The Old Swimming Hole

The Old Swimming Hole
There’s a favorite place for swimming that the locals know about in a very small town in Idaho called Chester. Word has spread and sometimes the local swimming hole can have up to fifty cars parked there in July. There are license plates on cars from places all over the country that seem to have heard about the swimming hole.
The tradition of this swimming hole has gone way back for four or five generations and who knows maybe even longer than that. My father used to enjoy the swimming hole after a long day working on the farm back in the 1930’s . The swimming hole was located on the Fall River right outside his back yard. When he was young he and his brothers would spend hours swimming and diving off flat lava rocks scattered around the swimming hole. After swimming, the flat black rocks had absorbed the warm sun and it was a great way to warm up after the cool refreshing dip in the water.
An initiation to manhood was jumping off the top of the Chester Bridge. I remember my father would do beautiful swam dives off the top and I used to always love to watch him dive. At least three generations have continued the tradition. Four or five guys will stand in a row on the bridge sometimes and dare each other to dive off first. I have seen four actually dive off together.
Through the years the Chester bridge started to wear out in the middle of the bridge so some kids brought a big hay derrick pole over and hooked up a Tarzan swing. It was great fun to swing off the side or the top of the bridge and do various tricks like somersaults and flips. Some Idaho officials decided it was too dangerous though, so they took out the derrick but then the next year another one would be brought back in and rigged up. The officials finally decided to fix the hole in the bridge so they weren’t able to do the Tarzan swing any more. Still, it is a favorite place for locals and travelers alike today.
My father missed the home place so much that in his seventies he decided to build a Cabin on the other side of the bridge across from the old home place. It is very close to the swimming hole. We christened the cabin “The Fall Inn” and all the family members love to go up and stay in the cabin and remember my dad and enjoy having a great time at the old swimming hole and diving off the old Chester bridge.

Smiles

Real family are the ones that love us for who we are and are there to support us in good times and in hard times. They let us be ourselves but are not unkind or dish out put downs. They show love, respect, and a sensitive responsibility to their brothers and sisters. They aren't so concerned about their own thoughts that they can't hear an others experiences or tromp over things that are sacred and important to another. It is sometimes not the people who we are blood related that are our true family. That can be a special connection but also a stressful alienation at times. We all go through different, stages, challenges, and changes in our lives. Sometimes we find our family members are not there for us but our (not related) family help us through and become our life long family. Sometimes they are our temporary family right when we needed it by helping us through a difficult or challenging time and then we might not see them again.. We are all a part of the human family and can find family members wherever we go. God sends angels that may be in the form of people. How can we attract these other family members into our lives? Just simply look and pray and have faith that they will appear. We are in Gods gentle and loving hands and he will help us whenever we request it or even when we don't because he knows our needs before we ask. It has been a great blessing to meet other not by blood family members throughout my life. You can recognize them by the immediate kinship and connection you feel. Just like a garden to keep the flowers alive , family must be nurtured and connected with regularly. Just like reaching towards God to connect, we must reach out to others to find those special family members. One way is to smile and believe they are coming. Smiles open our positive hearts to the good things and people in life. Smiles are powerful


Smiles

A smile is sunshine parting the clouds of a storm

A babies first smile is a glimpse of heaven

A stranger can smile for no reason and make our day

A bunch of fresh fragrant flowers always brings a smile

A smile can join the whole human race and make them colorblind

Smiles are like bright colored helium balloons and lift us
.
Cheerful song birds of spring always bring smiles and a joyful heart

Frequent smilers are like freguent fliers

They extend the travel time of our lives

This is to all the family of my heart and may you be full of smiles today

Country Magazine

What is Good

With all the different philosophies, religions and spiritual practices out there it is sometimes confusing as to what really makes sense and the correct path or view. Thank goodness we live in a country that allows freedom of religion and freedom of thought. I have studied many different spiritual practices and religions in my journey and this is the conclusion to that study. I believe that what is good comes from God. Meaning those things that have a good result and help their fellow man are the test if a spiritual practice is good. I also believe that a good test for whether people are good or not is by their works. " By their works ye shall know them" A good tree(person) brings forth good fruit or outcomes. Conversely a bad tree (person) brings forth bad fruit or outcomes. That seems to be the simple test in my view. If is inspires, makes your heart sing and brings joy and love to your mind and heart. Follow that path!

Country Cousins

I have a lot of fond memories of my childhood and country life in Idaho. I recently had a story published in Country Magazine about getting a horse for Christmas. It has motivated me to write about some other memories of my time in Idaho. I'm thinking of sending this article off to Country Magazine.

Country Cousins
Every year I couldn’t wait until summer so we could go back to country life in Idaho and I could visit my favorite cousin Anita. My father was a dry farmer. He would go to Utah to teach school in the winter and return every summer to farm. My siblings and I would always count the towns as we got closer to the home place, Rigby, Rexburg, Sugar City, and finally , Saint Anthony! When we hit Saint Anthony we knew it was just a few more miles to Chester.

Chester was a very small town. It only consisted of two gas stations and a general store, post office, and meeting place. My Uncle Delbert was the proprietor. When we first got to Chester, we always loved to stop at Uncle Delbert’s store and say hello then go over to the penny candy case that displayed all the candy in a slanted window. There were root beer kegs, salt water taffy, bubble gum, Smarties, and fresh black and red licorice. The fragrance of the fresh candy case has always stayed with me through the years. My Uncle Delbert would always tell us to have a nickels worth of candy as a greeting.

The first thing I did when we got to the cabin was ask if I could go to Uncle Dees and see my cousin Anita. I spent at least half of my summer at their place and I got a real taste of country life. My Aunt Donna was one of the best cooks in Chester and always cooked a delicious country meal at the end of a hard day. Mashed Idaho spuds were a staple along with a tender beef steak, salad, and ice cream and homemade cake or a root beer float for dessert.
Everyday we’d get up bright and early and do the chores. I learned how to milk a cow by squeezing just right to get a steady stream. I also learned I needed to cut my fingernails! My cousin Rick would stop milking into the bucket sometimes and squirt some milk into some of the barn cat’s mouths. The cats seemed to enjoy it even though they got milk squirted all over their faces. Then we would take some milk to feed the calf that had lost it’s mother. Next we’d take some milk and pour it into the bottles for the bum lambs. Ten or twelve lambs would run to the fence and empty those bottles in no time.

After chores were done, we were able to have a lot of free time to play, and play we did. My Uncle's ranch was a paradise of adventure. Anita and I were horse crazy. We ate, drank and slept horses, so much of our time was spent on them. Every night we would curry comb them and then kiss their soft muzzles good night. Anita’s horse was a fast Albino quarter horse named Pinky and mine was a big Morgan palomino named Buck. We changed their names because we thought they needed more beautiful names. She named her horse Silver Star and my horse was Golden Flame. We always rode bareback because my dad couldn’t afford a saddle back then, but we became better riders that way. Anita was a real cowgirl and her horse was so well trained she could ride her without a saddle or a bridle. She would just lean and use her legs and turn Pinky with her mane. One day I decided I wanted to try riding Buck like that. He was up against a wooden fence and I kept trying to turn him with his mane, kicking him, and yelling “Yah!”, “Yah!” Buck really didn’t know what I wanted him to do but he was kind of a jumper so suddenly he lunged forward and tried to jump the wooden fence. I was so shocked I slid off him to the side as he jumped, but then we had a big problem. He’d knocked the top board of the fence off with his hooves and he was straddling the fence with two boards between his front and rear legs.

We didn’t know what we were going to do but he was kind of a spooky horse and we didn’t want him to do anything crazy and get hurt. We pondered our dilemma for a while and thought of trying to hammer off one of the top boards but were afraid he might spook at the noise. Buck just stood there for a while with the boards under his belly. Finally we tried to risk hammering a board off. We got the top board off without a mishap and the second board half way off and Buck was able to step over the other boards. I never tried that stunt again.

One day I accidently did a little trick riding Annie Oakley style. We were in a field and decided to have a race between Pinky and a horse named Flash. My cousin Rick was on Flash and I was on Pinky and really wasn’t used to riding her or her style of racing. Before I was ready and had a hold of her mane, Anita yelled, “Go!” from the end of the field. Pinky took off right out from under me and I started falling between the two horses pounding hooves. Pinky was slightly ahead of Flash and I was about even with Flashes neck. Purely out of instinct I guess, I lunged over and across Flashes neck at a full gallop. I was bobbing up and down like a jack hammer trying to stay on. Rick didn’t know what to do. I yelled, “ Stop him!” It was kind of hard for Rick to control Flash with me on his neck but he finally got him to stop. I got off and my legs were shaking like a leaf.

We had a lot of other horse adventures too. Pinky was such a good kid pony that we could ride her triple bareback. One day my sister, Anita, and I were loping through a newly plowed field. The ground was pretty soft and we all started sliding off Pinky’s back. We tried to right ourselves but it was no use and we landed in a heap on the ground. Luckily it was a pretty soft landing. One of my favorite things to do on the horses was gallop through the pastures and jump the irrgation ditches. When we sailed over the ditches it always felt like I was flying.

A couple of years we rode our horses in the July 24th parade in Saint Anthony. We would get dressed in our best western gear and cowboy hats. We'd brush our horses manes until they were silky and curry them until they shined like gold and silver. I still remember feeling so proud riding our beautiful horses in the parade. My childhood memories of Idaho and riding with my cousins are some of my favorite. I still miss Idaho and go back often to reflect on those good times and look up my country cousins.

September's Grande Ball

I had been searching for this poem for a while and was so glad when I found it in one of my notebooks. I wrote it in September of 'O8 to celebrate my rose garden.

September's Grande Ball


The last farewell of summer days
Holds them in golden glow

Roses in the garden don their finest gowns
Like kings and queens at court

Princess Tiffany graces the courtyard in a delicate pastel yellow skirt
Light pink ruffles curl around her innocent face

The Royal Prince attends in a pearl white tux
Elegantly appointed

The Contessa stands shyly in the corner in a deep blush pink
She takes our breath away with her beauty

The Ice Princess flounces her crystal white skirts
Flirting with Winter

Princess Ann is an apricot beauty
Dancing gently in the breeze

Count Carl dons a regal gold jacket
Standing out from the crowd

Her Magesty the Queen finally arrives in robes of deep indigo velvet
Rich jewels of diamond dew adorn her petals

All the court bows and curtsies
in the gentle breeze as the grande ball begins

The Lords and Ladies of the castle admire the show
And cannot help but be spellbound

Lost Art

I would have liked to have sat home and spun poems all day like my mother
Tuning in to the Forget me not blues and buzzing sounds in the garden

Instead my time is full of schedules
Reading, math, science, current events
To prove Adequate Yearly Progress
That teachers are really teaching
Students are really learning

Occasionally though I sneak in a Yoga meditation class
or recite poetry just for the fun of it
It takes all the joy out of it it if I don't stop and listen to poems and
see how phrases hook together in perfect Iambic Pentameter

"I meant to do my work today but a brown bird sang in the apple tree
And all the leaves were calling me"

Still,
I rebel every once in a while and have the students write cursive
My favorite poetic verse