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My
Pal Mel
If
I were asked to select someone who has made a positive, lasting
impression in my life, the selection would not be difficult to decide.
The first name that comes to mind is Melvin Steinhauer, my first
cousin on our mother's Werner line. Mel and I were always close,
irrespective of the year difference in our ages. The entire Steinhauer
family holds a special place in my heart. My Uncle Conrad was a
great person as was my mother's sister Aunt Mollie. Mel's sister
Claudine and Mel's wife Isabel are solid Gold in my book.
Over
the years, Mel included me in a variety of activities, as well as
introducing me to areas that I may have otherwise overlooked. He
was indeed a mentor of the highest caliber. Many of my memories
may seem trivial to the reader but they nonetheless are treasures
I hold dear.
- Like
the photo
of himself taken during WWII in Okinawa which he developed
using a blanket as his darkroom.
- Riding
in his 1939 Ford Convertible, equipped with a three button
musical horn with which he would play "Mary Had A Little
Lamb" while his shirt flapped in the breeze!
- Taking
me on my first roller coaster ride in Santa Cruz. Attending
ice hockey games at the Fresno Ice Arena.
- Teaching
me how to calculate fractions and percentages, a task my
teacher failed to accomplish.
- Taking
me camping and surrounding my sleeping bag with rocks so
I wouldn't roll into Bass Lake. Escaping after being terrifyingly
close to becoming snowbound in Cedar Grove while on a fishing
trip. (there were deaths reported on people who were stranded)
- The
art of dunking coconut macaroons in hot cocoa. Cooking giant
sized flapjacks, each one filling the entire skillet!
- Cooking
foil wrapped trout in campfire coals after stuffing them
a slice on onion and cheese.
- Catching
those same trout on dry flies we hand tied ourselves.
- Taking
me hunting for dove, pheasant and ducks.
- On
one occasion Mel brought along a fellow by the name of Delaney
to join us duck hunting. Delaney pushed off our boat, (fitted
with Mel's Scott Atwater outboard) and waded out a bit to
far before getting in, he filled his waders with water.
Once onboard he commented, "You don't have to be crazy
to be a duck hunter but it sure helps!"
- After
yet another duck hunt, we gathered crawdads in a burlap
sack and placed them in the trunk of Mel's 1946 Chevrolet
sedan (sporting Seiberling tires, I might add, advertised
as the tire that breathes). We arrived at my folk's ranch,
opened the trunk and discovered the "mud bugs"
had escaped from the sack and were scattered in every nook
and cranny and if that wasn't enough, my mother wasn't overjoyed
with the thought of cooking the in her kitchen.
- He
taught me the card game "Canasta" so I could join
in with the adults at Holiday gatherings.
- I
recall a camping trip with his family to Dinkey Creek where
according to Mel's wife Isabel, a good part of my night
seemed to be interrupted while blowing up my air mattress
plagued with a slow leak!
- To
many people Mel might have been considered a perfectionist,
as "Good Enough" or "Close Enough” weren't
part of his vocabulary. He imparted in me the finer points
of model airplane construction, not those out of a box but
ones built from rescaled plans out of magazines, those constructed
of balsa wood and covered with paper which was stretched
taut using water sprayed from mother's perfume atomizer.
I can still see him using his teeth to gnaw away the dried
model cement from his fingers. We later flew those free
flight models in the oil fields of Kerman.
- His
skill and perseverance rubbed off on me when we constructed
a runabout boat using magazine plans and as a result of
his guidance I derive a great pleasure in working on various
woodworking projects to this very day. His honesty, integrity
and artistic ability displayed to me a positive role model
to look up to.
If
I'm ever tempted to say "That's good enough," I think
of Mel saying "Do it again" or "Do it right"
and I do, or try my best to. Mel's memory remains clearly in my
mind, as firmly fixed as ever, as it always will be and should be.
Melvin
Donald Steinhauer
Born November
14, 1920
Died May
11, 1990
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