Aug 29, 2010

Tell about an incident when you were very angry with your mom or dad.

I am sure there had to have been a time that I could tell to answer this question but I suppose time can be a friend to us by helping to forget these kinds of trivial incidents. Thus I cannot remember any of them and find no reason to rack my brain to find one since my memories of them include those things where they made me happy or corrected me with love so that I couldn’t be mad at them. I was raised by truly a loving set of parents.

Aug 28, 2010

Tell about going to box socials or pot lucks.

The small Utah towns were mostly ran by the traditions of the LDS church by which they were founded. These traditions included annual 24^th of July celebrations which quite often included a dinner at the park that night. I remember having pigs roasted in the ground or on a spit where that was the main meat and then everyone else would bring a casserole or salad. The salad were usually of the variety of a jello, potato or pasta type. The drinks were mostly homemade rootbeer or Koolaid. There were a lot of other dinners usually held by the ward for special occasions such as Christmas or Valentines day. There always seemed to be a lot of food leftover after each of these dinners even though we would go back and fill our plates until there was no room in the stomachs for another morsel except the cake and ice cream or pie that we would then have for desert. I get sick now even thinking of how much we could put away.

Aug 27, 2010 Happy Birthday Tia!

Did you ever have a fire in your home or accidentally catch something on fire?

Here is what I have written on that subject. It is the only fire I recall other than the ones in our wood and coal burning stoves.

A Fire in the stack yard; BYU Pow Wow

When I was 12 to 15 years old we had the opportunity to go from Duchesne to Provo to attends for three Saturdays a Merit Badge Pow Wow that was held at Brigham Young University. I think I went twice in those years.

One particular Saturday however was very memorable.

I had left with the scouts early that morning since we had to be to Provo by 8:30 AM. I wasn’t feeling well but thought it to just be the jitters. I was not a real adventure seeker at a young age and often got sick to my stomach when I would be required to do something out of the ordinary. I went to my first class and had to leave to find a bathroom to relieve my stomach. After spending several minutes in the bathroom and having lost any and all of my breakfast I didn’t feel like going back to class so instead spent the rest of that hour and the following two hours in the hallways of several buildings on the campus. I had a unique desire in my youth to collect things and during those times there were many vending machines in each of the buildings so as I wandered the halls I would stop and put a nickel into the machines and retrieve a roll of life savers. (I never did eat any of them but later put them into an old cigar box that I had at home. Over the years prior to my mission I ended up filling up that box with a number of lifesaver rolls full of candy. After I returned from my mission I found that my stash of sweets had been already eaten by sugar ants during the years that I had been gone. The rolls were all still there but small holes in each package revealed where the ants had carried off my sugary treats.) Anyway I had to spend the rest of the day in misery as we ended the Pow Wow and went out for something to eat before returning home that afternoon. I didn’t eat anything since I was afraid that it wouldn’t make the trip back to Duchesne. When I got home late that afternoon all I wanted to do was to retire to bed and get feeling better. The rest of the family however had taken the day to go to the Wasatch front to do some shopping for Christmas and had not returned by the time we were supposed to be doing the chores. I finally got up and went out to milk the cows and do the feeding. I left the feeding till last hoping that Dad would be home by then and could do the job for me. I finished milking and still no one was home. But that night also had another problem in that it was cold and very dark and as I went out to the stack yard to do the feeding I had left the light off at the barn. I don’t know why but that light that could have helped me was left off. I often went to the stack yard in the dark and knew my way quite well even though there were more than a few times that I would step in fresh cam pies while going there. This night however I couldn’t tell where the hay was that I needed to get for the cows so since I was prepared as a scout I pulled a match from my pocket and started a small fire that would light up the stack yard enough to see the hay. I hadn’t gotten a very big fire started when Dad finally arrived home and came out to see where I was in the process of doing the chores. He turned on the light that was on the outside of the barn that shed some light on the stack yard but still didn’t seem to help very much and then came out to help me. When he discovered the fire he had me quickly grab a bucket and go to the canal for water to put out the fire. He didn’t seem overly upset but did seem quite concerned and after we had the fire out he calmly explained that the hay on the ground was several inches deep and had I left the fire much longer it would have burned deep into the layer and the could have spread for days without our knowing it until it could finally have burned down the stack totally. I have always appreciated the concern he had for me and the patience to help me understand the severity of the situation without getting mad at me. He didn’t say that I could go the house however while he put out the fire but helped me learn responsibility and then helped me finish up the chores so I could return to the house and go to bed sooner. I learned two valuable lessons that day. The first was the danger of fires in a stack yard of old hay. The second however was far more valuable to me and has helped me through the years and it was to be patient and loving in the process of raising children.

Aug 26, 2010

Phones have changed over the years. Describe how you used a phone to call up a childhood friend.

Yes they really have changed. When I was young we would hear the phone but not pick it up unless we heard two rings close together separated by a sort wait and then two rings again. If it only rang once before the space it was going to our neighbors who were on a “Party line” with our family. We could easily pick up the phone and listen to their conversations and they most likely listened to some of ours as well. We would call someone by moving what was called a rotary dial around from a number to zero and letting it return to the resting position before dialing the next in line of the four required numbers to contact someone. Later we got a private line and no longer could talk to the neighbors by simply picking up the phone but rather had to call them with all four numbers. Then toward the end of y teenage years we had to start dialing all seven numbers that made up a phone number that was listed in the phone book. (I might add too that just in this last year at an age of 56 we now have to dial all 10 digits that include the local number and the area code.) Long distance was always extra and we rarely made them. Now with cell phones we make a majority of our calls as long distance as defined in my early years but for little or no extra charge above the standard cost of our cell phone monthly bill. (Which is far more than if we had made a thousand long distance calls back then.)

Aug 25, 2010

If you ever had a hero, tell who. Tell why.

I had a three hero’s. My dad, my grandpa Hansen, (I never knew Grandpa Poulson enough to hold him up as a hero other than that he was my dad’s father) and my Uncle Mont.

Those three men held the place of hero’s in my life. Dad because of his love and gentle kindness which he always had for and toward me. Grandpa Hansen because of his love, spiritual strength and gentleness as well. Then Mont because, well he was Uncle Mont. He always could make me laugh and he was always fun to be with on the ranch and at his home. I also had a fourth hero but not one of the same gender as we normally consider people as we talk about hero’s but my Grandmother Nana was a hero to me as well because she loved me so much along with the other grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her cookies and tapioca pudding helped cement that honor for her too I suppose. Yes I had a lot of people to look up to as I grew up and the list would include a lot more than those four if I had time and space to explain. I was raised by goodly parents and by a caring and loving village or community.

Aug 24, 2010

Did you have to abide by a curfew as a youth?

I did. It was 10 pm when I was young and later as a teenager moved to 12 A.M. Mother always said that the Holy Ghost went to bed at midnight and so we were to be home before the temptations of the devil could start to get to us without the aid of the Holy Ghost. Now I know that the Holy Ghost never sleeps but the principle is sound as our ability to listen to the Holy Ghost is greatly weakened by a lack of sleep and a good daily routine that includes ample sleep. Mom was very wise in putting it that way since it was not easy to forget or to dismiss.

Aug 23, 2010

What other toys did you like to play with?

I had the rare opportunity to have a huge tire sandbox. We also had some large trucks and tractors that we could use to dig in the sand of that filled tire. We spent hours making roads that would go under the lip of the tractor tire and back out again to go under a bridge that we would make into the center of the tire. Slowly as I grew up the playtime in that tire was taken up by work on the farm but the memory of it has lasted forever. It was a good toy and a great place to play.

Aug 22, 2010

Tell about a favorite doll, teddy bear or other stuffed toy.

I still have a bear that my grandmother made from the upholstery material we took off of the family couch as mom and dad had it redone. It was a little red bear shaped animal in two dimension configuration. It had three legs in a row rather than the typical two for a two dimensioned toy stuffed animal so that it had the appearance of three dimensions. I loved that animal even though it mostly went into storage after I was into my teens. It meant more to me than just being a toy simply because it was made by a loving grandmother that passed away when I was merely ten years old. That was probably why it became a favorite simply because it brought back memories of her each time I looked at it or held it. It wasn’t soft since it was made of a material that was meant to stand the rough and tough play from children and their shoes but it still brought many soft memories of that loving grandmother whom we called “Nana”.

Aug 21, 2010

Share an early experience with shaving?

I come from an heritage of a grandfather that I was told never shaved and yet he never had a beard. I shaved maybe once in my senior year only to see how it was done and then I borrowed my father’s single edge blade that did a great job for him. I used the shaving cream and carefully removed the cream from my face but I doubt that there was much hair mixed in with it. I did later shave and do so daily now but I was well into my early 20’s before it became anything more than a ritual I was required to do as a missionary just for the principle of it. I could easily go several days before anyone noticed the light red beard beginning to break through the skin. Even now I don’t sport much of a growth even after four or five days.

Aug 20, 2010

Did you ever make a purchase that you later regretted?

I never regretted any of the candy or ice cream I purchased, yet you might say I was given good reason to regret some I made in my early years as a primary teacher sternly scolded my friends and I for buying candy cigarettes as we walked to primary. I liked the candy but needless to say we never bought anymore even if it was only sugar. I cannot honestly remember a purchase that I regretted other than now in adulthood as I am greatly regretting the purchase of a VW Passat, a mistake that will never happen again.