Ten for Tuesday

Ten Childhood Memories

It was hard to pick out only ten memories from my childhood, but I chose some that stand out in my mind. I don't have pictures to go with all of them due to the face that many of my own pictures are presently packed away, and some of the pictures that might go with my choices are in someone else's collection. But following are some remembrances of my growing years.

1. Memories of my Dad. Below is a picture of him holding me in his arms. Notice how proud he is of his first daughter. When I was not much older than this, he used to swing me on the lawn holding onto one of my arms and one leg. I called it "Awn Egg," which was short for swinging out on the "lawn" holding onto a "leg." It was not uncommon for me to plead, "Awn egg, Daddy, awn egg." And he usually complied. When we flood irrigated our lawn, he would chase after us and, using the back of his shovel, splash us with water. We all loved it!

2. Swinging out over the hill. You might not be able to tell from this picture, but we lived on a hill, and it dropped off just behind the swings (the lane and a field are down below). We didn't always have the saddle in a swing, that was a fun addition for a while. You really can't see the swing on the left, but it was a swing made out of part of a tire, and my brother, Seth, used to be rocked to sleep when he was a baby and then nap in it. That's me standing in the saddle with the cowboy (girl) hat on my head.

3. Visiting Yellowstone park. In the summer, when Uncle Eldon came up from California to visit, we would meet him in Lava Hot spring for a fun swim, and then two or three times, several families of relatives went to Yellowstone Park for a fun vacation. We especially loved it when the California cousins came because then we all got a break from the farm work to have a little family fun.

4. Indian Hot Springs. I don't have a picture of this place, but it is, or at least was, a swim resort on the other side of American Falls. When I was in the third grade, my oldest brother, Jay, hurt his leg badly in a hay baler. Knowing that water therapy was good for it, the next summer my parents took us swimming on Saturdays to Indian Hot Springs. We swam and then had a picnic lunch. It was a great time for all of us, even though I know now as I look back on it that it was a financial sacrifice for my parents.

5. Fishing. I was only about six years old when my father first let me go out with the men and boys for the opening day of fishing, which occurred, in those days, on June 4th every year.

When I was 10 years old, I asked for a fishing pole for my birthday. My mom tried to talk me into a new dress, but it didn't work. I got my fishing pole, and the next year I received a reel to go with it. Before then I used a long willow with fishing line attached to it.

One special part of going fishing was taking my grandfather. He had a hard time sitting still if there were no fish biting where he was situated. When it was time to go home we would have to drive up and down the road on the side of the stream hollering, "Grandpa, Dad," over and over until he could finally hear us and come. Below is a picture of him when he was older and couldn't move as well. He is just sitting on the side of the creek with his fishing pole. I'm not sure anyone in the family loved fishing more than my grandpa.

6. 24th of July celebrations. Our ward always celebrated the 24th of July with a parade, booths, food, ball games, and programs. One year my best friend, Annette, and I decorated our family's red wagon to look like a covered wagon. My younger sister, Grace, rode in it as we pulled it around the block. We won a prize for our parade entry.

7. Swimming in the summertime. When we were very young, we were allowed to go down to the "pond" where the water was held for pumping it up the hill to irrigate the fields above and play in the water. We later went swimming in the canal that ran through the farm. The biggest fun, though, was when we were old enough to ride an innertube on the big canal about three miles north of our home. Today my children look at those rapids and laugh. "Do you call those rapids, Mom?" When we hold family reunions, though, the out-of-state cousins come and love to take a turn in the cold water. This picture was taken just last summer at the time of our last big family reunion.

8. Visiting the Eastern Idaho State Fair. The fair was held in Blackfoot every September, and district schools were let out of the first day. On "Kids Day," we all got in free and then got to spend out hard earned money riding the rides on the midway or visiting the exhibits.

9. Our skating rink. I really feel badly that I don't have any pictures of this. In January, when the winter was the coldest, out dear mom would take a hose out to our front lawn and lay down a layer of water. After it froze, she would put down another, and another, until we had a smooth covering of ice on the area. We even put a floodlight out on the corner of the house, and then, after school and in the evening, we could go ice skating. Not only did our family enjoy it, but many of the neighborhood kids as well. After the evening's skating, Mom would again hose down the ice so it would be smooth again for the next day. It was only cold enough for the ice to stay there for about two weeks, but we enjoyed it when we could.

10. My trip to Boise. The summer I turned 12, I went to Boise for two weeks to stay with my cousin, Nona, and her family. My 12th birthday was celebrated while I was there. It was a fun time. We went swimming, to the movies, played badmitton in the backyard, hiked downtown to the parks there, and managed to sneak the ice cream from the freezer out through a window to the screened-in back porch where Nona and I slept several times. When it was time to go home, I was driven to the train station in an Edsel (see how long ago it was), and then I took my first train ride to get home. Even though I loved my time in Boise, I was sure glad to see my mother when I got off the train in Pocatell0.