Childhood Antics

Have I told you about the day I didn’t want to go to Primary? I was eight or nine years old and going to Primary was not my favorite thing to do. My mother was insisting that I go and I was equally determined that I didn’t want to go. In the stand-off argument with my mother I said that I could sing “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam” just as well at home. My mother, looking at me in the eye, said “fine.” She had me sit on a chair in the hall way and sing “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam” until Primary was over. Sometime in my childhood I came up with my own version of the song. It went as follows:
Jesus wants me for a sunbeam at 50 cents a day. I’ll be a sunbeam for Jesus because its darn good pay. A sunbeam, a sunbeam………

In my early youth we use to steal fruit from our neighbors cherry, peach and apricot trees. It seems kind of ridiculous now since I’m sure that they would have given us fruit had we asked. On one occasion I was in a cherry tree when the owner came running out of their house. I attempted to jump from the tree to a nearby fence only to hit the fence and land in the arms of the owner. He chastised me and threatened to call the police. However, after a good scolding he turned me loose with a warning to stay out of his fruit trees.

Have I told you about the time I got lost in an abandoned mine? I was born and raised on the upper avenue section of Salt Lake City. There were very few homes between where I lived and the foothills. I always loved the mountains and spent many enjoyable hours hiking in the hills. One day my friend and I came across an abandoned mine. The entrance was only passable by crawling through a small opening on your stomach. Always looking for adventure we decided to go home for a flashlight and return to explore the mine. Once inside the mine there were tracks that had been used to ore cars. The mine, once inside, was large enough to stand up. The first thing we learned was that a flashlight in a mine produces very little light. We decided to follow the mine wall on our right side. After walking some distance into the mine a cave-in blocked us from further exploration. We turned back and continued to follow the right wall with very limited light from our flashlight. Rather than returning to the opening of the mine we came to a solid wall. At this point we were two very frightened young boys. We retraced our steps and returned to the cave-in that had blocked our passage. We knew that our parents had no idea where to search if we didn’t come home. Fortunately we realized what had happened. There were twos shafts or tunnels feeding in together like an inverted “Y.” We were not aware of the second tunnel and by following the right wall on the way out led us into the second tunnel which ended in a solid wall. Following the left wall we came to the mine opening and lived to see another day.

Have you ever tried to milk a cow using a ketchup bottle instead of a milking bucket? I grew up in an urban area. There was only one farm within walking distance from my home. One day my friend and I decided we would try to milk the cow just for the challenge. The only container we could find was a used ketchup bottle. Neither of us had ever milked a cow before. We were relying on what education we had received from movies, story books and word of mouth. Our results were as you would expect from two ignorant young boys….a total disaster. The farmer came out from his house and promptly chased two boys off his land. This was the first and last time I ever tried to milk a cow. Milk, thereafter was always purchased at the store or directly from a farmer.