Sundays were structured differently years ago. When we went to church, it was an all day affair. Priesthood and Sunday School were in the morning, then we went home for lunch. Sacrament Meeting was later in the afternoon. Meetings like Primary, Mutual, and Relief Society were held on a different day of the week. I remember one Sunday, Grandpa Dunn passed out in sacrament meeting. All of his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren got up and left with him. It was quite a crowd.
Occasionally on Sunday, we would go and visit relatives. One of those visits was to my Aunt Betty's house. Dad and Uncle Harold would hunt and fish together. Harold always had new equipment but their home was very modest. It had concrete floors with no covering. You entered the house through the kitchen and there were two bedrooms. The master bedroom and the kid's' bedroom. The living room was a long narrow room that doubled as a bedroom. I think it was there that I was exposed to our first television programming. We would watch the Loretta Young Show, The Grey Ghost, The invisible man, and when the test pattern came up, it was time for us to go home.
Some Sundays, we loaded up the car and headed for the mountains. Sometimes we went fishing. Sometimes we went for a pic nic, sometimes, we just went riding. We would sing songs and play games. Found a Peanut was a regular and so was Old McDougal's Ford.
Dad loved pulling pranks on us as children. He told us to watch for the Indian, Falling Rocks, and would point out the signs that warn to watch for falling rocks. He also told us that there was a rock in the Conejos River that had ice on it all year long. Actually the rock had an advertisement for block ice painted on it. Environmentalists have since pushed to have the paint removed from the rock.
Sunday Dinners were also an important tradition. When Mom cut up a chicken, we each had our "assigned" pieces. We each had assigned seats. Dad was at the head and Mom at the other end of the table. We always began with a blessing on the food. Once in a while, Dad would ask the blessing, "Over the teeth and through the gums. Look out stomach here it comes!". All of us but Mom found it amusing. We laughed and talked and enjoyed each other's company.
Those times we spent together made us strong as a family. We bonded, and we learned about each other.
I still enjoy Sundays. They are a time for worship and prepare for the coming week. I really miss the family activities. We are so far from each other.
6 comments:
I do remember some of the things that you mentioned in you post. I remember the floors being concrete and they were painted red. Outside the house across the wide driveway was a garage. One time dad and Harold shot a bear. They had it hanging in the garage. Dad wanted the pelt, but it was not worth much because when they removed it they did not keep the skin intact under the hair everywhere.
What do you mean by "test pattern"?
I remember the bear too. I think that Donnie shot the bear. Perhaps he can tell us that story. When it was skinned and hung, it looked almost human.
Before the TV programming came on in the morning and when it ended in the evening, they used to display what they called the test pattern. It consisted of a circle filled with horizontal, diagonal, and vertical lines as well as some basic images in the surrounding area. I think they must have used it to calibrate their equipment.
OH YES!!! I remember what you mean now... Yes I have seen it. Don said he would share that story about the bear, if he can catch up with his secretary.
One morning for breakfast Grandpa came in and asked me if I wanted some shredded wheat, well that was my favorite and so of course I replied, "Yes." So Grandpa threw down on the table a bag of white stuff. It could resemble shredded wheat but it was too white. The closer I looked the more puzzled I became, then either Grandpa told me or someone else--it was Grandpa's beard, he shaved it off and gave it to me. I still have it.
Grandpa's jokes were fun. I remember him asked why it was that every time I bent my elbow my mouth came open. He then challenged us to try and open our mouth without bending our elbow to put food in the hole.
Good o'Grandpa, I sure love him.
I remember one of the campouts that we went on that there was a large meadow and on the other side of the meadow there was a bear and a bovine. The bear was attacking the bovine and we sat and watched. That is all I remember about it.
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