Roughly thirty years ago my parents bought a 14 foot wide by 80 foot long mobile home. It wasn’t the original plan.

After they moved to Louisiana they spent several months dealing with some of the crookedest real-estate people you can imagine. For some reason these people thought out of state newbies from Phoenix would be easy suckers. They tried to sell my parents over priced housing in crime ridden neighborhoods, flood prone housing, and my favorite; A fire damaged house where they laid shingles over huge burn holes in the roof. My folks had enough. They bought a mobile home, moved it into a trailer park in Tioga, Louisiana and started hunting for some land.

The land was the husk of a burnt out brick home at 5716 Gilley Williams Rd., Tioga, Louisiana. We spent many years moving the bricks of that house around the property.

On November 16, 2009 my parents left Tioga. They have a new home in West Virgina near my brother. I’m surprised they lived in Tioga so long. We wore that place out! They raised two boys and a neighborhood of vagabonds that we would bring home. That tin box was beat up by storms like Gustav. I still get pissed when weather people mention their disdain for the mobile home. A properly built and anchored mobile home is as good as anything else. I’ve seen brick homes collapse too. If you survive a major weather event, you should just be thankful.

There’s some photos we took when we helped them move; The cinderblocks where my dog, Boss, hid when he ran away as a puppy. The remnants of the ladder to tree house we built.The railroad tracks where I walked all the time (occasionally I snuck out to raise hell). Some artifacts like the Sierra Network mouse pad and my brother’s Sex Pistol album Caidy took. Of course the concrete we poured to build the carport that has our names in it.

P.S. For a bonus here’s the YouTube video of Richard McNair’s smooth escape that took place down the street).