#givethanks - Wednesday, November 23, 2022 I’m Thankful For My Life

 

#givethanks - Wednesday, November 23, 2022        I’m Thankful For My Life

 

Thank you, dear readers, for following my musings…  I’m humbled by the friends I have made through the years.  Know this: You are not forgotten!  I still remember the experiences we’ve had together in whatever venue they occurred.  Thank you for sharing that part of my life with me.

I guess that’s a good foreword to what I want to say in this thankful post.  I’ve had a good life with many fine experiences under my belt (oh, wait…that’s just my belly).  I’ve been writing my personal history this past year, a daunting job at the least.  I have a framework to work on and now I’m trying to fill in details with stories from my lifetime.  My memory has cooperated so far, and I’ve recalled some pretty old events from long, long ago.  The hard part is that I don’t have any older siblings to consult for factual clarity, so whatever I can recall is what happened

But in general, I am satisfied with the course my life has taken, and I’ve done things I may have missed had I taken another road.  I will try to relate a couple of events that were humorous (or at least I think so) …  Let me be clear though…  these are my memories and may be subject to unattainable verification.

We lived on the outskirts of the town of Lehi.  We were surrounded by fields with cattle or sheep in them as well as lots of Russian olive trees, which seemed to attract the birds.  My friend Krag Parker and I developed a science of hunting birds and small game using our specially made slingshots (which were made with surgical tubing for powerful slinging).  One day we were leaving his place planning to see what we could find to shoot at, and his mother said, “Don’t kill any birds.”  We rode bikes down to the dirt lane that bordered Mr. Mercer’s fields, not far from my house.  After riding down the lane a way, we stopped by the dry creek bed and walked along the creek to where a bunch of birds had nested.  We took turns shooting BBs and small rocks at the birds, who were getting agitated.  One of the birds left the tree and landed on the ground, where it ran round and round the tree with Krag chasing it while trying to shoot it with his slingshot.  It was hysterically funny to me, and I laughed at the scene:  the bird running and squawking; Krag running and trying to reload and laughing hard about the situation.  I don’t recall what the outcome was, if the bird got away or met its demise.  I think it got back up in the tree and hid among the leaves.  Anyway eventually we circled the various trees in the field and then gave up for the day.  Back at Krag’s house, his Mom asked “Did you kill any birds?  What did you shoot at?” Krag replied “Just some Batmans and robins”.  Funny, right?

We lived in a house that my Dad built on a 2 ½ acre piece of property next to my Mom’s sister, Aunt Meda and Uncle Harold and their family.  Their oldest was my brother Lee’s age and their next two were my age and 1 year younger.  Naturally, my cousins were major play partners as we were so close in ages.  Uncle Harold built the house that they lived in next door to us.  Many times in the summers we would play together outdoors playing games, setting up army men for dirt clod battles, baseball, kickball and so on..  One of our favorite games was “Inny-Eye-Over” where we would divide into two teams, stand on either side of the house with the roof slanting down from the high point to each team’s side.  The team with the ball would yell “Inny-Eye-Over” and throw the ball over the house where the other team would try to catch it.  If the ball was caught, the whole receiving team would run to the other side of the house and try to hit a player with the ball.  If the player was hit, they would have to go to the thrower’s team then the other team would get a chance.  It was pretty fun!

One summer a big storm came up with very high winds; not a tornado but straight-line winds.  It was so powerful that it picked up the roof off of Aunt Meda’s house, landing about 20-30 yards south right onto the garden, flattening the crops growing there.  It was a traumatic site for a young boy like me and I always kept an eye on storms after that.

 

Well, I’ve gone on too long…  I am thankful for my growing up days and the comfortable safety and love I felt from my family, my cousins, my friends, and the safety of the area.  These things are part of what shaped me as a person and have driven me to try to be there for others throughout my life.

Don