17 RAFT MOVERS

Once when I was 8 years old, I had a frightening experience that I shall never forget. We were living in the south part of the town of Redding, California. It was spring time and it was on a warm sunny Saturday.

I had received permission from my mother to go over to a school friends house to play. So, shortly after lunch, I walked about 5 or 6 blocks to his house. He was excited to see me and we immediately began to play some of the normal games of our boyish youth.

We soon elevated to cops and robbers, but soon tired of that and began to look for more exciting adventures. My friend suggested that we try out his new raft on the pond near his home. I had not yet learned to swim, but did not want my friend to know that. I reasoned that if I stayed on the raft, I could have fun and be safe.

The pond was approximately 30 yards in diameter and I would estimate about 6 to 8 feet deep in the middle. We launched the raft and worked our way out to the middle with the help of a long pole. It was really fun and exciting as we splashed around and yelled and laughed. We could imagine ourselves floating in the open sea towards some magical treasure island where we would become rich and live in luxury for the rest of our lives.

We had only been in the water for about 10-15 minutes when it happened! In the excitement of play, I lost my focus and stepped backwards off the raft! As I fell, the momentum of my falling body pushed the raft away from me.

Terror seized my soul as I plunged into the cool water of the pond. Down I sank! I remember having my whole life pass through my mind. I kicked and struggled and gasped for air. Somehow I came up only to see that the raft was now about 8 to 10 feet away from me. "Oh no!" I thought, "If I drown mom is going to kill me! She will really be angry." Again, in my mind I could see the headlines in the morning newspaper, "The boy who couldn't swim, drowns in pond." "He should have minded his mother." Down I went again.

I fought and struggled and gasped and kicked my way to the top once again. As I came up, to my surprise, I saw that the raft was within my reach! One second I thought that I was going to die and the next second there was the raft! My friend had moved the raft with his stick over to where I was bobbing in the water. When I came up there it was and I grabbed it. With great effort I pulled myself up onto the raft.

I was gasping for air and spitting water, but a great feeling of relief swept over me. I laid on the raft until I caught my breath and then suggested that we go "to yonder island." I was weak, and terrified that I would fall off again. When we got to shore, my clothes were soaking wet. I was afraid to go home, because I thought my mother would want to know why I was wet. I didn't want to tell her. So, I laid on the grass and rested for awhile. We must have laid there for almost an hour as the warm spring sun dried my clothes and shoes and warmed me up. I then decided to go home and I never told my mother what had happened.

LESSON LEARNED

Sometimes in our daily living, we are riding along on the raft of life with our friends or our loved ones. We are enjoying the ride, but then we lose our focus or our concentration and by some foolish gesture or act, we fall off into the troubled waters or ways of the world. We are basically good people, but we just lose our concentration and fall into situations or circumstances that could destroy us.

Usually no one pushes us off the raft. We fall off as a result of our own actions. As we fall, we push away from the things that can save us from a miserable life or even destruction. These things (the raft) may be our family or our circle of friends or our religion or church. I think in those times of distress, that no one can help us unless we are willing and make an effort ourselves to climb back onto the raft. Those who were on the raft with us become very important at this critical time. Like my friend, the best thing that they can do for us is to move the raft close enough to us so that we can grab hold of it when we are ready and pull ourselves to safety. I'm glad my friend didn't laugh at me or scold me for falling off the raft. He didn't say,"You dummy! It's your fault that you fell off. I told you to be careful. Now you will have to suffer the consequences."

Instead my friend just moved the raft close enough so that I could grab it again and pull myself out of what I thought would be a watery grave. I liken the sun, to the warm healing influence of our Savior, that can help dry up our mistakes and bring peace and joy to our souls. I hope that in the future, when I see a friend or family member or an associate, fall off their raft of life, that I will be a "raft mover' and not a criticizer.

What we need most in life is a whole lot more people who are willing to be "raft movers." I am so thankful that I knew at least one in my life! I do not remember my friends name, but I will always remember what he did for me. I am thankful that he was a raft mover that day. God bless all of the raft movers in our lives. If our hearts are right, maybe we can be raft movers too.

16 Lift Up Your Rudder!

As a boy growing up in Northern California, I had many opportunties to play in the streams that came out of the mountains. Sometimes they were raging torrents and at other times they were slow moving, friendly waters, where young boys could find many fun activities to pass away the hot days of summer.

Sometimes we played on rafts and pushed ourselves around using long sticks or poles that were plentiful along the banks of the river. Once in awhile we were fortunate to find a boat with oars. When using the boat, we learned a great lesson. At the time it seemed relatively insignificant. However, in my later life, it became clear what great truth mother nature was trying to teach us.

In every lake or stream there seemed to be any number of rocks, branches, twigs, sandbars and sometimes just plain junk, lurking under the water, just waiting to interfer with our progress. We learned that we could bring our raft or boat to a stop or slow it down dramatically by dragging our poles or oars along the bottom of the waterway. Several times while in boats with motors, we got hung up or tangled in something beneath the water. We had to learn to pull the motor up at the right time. This also happened when our rudders were too deep in the water. Sometimes this caused severe damage to the motor or to the rudder of the boat. It didn't take long for us to learn that to have an enjoyable ride across a shallow lake or down a peaceful stream, we couldn't go along with our poles or oars or our rudders too deep in the water.

If we did, they would inevitably drag on the bottom or hit every big rock or branch that was sticking up from the bottom; and our smooth, pleasant ride down the beautiful stream was interrupted by jerking, swirling and annoying disruptions.

At first we became very upset about our bumpy ride. Then we finally learned to not put our oars, or our rudder or our poles or motor too deep in the water.

LESSON LEARNED

As I have gotten older in life, I have come to the conclusion that life is like floating down a beautiful stream. The boat is like our own personal life; our personality, our character, our feelings, emotions, attitudes, etc. We are traveling down a stream that is taking us through a beautiful world with trees, bushes, flowers and animal life all along the way.

Instead of enjoying the ride, many of us stick our rudders or our feelings, too deep in the water. As we do this, we are upset by every little rock or twig of circumstance that comes our way and we do not enjoy the ride. We are always upset by something. There are certainly things to be aware of in this life and some of them we need to handle before moving on. However, I have observed that many of us are reacting far too much about every little thing that happens in our lives because our rudders are too deep in the water. As a result we spend too much of our lives upset and missing what really counts in this wonderful world. So, my friend, pull up your rudder a little and enjoy all you can while you are still in the stream of life. You will be much happier and so will those who are in the boat with you.

15 Childhood Treats

Most of the time growing up, we didn't have much in the way of worldly possessions.

We usually lived in small old houses or tents or just camped in a prune orchard or by a small stream somewhere. When we did live in a house, we didn't have running water or inside bathrooms. I remember our wash basin sitting on a wooden orange crate that was turned on it's end. A small bar of soap lay by the side of the basin. All of our cupboards were open with no doors, but Mom sewed curtains out of cloth flour sacks that had flowers, etc. on them. We had one mirror in the house and one cook stove to cook on and to provide heat in the winter time. In the summer it got pretty hot in the house around meal time.

I remember listing to the small radio located on another orange crate in the kitchen. There were no televisions or computers in our home. Televisions were new and we could not afford one. Computers were things that filled a room and were usually in a government building somewhere. We did enjoy the radio though and listened to "Amos and Andy," "Bulldog Drummin," "Abbot and Costello," and "The Shadow."

Most of what we did during the long cold winters was to create our own amusement. We drew pictures on old brown paper sacks. My Brother and I were always hungry and invented what we called the "Cornflake and Mustard Sandwich ."

For some reason Mom let us do this about lunch time and it gave us something to do. We would take two slices of white homemade bread and spread yellow mustard on both pieces. Then we would take a big box of Post Kellogg Cornflakes and sprinkle a generous helping onto one slice of the bread. We would place the other slice of bread on the top and crunch the sandwich together. Then we would sit close to the wood stove eating out invention and feeling very confident; like we could conquer the world.

Another treat we enjoyed was to slice potatoes and fry them on top of the wood stove. Once they were brown or scorched, we would take them off and blow on them to cool them down and then we would eat them with a little salt. We tried to slice them very thin like potatoe chips and one potatoe per child would keep us happy and busy for quite some time.

I remember these activities best, when we lived in a small old house in Wyndott, California. We moved from Wyndotte after a year or two and I did not return until 50 years later.

While living in Folsom, California, near Sacramento in 1996, my wife and I took our youngest daughter Richelle on a ride one Thanksgiving day. We wanted to see if we could find our old house where I had lived as a boy.

After some looking, we finally located the house. It still sat in the same place, but was leaning almost at a 30 degree angle. The house never did have any paint on the wooden boards and most of them were rotten and barely hanging to the leaning frame of the house. I got out and walked up the small lane to the house. The old olive trees still guarded the lane and there were some manzaneta bushes surrounding the house. My heart beat quickened as I approached the house with curious expectation. I looked in and much to my surprise, the only thing left in the house was the old cook stove. My mind flew back to almost 50 years before and in my minds eye I could see two little boys and a sister, slicing potatoes and frying them on the stove. I also imagined our mother sitting to one side watching us with a loving smile on her face.

We had no idea what was going to happen during the next 50 years, but we were happy. We didn't have the luxuries of life, but we had each other.

LESSON LEARNED

When all is said and done, the things that really matters in this life, are the people who we go through it with; those we love and especially our families.

14 LISTEN TO FATHER

One Saturday, when I was about 12 years old, our family decided to go fishing. Not far from our house, near Marysville, California, was a good sized reservoir. There was a levy built up around the reservoir that was covered with many trees; including some huge cottonwoods. It was a perfect place to fish and a beautiful day to do it in.

We were excited as we arrived at the reservoir. Birds were singing in the trees and a gentle breeze was causing the trees to whisper a peaceful melody.

My mother and sister, Marilyn, began to spread out a blanket and to set out a picnic lunch. Meanwhile Richard and my step-father and I, began looking for grasshoppers in the deep grass to use for bait.

I was the first to catch a grasshopper and to bait my hook. I found a good spot on the bank of the levy and cast my line into the water. As I did, a large carp swam couriously up from the bottom of the lake to take a look. My heart began to pound. Carp were not good to eat, but for a young boy to catch a big fish, no matter what it was, would be a fantastic victory.

With my eyes firmly fixed on the Carp in the water, I didn't pay any attention to a strange pop and a crackling sound that seemed to mix with the rustling of the trees.

Suddenly, I heard my step-father yell, "Move!" Immediately something inside of me also said, "Do it!" Without hesitation, I leaped to my left as a huge cottonwood tree came crashing down, right where I had been sitting. The outer branches swept across my head and back leaving some welt marks, but I was not seriously hurt. My willow fishing pole was broken and the Carp was gone, but I was safe.

Lesson Learned

I have been ever thankful that I did not stop to argue or to inquire, "Why?" or "Just a minute." My unquestioning, immediate, obedience paid off and saved me from serious injury or maybe even death! It is always best to take council or direction from those who have a better perspective than we do. I have compared my step-father to my Heavenly Father many times. When He says, "Move!" I move, without question or delay. I have had many experiences with this throughout my life. It has always been a good thing for me as I have immediately obeyed His promptings and direction. May we all do the same.

13 Yellow Jacket Bees!

My brother and I had several more encounters with bees. Once we were digging for worms so we could go fishing. We were at Clear Lake, California and found a small creek that fed into the lake. We were alarmed when our shovel hit a Yellow Jacket nest. Out charged the angry yellow jackets and away Richard and I ran.

Yellow Jackets were swarming all around us and Richard was stung. I headed for the cabin we were staying in; with my brother right behind me. About half way to the cabin, I saw a barbed wire fence! The thought raced through my mind that we would have to slow down to crawl through the fence and the angry Yellow Jackets would have no trouble catching up with us.

Just then a wonderful idea came into my mind and I stopped dead in my tracks; took two quick steps and hid behind one of the big trees that we were running through. I stood perfectly still, but yelled at my brother, "Hide behind a tree!" Evidently my brother did not have the same inspiration that I had and ran right by me to the fence. All of the Yellow Jackets followed him. I guess they like moving targets. He was stung 3 or 4 times as he climbed through the fence and a couple of more times between there and the cabin. Of course he was screeming all the way. It was kind of funny and I laughed, but not where mom could hear me.

This same experience happened a couple of other times in our lives. Richard always ran and got stung and I always stood still or ducked behind a bush or tree. The bees or Yellow Jackets always followed Richard.

Lesson Learned

I'm not sure what ones learns from this experience other than sometimes when danger is around it is best to stand behind the protection of a tree and not move. Then again, maybe it means that we ought to go through life with our brother near by. Richard and I had a lot of fun together; except when ther were bees around.

12 BEE - ATTITUDES

Bees are very loyal and extremely hard working creatures. They are so conscientious that they get very upset when they are disturburbed in their work. Maybe it is because they have to visit from 50 to 600 ordinary flowers to fill up their honey sacs before returning to the hive. Whatever the reason, I learned at an early age to not bother a bee or a hive.

Once when I was very young, I was living in a foster home near Redding, California. Mrs Griffy, my foster mom, was trying to get me to not put my mouth over the water faucets when I got a drink outside; something about germs. I ran a lot and got real hot and thirsty. Putting my mouth over the water faucets when I got a drink and then turning it on, kept the water off my shoes and also from running down my neck.

One evening I was having an especially good time riding my stick horse, Tigger, around the house and yard. As we rounded the corner my eye caught sight of the water faucet. I pulled Trigger to a halt, dropped to my knees and put my mouth over the faucet. In one sweepting motion I immediately turned on the water. To my horror I felt something squirmy like squirt into my mouth and I heard a very muffled buzzing sound.

Even a six year old can figure out when there is trouble in his mouth. No sooner had that first burst of water gushed into my mouth sending a bee into a dark wet hole, when out came the water with an even greater force. Also, out came the bee gasping for air and very wet and mad. Fortunately the bee was stunned and I was terrified. Before the bee could recover, I was on my horse and around the corner and into the house. I remained there for about a half hour before venturing outside again.

LESSON LEARNED

From that day to this I have never put my

mouth over any kind of faucet or hose or fountain.

It is amazing what a good teacher experience is.

I also learned that maybe grown ups know

what they are talking about after all.

11 WHY FROGS DON'T SMOKE

One day my brother and I learned a great lesson from a frog. While living on the goat ranch, we had learned that the best way to catch a frog was to sneak up on it with a fishing pole in hand. As a frog sat on the bank of the stream or on a pond lilly, we would dangle a baited hook back and forth in front of it's nose. Frogs do have noses you know. The frog, thinking this was a tasty meal flying by, would leap out and snag the bait. In a split second it was hooked and we would reel in our catch.

Our mother would cook the legs of the big frogs for dinner if we would bring 5 or 6 frogs back to camp. For some reason the frog legs would hop around the frying pan as they were being cooked. At first, we thought that they were still alive and mom and Aunt Edna would tease us a lot about the "jumping frog legs." Later we learned that it had something to do with muscle contractions. Actually frog legs are kind of tasty, especially when one is really hungry.

Well, one day we went out to catch our supper. We didn't have much success for some reason. However, after several hours of trying, we snagged a huge frog. I suppose that when the frog was stretched out it probably measured a good 12-14 inches from head to toe. We took the frog back to camp in an old gunny sack. It hopped and kicked all the way.

Since one frog was not enough to make a meal, Richard and I decided to try an experiement. We snitched a cigarette from Uncle Curly's coat pocket. We then took the frog out of the sack and sat it on the fender of our old car. The adults were over at the other side of the camp visiting under the shade of a large oak tree. They could not see what we were up to.
The frog was very tired and just eyed us with a suspicious look. It didn't try to jump away. We held it and lit the cigarette and put it into the frog's mouth. We stood back to see what would happen. We thought the frog would spit the cigarette out, but I guess frogs can't spit. The frog just sat there with the cigarette sticking out of it's mouth. It looked really funny and we began to giggle and laugh. Then the frog took a deep inhale of smoke. We thought that it would let it out and maybe blow some smoke rings like Uncle Curly did, but it didn't. In a few seconds it sucked in another big gulp of smoke and then another and then another. As we watched in amazement, the frog began to puff up and soon looked like an odd shaped balloon.

We were laughing our heads off, not knowing what was going to happen next. Suddenly, the frog let all of the smoke out at once in a loud, strange, squawking explusion of air. It's eyes rolled around several times and then it flopped over on it's back; shook and died right before our eyes. My brother and I stopped laughing. We poked the poor frog with a stick to make sure that it was really dead; it was. Sure enough that old frog had really croaked! We stood there for a few moments staring at the frog. Richard broke the silence with a soft, "Wow."

Then we leaped into action! We grabbed the dead frog and the cigarette and buried them both on the other side of the camp before the adults found out what we had done. We knew that they would probably be hopping mad if they found out what we had done. We were really scared and didn't tell them until years later.

LESSON LEARNED

I'm not sure about my brother, but I decided on that very day that I would never smoke. Every time I was offered a smoke in the years that followed, I could see in my mind's eye a distant memory of that poor frog, puffing up, rolling it's eyes and dying dead away in front of two startled boys. It was easy to smile and to say, "No thanks, I don't smoke." Thanks to that old California frog, I have never smoked during my life time. I still feel sorry for the frog that gave it's life to teach two young boys an important lesson of life. I might also add that my brother has never smoked either and has lived a clean wonderful life.

SMOKING CAN BE DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH!

10 THE UPSET CRAWDAD

While living on the goat ranch, north of Willits, California, my brother, Richard and I had a lot of time to do some exploring. We were camped right next to the goat corrals and barn. We were at the edge of a beautiful meadow; nestled between tree covered mountains.

There was a small stream that meandered along one side of the meadow. This stream provided Richard and I with many summer days of creative play and adventure. Life as a child would not be the same without sticks, dirt and water.

The stream was the home of hundreds of frogs, bugs, snakes and other creatures. One day we were trying to scare some frogs out from under a bank of earth that protruded out into the stream. Richard kneeled down and reached into the water and back under the protruding bank.

Suddenly, he let out a bone chilling scream that scared me half to death. I looked over just in time to see him jerk his hand out of the water. Firmly attached to his finger was a large crawdad. My first thought was that he had been stung by a monster scorpion. I'm not sure what thoughts were flashing through my brother's mind, but as he screamed and violently shook his hand , the crawdad let go and sailed back into the safety of the water.

I think we both realized at the same instant that the creature was not a deadly scorpion, but an almost harmless crawdad. In a moment of quick relief, we both burst out laughing. However, we never again stuck our hands down and under where we couldn't see what was there. I don't know why, but we never told our parents about these kind of experiences.

LESSON LEARNED

Life is kind of like that too.

Sometimes we must be careful not to invade someone else's space.