The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-11-18
BACK TO BOYHOOD DAYS.
Why Men Dream of Them and Wake
to Weep for Times Gone BY.
(Chica go News

Yes, sirl Boyhood happy days. of
course. We know about that. We
haven't forgotten the joy of sleeping
in an unfinished loft in winter when
orr breath froze to the bedding and we
had to thaw us out with a hot fiat
iron every morning.
Morning. too, We got up at a. m,
pitch dark, 81 degrees below zero, and
still going down! We had to get up.
hustle out and feed and milk the low
ing herd, curry the rear elevation of
: the family mule wake the rooster I'D
to crow. thaw out the pump, chop four
cords of wood and shovel away the
snow to make room for the sun TO
rise.
Some times we went to school in the
winter-nOt often. Only on the days
when it was too cold and stormy to
go outdoors. Then we sat on nice
cool board about fifty feet away from
the stove and gayly blew at our fin
gers and picked icicIes from our hair
And, as VIC sat. we listened to a
wooden image with a teachers license
as he handed us instrumentation and
permanently crippled our intellects.
Then came the merry springtime
Rise at ESQ a. m. More lowing herd
The herd, owing to the supply of fod-
der, being low. Then the hired man.
who had hibernated in the forest came
forth seeking whom he might make
happy with his presence. And we, be-
ing in need of extra joy, were allowed
to sleep with this woody 1irelinG, who
snored like the boom of the sad sea
waves He was a good fellow. this
hired man. He taught US to chew To-
bacco and swear. These gentle pas
times procured US more violent lick
ings than any other joy of our whole
young life.
No memory is more loaded with joy
germs than the spring crop working.
Can we ever forget the blowing? How
we held the pillow when we had to reach
up with q pike pole to get the ham
dies; how we drove the old plug team.
with the lines around our neck; how
when the clevis broke the mares walked
away with our frail body dragging be-
hind the ears? When darkness came
we stabbed the plugs and went forth
TO milk the brindle heifer. The heifer
kicked us across the barn floor and an
old COW obligingly kicked us back
again. Then when the milking was
over, what fun to turn i'm and teach
a fool calf to drink! This acting as dry
nurse to bandy-legged calf was one
of the most unmixed joys of all We
tied the calf short. set the bucket in
front of him. got astraddle of his neck.
stuck two fingers in his mouth and
with the other hand damned his head
into the pail. And all the time we
! were efnptying out abuse on calves in
general and this lop-eared idiot in par
ticular, This went on until dad came
in and with loving patience horse
whipped us all about the place
Then when we had carried i'm the
wood, brought forty gallons of water
from the spring and eaten about eight
pounds of solid food, VIC went jOyfully
upstairs-and came down again imme-
diately to breakfast
We often dreams and wake 20 weep
for the days gone by when the dFK was
ripe. We recall the old swamp ~ns al
always had to be cut by hand. WeA-
call little stones that we rasped I'm
edge of our blades on, We recall the
pretty snakes we stepped on with our
bare feet. We remember it all with
solemn gladness.
Well. well. How it all comes back
to us,