn, the girls and women filled every Mason Jar with vegetables and fruit to last the cold winter.  

In 1945 and on, Westcliffe had two bars and grills, and the two cafes were directly across Main Street. The owners, my parents, and the family across the street were best friends. When I was about eight years old, I started babysitting the two little girls who belonged in the living quarters of their café. 

The pharmacy was two doors down the street from Min’s. Sometimes when the pharmacist and his wife, the mother of his children, Mr. and Mrs. Cope went out for an evening at our Café three doors up the street or the café and bard one across the street, I looked after Cope’s children. My good friend Patience tells me she got to look after them too. I wonder if Cope (as we called him) had left anyone to sell to. He was kind and appreciated all the children. I went in to say hello to him almost every day as I went back and forth from Min’s to the Railroad duplex. 

We both were pleased when Mr. Cope gave us comic books with the covers removed so he could send the comics back to the factory. My friend had five brothers, so I’m sure those comic books had a thorough reading. Come to think about it; Patience was cousin to the Sheriff’s family, who had nine children. All the kids from both these families were at the top in school. 

We played in their yards and staged plays. 

To be continued.

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

Tags: , , , ,

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