Poetry I Like: A WIdow's Lullaby at Winter Quarters, 1846

A WIdow's Lullaby at Winter Quarters, 1846 by Edna S. Browne in Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Thomas X. Smith Camp 2005-2006

Sleep, my little one--
Sleep while Mother dreams
Of your comely smile
And your small hands cupping my heart;
Of my completeness, holding you;
The happy burden of your trust,
My pride in your unfolding;
The wonders wished for you
Since our first touch.

Even here--
Here in the wind-whipped place,
This savage wilderness,
You have been my courage
And my star.

Sleep, my little one--
Sleep in your narrowbed
Under your coverlet of prairie sod
And stones gently piled . . .
Sleep, while Mother dreams
And weeps--
Walking the long, lonely miles ahead.

The Mile Swim

I can't say that I was the fastest swimmer, but I could go for long distances.  I had several resting strokes down.  This included the side stroke and the elementary back stroke.  Of course if you wanted to get anyplace you had to do the crawl.
I completed my mile swim at the Sky View High School pool.  Our ward Scouts would rent the pool  and we would go up there to work on our scout swimming requirements.  It made for a long Young Men's as the pool was twenty minutes away from Hyrum.  After being in Scouts a while, I had passed all of the basic requirements.  So we moved on to harder things.  There was a handful of us passing off the mile swim.  We started as soon as we arrived.  We only had the pool for an hour.  I took it easy, using plenty of resting strokes and taking my time; But I was steady.  Bit by bit I swam.  The leaders encouraged me to go fast.  There was no way I would finish before the hour.  And in fact I didn't.  I was a few minutes over.  But I swam a mile.  I received a patch to put on my swim suit.

Hardward Ranch Elk Ride

I saved an article form the Great Outdoors section of the VIA AAA magazine a few years back about hardware ranch up Blacksmith Fork Canyon.  Too late this year, but the ride is great fun, and the herd seems to always increase in size.  You can go to the visitors center all year and see elk across the mountain meadow.  I remember as a scout going to the ranch and helping with conservation projects, or bringing in the cut hay or bailed grass.  We had some good times there.  One of our scouts' dad worked at the ranch so we got to go there a few times.  That would have been the Hyrum Fourth Ward at the time which included the ranch in its boundaries.  Check out their website.

Argentine Foot Bath

Argentina, especially in the capitol (Buenos Aires Federal District) the sidewalks are made of tile.  This really is very nice looking, and the are efficient, unless a tile comes loose.  Then you have problems, especially when it rains.  It does rain a lot in Buenos Aires.  The moisture gets under the tile, and then when you step on the tile it works as a little pump and squirts water on your feet and ankles.  You can protect yourself with an umbrellas, but there is no protection against the little foot bathes coming from below.

An example of a tile sidewalk

Driving 100

Can't say I have been that fast often, but one time, in the Grand Prix I had purchased from my sister, I was challenged to see if I could do 100.  This is the first car I had ever owned.  It was while driving to Blackfoot for my field placement at the State Hospital there.  I traveled with Blair Gardner and Mary Ellen Spackman.  Blair challenged me, "Can this thing do a 100?"  So we got off the freeway after Pocatello, and found some back roads on which to try out the Grand Prix.  It hit 100.  However the springs were so loss it didn't do so safely.  The car was really bouncing.  Scared me enough that I slowed down as quickly as we hit 100.

That car, likely because of the springs, had a bad habit of hitting the differential case on the bottom, which would push the casing into the differential and it would make a terrible noise.  I had to get it fixed a few times, once in the garage and once a friend of Weldon's in Tintic.

Caleb's: Our Days of Color

Our many days of color By Caleb

The many different days I change colors.  Sometimes I'm happy and sometimes I'm sad.

When it is a pink day it reminds me of flamingos.

Sometimes I feel lonely on gray days.

Then comes a purple day.  I feel as sleepy as an owl.

I love my days of color.  I hope you do too.

I don't know what grade Caleb was when he wrote this, but I really like it.  I don't know if it was an original poem.  But I am sure he did the pictures, and the use of color is great.

Poetry I Like: Silver Boxes

Silver Boxes

My words were harsh and hasty And they came without a thought. Then I saw the pain and anguish That my bitter words had brought. Bitter words that I had spoken Made me think back through the past; of how many times I'd uttered Biting words whose pain would last. Then I wondered of the people I had hurt by what I'd said; All the ones I had discouraged WHen I didn't use my head. Then I thought about my own life, Of painful words I've heard; And of the times I'd been discouraged By a sharp and cruel word. And now clearly I remember All the things I might have done; But, by a word I was discouraged And they never were begun. Lord, help my words be silver boxes, Neatly wrapped up with a bow; That I give to all so freely, As through each day I gladly go. Silver boxes full of treasure, Precious gifts from God above; That all the people I encounter Might have a box of God's own love. Michael Bright 1989