Jan. 21, 2012

High School Track, 880 Yards run and the mile relays and Cross Country.

The last four years of high school I was asked by Coach Josie to run the 880 Yard Run and the Mile relay. He also had me running Cross Country in the fall since track was always in the spring. I was a good runner and would have been a great runner had my heart really been in it. I had plenty of practice since I loved to race the bus home after school and I loved to go up  on the bench and run along the road up to Snow Draw.  I ran a fairly fast mile and was usually under 5 minutes and as I got older came closer to the 4 minute mile even though I never did actually run it that fast. The 880 when I started as a Freshman was really only a run but as I got older it seemed to move into the dash rather than a run.  We used to run a mile each day in athletics and then we would run up the hill behind the school to the top several times. During Cross country season we would run up Utahn  along the Duchesne River for several miles and it would even be the course when we hosted the competition at our school. I liked running that one since it was actually fairly flat but I didn’t really like it when we went to Tabiona because they ran up and down all of the hills. I went to a track meet in Helper once when we ran around a golf course twice. It was pretty nice because I knew what the last half of the run was like and after the first round I was back in the pack at about 25^th place but since I knew what I was up against the last half I was able to move into 5^th. It wasn’t my best race but it was better than it probably would have been had I not been able to go past the coach halfway through and find out how far I was back into the pack. I remember running a cross country at East Carbon also and they ran it out through the sagebrush since that was about all they had around the city.  It was good for me to run in those events even though I think I got quite tired of it by the time I graduated and really haven’t done much running since then. I look at people out running though and it seems more like they are just jogging and that is probably because I remember too well how fast we had to run or be totally left behind in the race. I also have not had a desire to run that hard because I remember too many times that I would end the race and then have to go throw up. Memories like that tend to make the experience seem less enjoyable.

Jan. 20, 2012

Herding the sheep down indian canyon

I seem to remember writing about this but have not been able to find it so here goes again and it’s not like I haven’t written twice about other things as well.

When I was young I used to love to go with my Uncle Mont and work with him on the Indian Canyon ranch. That is the ranch where mom and dad spent the first year of their marriage. We often had irrigation to do or hay to cut, rake, bale and haul. (When I was real young I went once when we hauled the hay loose and I was assigned to stomp the hay as the men threw it up onto the wagon. I got covered with hay leaves while doing it too. There was one day though when Lynn and I were asked by Mont to go with him and herd the sheep from the ranch to Duchesne.  It was only seven miles but I remember being pretty sore and stiff from being in the saddle all day since it took that long to move the sheep that seven miles. We herded them along the highway so we had to watch carefully  so that they would stay off of the road and not be in the way of any occasional cars that might come along. I learned the herding sheep was not real easy because when one decides to go across the road they all want to and they don’t care what’s coming. We did have Mont’s dog that helped a lot but even then we would have to hurry the horse around them to get hem back off of the road. Mostly however it was just a long time in the saddle because Mont wanted to let them eat while we were going as well which meant that we would just be sitting on the horse while we waited for the sheep to move a little further. It was a long day but I will always be glad that I had the chance to do it.

Jan. 19, 2012

Grandpa and Grandma's @ Centerfield

I remember that we didn’t get to go to Grandpa and Grandma Hansen’s place very often since it was such a long drive from Duchesne to Centerfield Utah where they lived. We apparently went for the purpose of reunions I suppose since we always seemed to have cousins there each time. I guess they were not always there because I do remember traveling on another super long journey from their place to Uncle Carling’s in Circleville to see them a couple of times. The best parts of those trips were when we went part Big Rock Candy Mountain and got to stop there for a rest. I drive that road now and realize it isn’t so far in actual miles but the speed limits and comfort of the cars is far better now so the trips don’t seem as log even though I am a grownup now verses being a child then.

I remember best about those trips however that Grandpa and Granma would always come out of the house and either stand on the porch and wave to us or come down the walk to the car while we were getting out.  Grandma always seemed to be in the kitchen cooking while we were there and grandpa would let us go out and do the chores with him if we were not too busy playing with the cousins. We always slept in the rooms downstairs that were connected with a small window, no glass, up above the beds through which we would try to crawl since only a child could fit through them.  

They also had an old Victrola record played in the west room that we love to play and play with.  Many times we would play “Red Rover “ and other tag games out on the front lawn with the cousins. It was always fun. Grandpa would always have to make a trip to the reservoir and get water in the gallon jugs since the water in the taps was not drinkable for some reason. It was 10 or so miles to the place where he filled up the jugs. I can also still remember Grandma telling us to only use 4 sheets of toilet paper when we used the bathroom. Some of the granddaughters also use to get stuck in the bathroom because they couldn’t open the door, I personally never remember having that problem myself.  So even though our trips were not very often, they were always fun.

Jan. 18, 2012

The Grand Canyon trips.

When I was around 8 or 9 years old, in 1961 I think, I remember a trip when I got to go with the family to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon while on our way to pick up Alma from Jacob’s Lake, AZ where she had been employed during the summer. I was young enough to remember what the place looked like where she worked and I remembered the fields and high mountain grasslands that we passed by while traveling to the North Rim. It wasn’t until years later as Marie and I were headed to AZ to photograph Troy’s wedding in 2003 that we decided to leave early enough that we could go to the rim on our way to Alma’s. I must admit that the images which had been in my mind from my youth were totally correct as to what they looked like but totally incorrect as to where they were in relation to the entire trip. I had always thought that it was only a couple of miles from Jacob’s Lake to the rim but was shocked to find out that it was over 30 miles one way. (I remember thinking I was glad we had left earlier than planned initially.) The areas or scenes that had stuck out in my mind were between Jacob’s Lake and the rim when I had always thought that they were just outside of Freedonia, AZ. I had wondered several times while traveling to Mesa before for other weddings why I never been able to find those places even though we went past where Alma had worked all but a couple of those times. It became very clear on our last trip. The images of the resort at the rim and the fences and everything else around that lookout were correct. We decided also that year to come back from AZ and visit the South Rim since I could not remember ever having been to it. I enjoyed that view but must admit that the North Rim is far more spectacular in the view that you get of the Grand Canyon.

Jan. 17, 2012

Youth Conferences at BYU 

During my Mutual age years, after age 13 that it, I was blessed to be able to attend Regional Youth Conferences at BYU. I think my memory has kind of made the two conferences into one since I remember certain details and am not sure during which year that they occurred. I was blessed both times to be on the region planning committees and the first year as a member of the Duchesne Stake Youth Council and the second time as the Chairman for the Region Council. I think because I was involved so heavily in planning both is the reason why they are gelled together. Both years were a lot of fun and it also gave me a chance to make friends in Roosevelt and other areas and towns that were involved in the region planning committee. We usually held our meetings in Roosevelt where the Adult Chairman lived.

The highlights that I remember best though were the bus trips from Duchesne to BYU and the experiences that involved the classes and firesides. I didn’t really care for going to class so the fact that I had to help other youth find theirs, then it kept me from being able to attend for the most part which was alright with me. I also had hall duty and found the challenges in keeping girls off of our level even though I wanted desperately to visit theirs so I could see Marie. We did get to do a lot together however at the meals and in between classes. I did like going to the firesides since I could go with Marie to them and that was well worth it. In fact during the second conferencew we had to perform for one of them. Kevin Wilkinson, Marie and I and Rhonda (who later married Kevin) and I think a couple more people sang a song that Kevin could lay on his guitar. I still remember the title “Ruby, Don’t take your love to town”. I was a bit embarrassed since the message of the song really didn’t fit the messages we were trying to portray at youth conference but we did it anyway. I don’t remember any recourse from our leaders although there probably should have been some and it seemed some council given as to which verses to omit.