How'd It Ever Happen?

Warren, great video.

Tom,

Your comment about chores made me laugh. I always had daily chores that I was expected to do. And there was no allowance, at least no cold hard cash. When we complained that all of our firends got an allowance for doing chores my dad would respond with "You get an allowance too, I allow you to live under my roof and eat my food". I've used that same comment on my own kids when they were growing up.

Good grief...I've become my dad. I guess he was a pretty good guy after all. :)

haven't viewed the video. But I sure am glad to see you back.

Warren your blog has brought me back to some old memories. I remember back when Moms didn't work and they didn't enroll us kids in after school programs. I remember I was the babysitter for my sisters and cousins and kids in the neighborhood. I was the errand girl, I not only ran errands for my Mom but I also ran errands for My Aunt Margaret and my Grandma. Sometimes I got paid a little bit, but most the time I didn't and if I did it was usually enough to buy me some penny candy.

Thanks for the memories

BroncoTommy,

There are so many possibilities with that extra mile, but back in those days....

It was uphill both ways and often in knee deep snow, right? :-)

I was a bus kid except for one year, so my trip was pretty much the same...out the front door and onto the bus at home and out the door and back onto the bus at school. Somehow, the bus drivers kept track until you got into junior high, and then you were "on your own", cause when the doors closed, that bus was leaving, with or without you! If you missed it, you were gonna catch an earful when you did finally get home!

The year I year I didn't ride the bus was the sixth grade and the first year West Elementary was open. It was a straight shot to West and there weren't any kid houses on the way home, so it kinda narrowed it down.

Like you, we had chores and such, but there were only a couple of rules as to where we went and what we did afterwards. And even those were simply enough. Tell Mom where you were going (and you better be there) and be home by the time you said, supper time or dark, whichever came first.

I watched the Idaho movie presentation last nigh and I think Tim Woodward may have nailed it.

We were pretty much "free range children."

Guess for us older folks thats what we call the good old days. Was always something to do, none of this crap just isn't anything to do so they go see what kind of trouble they can get into.

I guess kids of today when they look back they will call it the boring days when all they had was the computer, cell phone, Ipad, Ipod and all the other stuff out there.

I always rode the bus to school, even started in a school with 8 grades and only a 2 room school. Rode the bus and the school was less than a 1/2 mile from the house. Then moved on to another school about 8 miles from home and 4 rooms now that was big lol

Junior/Senior high they had build a new school that covered a large area about 20 miles from home so kept riding the bus now that was really a big school. Aw yea the good old times I miss them and enjoyed my child hood.

I hear you, Joe.

I remember one day when I was about 12 years old. My Dad and I were sitting on a rimrock south of Bruneau, watching his hunting partner climb out of the Little Jack's Creek canyon. I asked him if I would ever have "the good old days" like he and Ted had.

He looked at me, kind of grinned and said something to the effect, "You're living them right now, son."

The message didn't sink in for a lot of years, but I understand much better now. And like a lot of things he said to me, I kinda believe he was right.

We've done a lot of fishing out in Bruneau and Jacks Creek. I watched "Idaho the movie" the other night. The scenery and the cinematography was breath taking. They showed the Dunes and they even had Pinto in the movie... If you want the DVD you can get it signed by Tim Woodward, he narrated the movie. I think the date is Dec 6th at Albertsons... It's worth buying and great for a Christmas Present.

MsM,

I caught a lot of bullhead off the point there at Jacks Creek when I was younger. Ted King (my Dad's hunting partner) owned the little ranch just east and south of the reservoir there at Jacks Creek. I bucked and stacked a lot of hay on that place for him. A dollar an hour plus room and board. Wow!

Pinto was a year ahead of me in school and I played "against" him in several battle of the bands at the old Sugar Shack there in MH. Never got close to winning, but it was a lot of fun! I had the pleasure of jamming with him and his original tour group (Tarwater, also MH kids) back in the 70's, once at his place up at Little Camas in the 80's with Hoyt Axton and at several benefits here in Boise during the 90's. I used to see him a couple of times a month until he got the sheep wagon done and moved "back home" as he puts it. I miss that.

Tim Woodward, besides being a talented writer, is also a fine musician in his own right. I first met him at the U of I back in 1967 when he was a member of one of the valley's top rock and roll bands, The Mystics.

Good memories, all.

I disagree with the video entirely and it bears no truth what-so-ever!

Muhahahaha. Gotcha! I'm completely kidding of course. But I do have one add. 'Parenting.'

I grew up sorta in the early 1980's, but I was surrounded by family who grew up in the early 1900's. The new values were mixed with the old, and I drank the American culture milkshake. I pass that to my own children today. They know who Henry Ford, Little Orphan Annie, The Long Ranger, Theodore Roosevelt and what the USSR were. They also know who Eddie Vedder, Deep Purple, Steve Jobs and Kim Jong-un are. Likewise, they know that people in other countries aren't afforded the same freedoms we are here and to appreciate the ability to log onto the internet anytime; to become exposed to free thought, and relish our history in an effort to temper our future. Kids today are indeed overprotected, frequently unworldly, and more often than not, perplexed by the values of past generations. However, parents can intervene. Sure, kids have cell phones. But do they simply know there weren't any cell phones at one time? I like my satellite fed NFL ticket. I also love my crock butter churn and use it just like my great-grandmother did.