8. Fun on the Log Pond - 1943
When we lived in Eatonville, Washington, about 1942, we lived out of town in a rented house with no indoor plumbing. It was near a lumber mill and we three boys spent much time playing there. One of our fun things was to go out onto the log pond and ride the logs. As I look back, it was a dangerous thing to do. It was just too easy to fall in the water and if the logs closed in over you no one would know where you had disappeared. In the winter the pond was frozen over and we would play on the ice. We were lucky that the ice was thick enough to hold us because we never checked it to see if it was. I believe that God looks after small boys.
Nearby the Mill was a quarry. We sometimes would go to the quarry to play. My two older brothers would go to the top of the cliff and roll down boulders to smash me. I would dodge the rocks as they came bounding down. I had our Beebe gun and would fire at them when they poked their heads over the cliff. We all survived the ridiculous play. My mother (seated at the left) saved her sanity by never knowing what stupid things we did. The cart that my mother is sitting on is the cart I used to carry the "Honey Box" from our outdoor toilet out to the woods. I was never sure why I got the job every time. Maybe I was the youngest or the "dumbest."