……This 1950s aerial photo shows how Phoenix, Arizona was brimming with Orange Groves, orchids & Farmer’s Fields. This is how I remember Phoenix.
This large, wide, dry ditch stopped right where houses ended and the Farm Land began. Anyway, for a good half a mile or so, just inside the Farmer’s fence, was about a 30 to 40 yard wide swath of jungle land… Well, to us kids it seemed that way. I think it was probably what was left of a wind-break area with a large ditch-like canal running through it. It had little pools and ponds here and there. A much larger canal ran through the farmland for about a mile or so, caddycorner to the little windbreak, oasis area. There was quite a bit of brush with large trees – Cottonwood, Willows, Tamarisk, Palo Verdes, etc.
Well, the kind farmer would allow us kids to play in this area… As long as we didn’t bother anything over toward the barn and farm implements… Tractors, equipment and such. The Farmer would even come over and talk to us boys now and then; and we would say “Yes sir”, “No sir”, when talking to him. Always in a very polite manner as was custom for talking to an adult in those days.
I remember he was a leathery, rough-looking guy, but very mild mannered and soft-spoken to our little group of kids. Well, this little oasis was loaded with wildlife of all kinds… Frogs, toads, fish in the ditches, quail and dove, we’d see an owl now and then, horned toad too… But mostly I remember the bullfrogs. Big and round, they’d cover both hands when we’d hold them. Oh yeah, there were some ducks that hung around there also.
This ol’ Farmer reminds me of the kind man who’d let us play on his farm…
We kids built a fort next to a little pond with some lumber we scavenged in the alleys running through the neighborhood, and by using some of my dad’s tools (secretly borrowed). The Farmer inspected our little fort and allowed us to keep it up. We used to take along canteens full of water, a big lunch and spend whole days playing there. Swimming, playing Army, climbing trees, etc.
Well turns out we weren’t the only group that wandered this desert jungle land… The O’Grady Bros. would show up now and then. Their leader, Ruffy O’Grady, wasn’t a very pleasant sort… seemed he was always looking for mischief or trouble.
One of my younger brothers had a great affinity towards the bullfrogs… I think he might have even named a few. I remember him loading them into his metal Tonka Truck toy and driving the bullfrogs around in the back of it, taking them on the roadways we’d carved by our little fort. Well, one day… We were at the pond area just playing and whanot… when here comes walking through the brambles… who else but Ruffy O’Grady, his brothers, and a few pals.
Bullfrogs like this were loved by me and my bros. Especially my younger brother.
They were carrying B.B. Guns and Pellet Guns… They said they were looking for a turtle that was their’s. We said we hadn’t seen any turtles… Ruffy noticed the Bullfrogs and started shooting his B.B. Gun into a big one that was sitting close-by. My little brother was outraged, and started to try and stop Ruffy. Then, laughing loudly, Ruffy called to his sidekicks… “Hey, let’s shoot some bullfrogs!”… And they commenced to shoot and kill each and every bullfrog. When I stood up to them, a pellet gun was pointed at me… along with the words, “You don’t own these Bullfrogs.” We stepped back and watched as Ruffy and his cohorts killed maybe 20 big Bullfrogs. After the massacre was over, they rambled off through the thicket, laughing and shouting taunts over their shoulders as they went. As you can imagine, my brother was devastated. They’d killed his good little buddies, his innocent buddies.
This episode has stayed in my mind all these years. Ruffy was a few years older than me and some of his sidekicks were his age. I think it was the next summer that someone broke into the Farmer’s Barn… that was always off-limits, and then set the barn on fire. The police never caught who did it. And the Farmer closed off his property with barbed wire and a “No Trespassing” sign. Our happy times in the oasis were over.
This feller is apparently shooting Bullfrogs. Maybe it’s Ruffy’s or his dad…. Hmm….
Over the years, I always suspected the O’Grady’s were the ones behind that fire that destroyed our beloved jungle oasis. Ruffy was an infamous firebug in our parts, and was well-known to have set fires. He even set cats on fire and was always performing hideous and devious deeds of that nature.
Well a few years later, I started lifting weights and working out with my older bro and a few friends in our backyard. We had a Speed Bag, A Heavy Bag, and a real good set of Iron Weights and even a Bench Press. We really got into it…
A Transistor Radio… takes you back to them good ol’ days.
I had a Transistor Radio I’d gotten for my 14th birthday from the Hobby Shop. You could hold it in one hand. It was covered in brown leather, with a strap or grip on it. I loved that radio… We’d tune in Kriz or Krux Radio Stations and listen to the Top 40 while working out. That’s when I first heard “Wild Thing” by a group called “The Troggs”. Whenever the DJ would say their name, “The Troggs”, I’d be reminded of Ruffy O’Grady and the Bullfrogs.
Well, I remember running into old Ruffy probably a few years later. We were both getting out of our car’s and walking into a local grocery store, and standing in the lobby area. One of my buddies yelled, “Hey! There’s Ruffy O’Grady!”. When I looked I beheld… A short, skinny, reddish-blonde-haired young man. He just stared at me with a funny, somewhat scared look on his face. I just smiled and said, “Hi there Ruffy. How are ya?” That’s just the type of guy I was, I’m not one to hold grudges. He mumbled something and slinked away.
That was the last time I saw the Great Ruffy O’Grady. Not sure what became of him, I wish him the best…. Although a number of years later, I heard that some vandals had burned down the old Gradeschool I went to… a historic building that was built in 1897 for the Farm Kids way North of Phoenix. It made me think of ol’ Ruffy for some reason. I always wondered if he wasn’t the one behind it…
Ya know, it’s funny about the Bully’s you know from your youth. They seem to stay kids… as we all grow and mature. Boy I sure liked that nice Farmer guy. I always hoped he didn’t think we had anything to do with his barn fire….
Well, that’s enough about the old days for now… God-Speed and Fare-thee-well.
Other articles by my dad:
5. The Glass Oval Cuff-Link… Trinkets, Memories, and Pawnee Bill (Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show) (May 11, 2012)
4. — The one you’re reading. —
3. Classical Music (Beethoven), Spencer Tracy (Roger’s Rangers) And Computers… TV, Movies and Memories of Days Gone By (April 25th, 2012)
2. Old Guys & Youtube (April 13th, 2012)
1. MyDad: The Phoenix I Knew. Arizona’s Hometown From the Eyes of a 1950s-born Phoenician (April 5th, 2012)
