I apparently had grown into being a little imp during my earliest years. My sister, Barbara, who babysat me on numerous occasions until she married Burton when I was four-and-a-half years old, told me that I was a very difficult child to tend. Various stories seem to support the idea that I had become a somewhat mischievous child until I was older.
Well, I’ll Show You!
My earliest memory of note, supplemented by the memory of others, involves a time one summer in 1954 when I was three-and-a-half years old playing outside in the yard of the house where we were living at the time. I needed to go to the bathroom, so I walked up to the screen door and opened it, and immediately Mom yelled the words, “Don’t come in, I’m mopping the floor”!
I responded, “But I have to go to the bathroom”!
“You’ll have to wait ‘til the floor dries” Mom retorted!
“I can’t” yelled I!
“You have to wait” Mom insisted!
“I’ll just go in the yard then” I declared.
“Niki, don’t you go in that yard; if you go in the yard you are going to be in real trouble” warned Mom!
A few minutes later Mom came outside where I was playing and said, “Niki, you can use the bathroom now”.
“I don’t have to go anymore” said I.
“Did you go to the bathroom in the yard?” asked Mom with anticipated consequence in her voice.
“No” I triumphantly announced, “I went in the neighbor’s yard”!
Raised as an Only Child
*** Barbara and Burton’s marriage pending elaboration***
A Great Summer Schoolyard
In the summer of 1956 when I was five years old Dad had contracted to build a new ranch house for a rancher outside of Deer Lodge. Dad had solicited the help of Burton. Barbara, who was pregnant with Kimera, accompanied Burton to cook and take care of domestic chores for the men working on the house. I came along to play and be tended to, mostly by Barbara, while Mom continued working in Deer Lodge (as far as I recall). While at the ranch Dad and I slept in Dad’s camper, which was parked alongside the main dirt road in front of the bunk house. The bunk house was about 50 feet from the dirt road next to the building site where the ranch house was being built. Barbara and Burton stayed in the bunk house, which was a rather rustic wooden structure with a kitchen and large dining area. The bunk house also had a bathroom with indoor plumbing. About a hundred feet away from the bunk house on the opposite side from the building site was an old, weather-worn outhouse that sat on top of a little hill about 30 feet from the dirt road.
During the weeks I spent on the ranch, several meaningful and memorable events occurred, which are presented in the following stories.
Well, I’ll Show You Too!
On a particularly hot day on the ranch I was playing outside when I had to go to the bathroom. I opened the door to the bunk house to use the indoor bathroom and immediately Barbara yelled, “Don’t come in, I’m mopping the floor”!
“But I have to go to the bathroom”, I announced.
“You’ll have to use the outhouse”, Barbara ordered!
“But it stinks and there are flies in the outhouse”, I declared!
“You’ll have to wait until the floor dries or use the outhouse”, Barbara insisted!
After further exchanges it became apparent that Barbara was not going to let me in, so I slammed the bunk house door and turned to go to the outhouse. As I turned, however, the padlock on the bunk house door caught my eye and I got a stroke of vindictive genius: I locked the bunk house door using the padlock that was hanging from the clasp. I then walked to the outhouse feeling somewhat vindicated for being relegated to the outhouse by Barbara.
While I sat in the outhouse trying to smack flies and do my business, I heard Barbara scream. She had finished mopping the floor and tried to exit the bunk house, but after realizing she was locked in and failing to get someone's attention, she screamed very loudly so Burton or Dad would hear her from the job site and come let her out.
After hearing Barbara scream I peered through a crack in the outhouse door to watch what was happening at the job site and bunk house. I had a perfect view of the area from the spot where the outhouse sat. Dad and Burton, upon hearing Barbara scream, had dropped what they were doing and were running from the job site to the bunk house in a panic. They apparently thought Barbara was injured or having her baby. Dad and Burton fumbled for a minute with the padlock on the bunk house door as Barbara blared from the other side of the door that she could not get out. Dad advised that the door was locked from the outside with the padlock. Barbara angrily proclaimed “Niki must have locked me in because I wouldn’t let him use the bathroom”. At that, to my surprise and relief, Dad and Burton laughed as they tended to Barbara and walked back to the job site.
I have a vivid memory of staying in the outhouse for quite a while until I felt it safe to exit, deciding that the flies and smell were better than going out before Barbara had time to cool down.
The summer on the ranch with Dad, Barbara and Burton imbued me with several memorable experiences, one of which marked me for life.
Marked for Life
The ranch was a fully functional cattle ranch, and farther down the dirt road about 100 yards from the building site and bunk house was a large barn surrounded by corrals and lots of cows and calves. Cowboys spent much of the day in and around the barn, and often visited the bunk house, outhouse, and building site.
On another hot day I found myself inside the barn. There were lots of calves and nursing cows in the barn, as well as several cowboys. One of the lead cowboys asked me, “Have you ever ridden a calf before?”
“No”, said I.
“Do you want to ride a calf?” asked the cowboy.
“Sure!” said I.
At that, the cowboys picked out a calf and gathered around a large open area at the front of the barn. The calf was fitted with a rope around its snout for me to hold onto. The lead cowboy handed me the end of the rope and instructed me on how to hold it. I was then picked up and set on top of the calf. Immediately the calf began to buck, and I apparently did well as the cowboys cheered and clapped when the ride was over.
“Do you want to ride again?” asked the lead cowboy.
“Sure’ said I and the spectacle was repeated.
I do not recall how many rides I was given, but after the fun was over I received several compliments and pats on the back by the group of cowboys. One of the cowboys said, “You’ll make a great cowboy someday”, which echoed in my mind for a long time.
While I was milling around the barn one of the cowboys opened a can of snuff and placed some into his mouth.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Snuff” said the cowboy, “have you ever had snuff before?”
“No” said I.
“Do you want some?” asked the cowboy.
“Sure” said I, at which the cowboy put the can of snuff in front of me and said, “have some!”
I took a pinch of snuff and put it into my mouth and began to chew. It only took a second or two for the effect to hit my system; I felt a strange surge pass through my jowels and upper body. I quickly spit out the remaining chew, which brought a round of laughter from the cowboys who were nearby watching me.
I became nausceous and was feeling very sick, so I walked to the bunk house for refuge. Dad became aware that I was sick; I was apparently quite pale and clammy, in addition to feeling nauseous. Somehow it came out that I was given some snuff, at which Dad said “what, you were given some snuff”? “Who gave you snuff” Dad demanded.
“The cowboys at the barn” said I.
Dad immediately hurried off towards the barn. He returned a while later and advised that no one would be giving me snuff again.
It would not have mattered if any of the cowboys had offered me snuff again; I would not have taken it. In the years that followed I had the occasion to smell snuff on many occasions, and every time the smell was repulsive. I never tasted snuff again, and doubt that I could have endured chewing it even if I wanted to; I was marked for life.
There is Always Time for Fishing
Another significant memory I have from the summer of 1956 while on the ranch involved fishing. Dad was an avid fisherman; he owned about a dozen fishing poles and several pieces of fishing gear, including a modified, well-worn fishing basket with two leather straps: one for the shoulder and one for the waist; a metal bait box that attaches to a waist belt; a hat with multiple hooks and flies embedded into it; a pair of chest-high wading boots; several tackle boxes; his favorite fishing knife and fishing pliers, etc. Dad rarely went anywhere without some of his fishing gear, especially when we were in Montana. We would often stop along a roadside to spend a few minutes fishing when in route to any destination. Dad also loved to get up at 4:00 AM on holiday mornings to get an early start on a day of fishing. It is no wonder that he thought I would love fishing as he did and took time one day to equip me for a day of fishing while on the ranch.
About 80 yards down the main dirt road near the barn was a creek that ran under a wooden bridge. From the bridge it was possible to see trout swimming in the stream below.
Dad rigged me up with his bait box filled with worms we had just dug up, the fish basket, and a small pole. Dad took me to the bridge and instructed me on how to bait the hook, hold the pole, yank on the pole when a fish nibbled on a worm, how to stay back from the edge of the bridge, etc. Dad then told me to bring any fish I caught to him and he would prepare them for dinner. He then left me alone so I could enjoy his favorite pastime.
I do not know how long I fished at the bridge; I only remember seeing several fish swim under the bridge without taking the bait except one. I was about at the end of my patience seeing the fish but not catching any when suddenly I felt a tug on the pole. I yanked on the pole as instructed, and out of the water flew a very squiggly fish. I pulled it up onto the bridge and attempted to grab it, but the fish was so slimy and squiggly that it scared me. I was so excited that I wanted to show Dad, but I dared not put the fish in the basket. So I did the next best thing and left the fish on the pole and ran down the road repeatedly yelling “Daddy, Daddy, I caught a fish, I caught a fish!” The fish bounced repeatedly along the dirt road as I ran dragging it behind me.
From the job site Dad saw me running down the road dragging the fish and yelling to him. He left the job site and met me on the road and joined in my excitement. He removed the fish from the hook and pole, and made me feel proud despite having drug the fish 80 yards in the dirt; it was the first time I caught a fish, and I believe it was as big a moment for Dad as it was for me.
Lessons I Have Gleaned from the Stories in this Chapter
• This mortal world is full of both good and evil, sickness and health, joy and sorrow, and to experience one opens the door to understand the other.
• We can repent and change; we are not destined to remain the same; we can put off "the natural man" and become a new creature in Christ.
• And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.(Moses 5: 10-11)
• And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good. And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment. Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time. Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your children, saying: That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory; For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified; Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment. (Moses 6: 55-61)• For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. (Mosiah 3:19)
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