Outhouse Lore

Everybody who grew up in Manassa has heard outhouse stories. We were well acquainted with outhouses as more than two of the homes we lived in in Manassa had no indoor plumbing at one time.

There's many a story of a Halloween prank of tipping outhouses. There was a time that one was tipped over on the door and there was someone inside. Luckily for the pranksters, it was tipped over on the door. The big, wide shouldered man could not get out through the hole in the seat quickly enough to get ahold of them. There's another story of a family that was tired of their outhouse being tipped over each year. They moved the outhouse back about three feet, and a group of would be outhouse tippers became involuntary drop ins. I am not sure at this time of my life which were yarns and which were dramatically enhanced retelling of historically based incidents.

I remember the Sears and Roebuck catalog. The pages were a lot rougher than the soft toilet paper that replaced the catalogs when we began using the porcelain pot in the house. It was also nice to get rid of the canopy under the bed when we finally got indoor plumbing in the house on 3rd street. The outhouse became the shed for the garden tools.

I found this interesting outhouse Web site that shows the wide variety of outhouses. The most intriguing to me is the two story outhouse. I've often wondered what happens to those on the lower floor when the upper floor is in use.

Bonnie some years ago created a ceramic likeness of our outhouse in back yard and the moon, the dog, Mom, and Dad. I enjoyed it for a lot of years. It now hangs in Andrea's home. Maybe we can talk her into taking a snapshot of it to share. I thought Bonnie succeeded in capturing the essentials of successful outhouse use in a few pieces of clay.

This portion posted by Andrea:
This is part of the ceramic creation that Bonnie made and I have hanging in my bathroom. Unfortunately, shortly after this picture was taken G'pa perished by way of vibration from my new bathroom cabinet. He fell off the wall and landed, all of him, in the bathtub in about 100 pieces. :*-(

Letter to Keith

Photo of Leon's Family

Special Day for you know who...

Here is the birthday gal before arrival of guests!



See the lovely flowers. A corsage from the Vances in Texas and an arrangement from the Vances in Colorado. They were great! The Cake from the family in Washington Fields.

It was a special time to honor a special person! Grandma Gatha had a special afternoon with many family and friends coming by sharing cake and showing love. It was a time to let her know that many love her, even those who were not there physically, but in spirit. Thanks to all, especially thanks to Grandma for her special example and love shared to others.

What's a Family for anyway?

My first memories of family were family outings. Some had a purpose, some did not, they were just outings. We went camping together, we went to church together, we worked together, at times, we just hung out together. I've wondered at times what the purpose of families anyway?

Today my family is gathering for a special purpose. They are celebrating my Mother's 80th birthday. We're not all there, but we would be if we could. We all want to tell he we love her, and in a way express that same love for each other.

Dad loved the mountains and we loved going together in the mountains. We went on some outings that required that we all stretch ourselves. We worked together, we played together, we laughed together, we rested together, and together we would meet our goals. When one of us was tired or discouraged we were encouraged by the other members of our family.

For some of us, life has been hard. We have made choices that had consequences for us and for those we loved. We had loved ones die. We have sometimes had angry words with one another, but there has never been a question that we were loved and that we belonged to a wonderful family. I have never felt that I was unwelcome in a family member's home.

There was a time when the choices I had made in my life had left me feeling that there was very little hope and that I had very little value. During those times, I would visit my little brother and his family. He would call his wife and all seven of his children into the living room, and we would visit. He would put his arm around me and pull me to him as he said to his children, "This is my brother and I love him." That little gesture would give me the strength and courage to get back out there and keep trying to get my life in order.

I think in this we find the purpose of families. I believe that together we are stronger than any one of us is individually. I, like Nephi of old, was born of goodly parents. I have parents, siblings, a spouse, children, and grandchildren that love me. They love me for who I am. That love has never been conditional. That love has helped guide my life and keep me trying to overcome my faults and be a better man.

80 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

WE WOULD LIKE TO INFORM YOU OF A SPECIAL SOMEONE WILLING TO SHARE HER 80TH YEAR OF EXPERIENCE COME THE 24TH. WE WILL BE HAVING A BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR GATHA ON SATURDAY, 18TH FROM 2:00-5:00PM AT HER HOME. IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA COME 'BREAK CAKE' WITH US!

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

Why I am what I am

I love life
I love my Savior
I love my family
(My children, their mates, grandchildren
their mates, great grandchildren)
I love each of my children's mates. Gloria,
Betty, Emery, and Jeanette, are choice mates
for my children, and parents for my grandchildren.
I love my parents
I want to be with them forever
I am thankful for my temple sealings. and
the temple sealings of my children.
These things are very precious to me.
I know that God lives and that the laws and
ordinances that are given in the scriptures
are to help us to be happy.
I have never at any time felt disappointed with any
of my family, I don't disapprove of any of you.
I want all of you to be happy.
I believe that the Lord blessed me with great family,
I love everyone of those who are a part of my family.
I am thankful that the Lord gave us agency, so we
can choose what we will be. That is a great blessing.
I am thankful to be an American.
I am thankful for my home.
I have loved our family reunions.
I love my grandchildren, from Marcy to Eric
I love my great grandchildren, from Matthew to little Luke.
I hope that when I meet my parents again that they will
be as pleased with all of us as I am pleased to have each of
my family.
I would like it if I lived close enough to each of you to get
to know each child better than I do.
I loved it when Marcy, Danette, Cory, and the
older grandchildren would see me and come and hug me.
I want every person in my family to know of the love I feel
for each of you.
My family is my joy.
I am a child of God, a child of royal birth. So are each of you.

Boys and trees

I think every boy has a special tree in his life. I can remember several in my life. When we lived across the street from Maggie Weston, there was an old cottonwood tree between our house and Parkers' to the south. When we lived on third street, there was a willow tree between our house and the Haslett's, A cottonwood tree in the front yard with a swing on it, and a hollow apple tree that has special meaning to Donnie. At Elma's there was a tree house on the south side of the property. When Robert was a boy, there were a couple of trees in the yard. In one was his tree house, and in another was a squirrel that was really interesting. In front of Grandma and Grandpa Dunn's house, there was an elm. When Betty and I lived in Longmont, we had a Russian Olive that we replaced with a box elder.

Donnie and Jimmy Parker would climb high in the cottonwood between our homes. I was afraid to follow. I think that was probably one of the things that appealed to them.

The willow between our house and Haslett's had a tree house in it. It had been there for so long that it wasn't clear whether it was on our property on on the Haslett's. The barbed wire had grown into it and was buried beneath the bark.

The elm tree in front of Grandma Dunn's needed pruning. When the job was done, it was cut back radically. I was amazed that there soon was a ball of green growth at the top of the stump. Before long, it looked like a healthy tree again.

The hollow apple tree is where Donnie and his friends hid some Rocky Mountain Spring Water. It was the stump of that tree that give Donnie one of his nicknames when it was burned.

The cottonwood tree between our home and Sowards' to the north had a large, single roped swing. We would jump off of a 55 gallon drum onto the knot of that old swing. We spent many an hour going to and fro on it. I remember when one of my Kreps cousins got into big trouble because he lost a button swinging on that swing.

There was a treehouse in Elma's yard, but it was different. It was kept by girls. While we were up in the tree with them, their activities were not as alluring as matches and pocketknives.

There was a squirrel who built her nest each spring in the tree to the west of our home on Montrose. She would gather twigs until she had a huge ball shapped nest up in the tree. There, she would raise her little ones. As the season went on, and she had fulfilled her obligation as a mother, she would destroy that twig nest and she would chase her little ones away. I would swear that my mother did the same thing.

The Russian olive tree in our yard had a wonderful sweet smell when it bloomed. It was not a pretty tree, though. It was crooked and dropped little leaves into grass. Those leaves tracked into the house on wet shoes. Betty decided to have it taken out. My home teacher helped us with the job. He took a lunch break and left his ladder in the front yard. Betty and I looked out our living room window and there was a couple of mourning doves sitting on the ladder. They were looking longingly at where their olive tree had been.

We replaced that tree with a box elder tree. It grew straight and tall quite quickly. It had a characteristic, though that we found quite undesirable. It attracted box elder bugs, lots and lots of them.

In front of our current home, we have a miniature aspen grove. When we moved in, it looked neglected and appeared to be dying. I pruned it and have cared for it this summer. It looks healthy now and it has been enjoyable to watch it change.

Each tree I have written of has had a special place in my heart. Many of them are now gone from where they stood. They will grow forever in my boyish heart.