Genealogical question 14&15

 Dad: Now a days, I like to read Church Doctrine books /and Apostles life stories. A long time ago my favorites were action/ war stories.  I read everything from Sparks to WEB Griffith and Louis L'Mour. I have kept paperback books that I purchased while in Brigham City.  I have over 2,000 books in our basement now.  Some are hardback as well.

Mom:  I like a variety of books.  I have really enjoyed histories of the life of Joseph Smith.  I am currently working on a large, thick book Joseph, a rough stone rolling.  I am also reading Exodus by Leon Urus, The Hobbit, and The Infinite Atonement.  I am not putting pressure on myself on any of the books.  The religious books especially.  I will read a chapter or 5-6 pages and call it good. I like a good adventure story, but try to avoid bad language, torture, and abuse of people.  I like a good romance novel and don't mind a bit of war violence.  I like historical novels as well. 

Favorite Song or Lullaby?

Dad:  I enjoy many different categories of songs.  

Country and Western, Home on the Range, (hahaha) I like songs by Neal Diamond, Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, and Whitney Houston.  

My favorite church songs are How Great Thou Art and I stand All Amazed. I loved to sing patriotic songs as well. The Star-Spangled Banner and the State Song Home Means Nevada. 

My favorite opera song that I sang is "Drink Drink Drink" from the Student Prince. I also loved to hear Mom sing Dove Sono from The Marriage of Figaro. 

I was in choir while in high school.  We had a wonderful male music teacher, Al Saliman. He could walk around the football field on his hands. We sang "No Man is an Island at my high school graduation.  It was a joy to sing with Al. When I was at UNR before I went in the Army, I sang with the Institute Choir at church "The Sierra Singers". I remember crying through the song I Need Thee Every Hour."  After the Army, I sang in the choir at UNR and I really enjoyed singing the Messiah.      

I loved some of Mom's choir songs Amor De Mi Alma by Z. Randall Stroope and Water Night by Eric Whitacre. 

My Mom (Lorraine) sang on the radio when she was a teenager. She sang like a baritone.  As she got older, she sang like a bass. Mom used to whistle while working around the house.  It was really neat.

Speaking of family, our missionaries (Luke, Marlies, Tim and Ben) each sang the same song at their Mission Farewell.  I can't remember the name of it, but it had real meaning to our family. 

Mom:  Music?  How do I cover such an important part of my life?  I have at least 15 chuck-full scrapbooks describing my musical journey through out mortality.  An important thought that I would like to share is that until about a year ago, I never really realized what a special musical gift God had given me (and the opportunities to use it that he placed on my path through life.) I was struck with awe, as the reality of this very special gift from God became clear to me.  "I must be someone special to have God trust me with this gift."  I thank Father in Heaven every day for this special gift and the other gifts of the Spirit He has given me.

Non classical songs:  Medley from Oliver that I sang with 2 very talented friends in Brigham City;Wagon Wheels high school duo with Sandra Obray Sorensen, I Would Trust Her from Pajama Game (duet with my cousin, Kim Allen); My Funny Valentine at a Stake Dance; Several Church solo songs. O That I Were an Angel, The Lord's Prayer, I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked, How Beautiful Upon the Mountains. 

Opera:  Donde Lieta from La Boheme (I loved it because it was easy for me).  My favorite opera that I performed was Tosca. I performed in over 20 operas during my career.  19 or so roles were the leading lady roles.  I still don't know if I have seen as many operas as I have performed.  I was so naive.  I didn't have an inkling of the great opportunities given to me.

While preparing for operas or recitals it was so much work, that I found it wasn't so much fun.  It was more fun to sing with friends and family and do lighthearted music. 

Genealogical 12 & 13

 Rosemary Mathews

Leisure

I don't remember any leisure time with my family at the Olsen home in Paradise. My Dad worked so hard during the summer.  The only thing I remember him doing was reading around the kitchen table occasionally when it was dark and he couldn't work any more.  In the winter he read quite a bit, always magazines which were about farming. He also worked on paying bills.  Every night, rain or shine, he watched TV at 10 pm when the news came on. He was especially interested in the weather. He listened to the Farming and Livestock reports on the radio station KVNU and to Paul Harvey's "and now the rest of the Story'' at noon while eating his meat and potatoes (That was dinner on the farm.) He would turn off the radio once the news was over.  Arlynn would like to listen to music.  He had no interest whatsoever in listening to pop music. 

We did occasionally visit long lost relatives who lived in Cache Valley.  I would go along with my parents and be soooo bored. But I never complained.  I wish so much that I could remember the people we visited.  I only had one gramma and we did visit her.  I think my Dad tried to visit his Olsen and Oldham Uncles and Aunts.  They were always older and seemed lonely.  My Dad had a tender heart that way.

I only remember taking one vacation with my family.  We went to California.  Dixie, Alyce, Lloyd, and the Welches--Harry and Viola. We went to Knox Berry Farm (Disneyland wasn't around then). We stayed with the Mildren and Vernal Norman family in Orange County. I remember the long drive and falling asleep on the shoulder of one of the Welches.  There were 6 of us. It was crowded for such a long trip.  On the way back we stayed at a motel in Vegas.  No freeway at the time.  Sometimes I think it may have been on the old Boulder Highway that still exists in Vegas.  We travel it occasionally when we are at Becky's house in Henderson. Dad and Mom traveled a bit during the winter. They enjoyed the Farm Bureau Conventions. Alyce and Lloyd traveled to Florida and Cuba to a Farm Bureau Convention in 1956.  My Mom was struggling with the first signs of cancer.  She didn't know what it was at the time.  She died the next May 7, 1957. Lloyd and Arlynn attended Farm Bureau Conventions during their years together.

Chores I didn't like

I had a lot of chores.  Especially after Mother died.  I worked some in the house in 1957, but mostly I helped my Dad outside.  I did a variety of things, like moving sprinkling pipes, driving the truck while hay was hauled, mowing the lawn, cleaning eggs, rolling hay bales, etc. I learned to drive a jeep when I was about 11.  That made up for some of the work I had to do.  I also had a horse, Dixie, which I loved to ride.  I found comfort in that horse, even though she bit me once and stepped on my foot another time. I suppose the chores I disliked the most were (1) shoveling wheat and barley from the back of our large hay truck into the large container that held the end of the auger.  The auger would then carry the grain up into the silos or grain bins.  That work was so itchy, dirty and hot.  The grain heads would fasten to my clothes and I would be miserable. (2) moving the sprinkling pipes was a big job.  I think Daddy moved them in the morning and it was my job to move them in the evening. Dad would use a tool and grab the sprinkling pipe in the middle to move it to its new location in the field.  I would have to take one end and then the other. The problem was when the field had already been harvested, left in the field were sharp, stick-like projections that would scratch and dig into my ankles.  That was pretty miserable. (3)cleaning eggs was no fun.  I wacked an egg or too and it went mushy in my hand and ran to the floor.  One time I found it was easier to simply pull the loose rug over it than to clean the egg up.  (Sorry, Grandma Dunn.) Dad always gathered the eggs.  I was afraid the chickens would peck me. 

Genealogical Question 12&13

 Dad:

Leisure

When I was young my Dad would read to us.  Mom read by herself. 
Dad read Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Caruso to us. When we got older the only thing that I can remember that we did for leisure was to read.  We'd all read by ourselves. My sister read comic books.  I would read all kinds of things.     Dad would take us hunting and fishing.  Once in a while Mom would go with us.  That ended the time we went up the Carson River and backwoods into the mountains. On the way in Mom warned us about not driving through a bunch of rocks that were on the road. Dad didn't listen to her and drove on and knocked the oil pan off of underneath the car. Mom was really torqued. Dad had to walk into town. He was able to catch a ride.  He was looking for a way to fix the pan. The drainage lip on the pan was bent and all of the oil drained out. Dad worked very hard at trying to repair the lip.  He soldered all around it.  He also bought a thermos plug that is used as a stopper for bottles. We were way back in the mountains for 2-3 days while he fixed it.  I went fishing while he worked.  Carol played around the camp. Mom "sort of" forgave him. We started home.  On the way we drove over some sage brush and it wrecked all of his hard work.  Then he took the stopper and put it in the pan and IT WORKED!  It only took about 10 minutes.   Then we drove all of the way home. That was the last time Mom went with us.    Dad and I went deer hunting a lot. We really enjoyed it. We didn't usually take drinks. (Dad would drink his coffee.)  If I was getting thirsty my Dad would tell me to put a stone in my mouth and suck on it.  It would delay my need for water. Usually on Sunday afternoons we'd all go for a ride together and look for birds.  Red winged and yellow headed black birds.  That was an enjoyable time.  We usually sang.

Front Porch

When I was in the 7th grade Carol and I would sleep outside on the porch in the summer.  It was really warm inside because we didn't have any air conditioning.  When I was a freshman at Carson High School Carol went in the house.  I stayed out "for as long as I could".  I ended up staying out all year. I hadn't planned to stay out that long.  My Dad suggested that if I put canvas over my blankets, I would stay warmer.  Dad put some sort of a blind over the porch screen so that the water wouldn't come in. I had the "blind" up in the summer and down in the winter. I stayed there all year round for 3-4 years. Mom made sure that I made my bed every day. 

Work

When I was about 14 we put a new furnace in our home on Spear Street. We were changing the furnace from coal to oil. All of the work had to be done under the house.The crawl space under the house was pretty tight.  I hated this job. We could only crawl on our tummies. The tubing was in four-foot lengths and had to run from the furnace to all the rooms in the house. We had to tape every junction and all of the elbows while under the house. We made holes in the flooring of the house in order to connect the elbows to the heat vents.  Every joint had to be connected.  We worked on it from when Dad got home in the evening from work and all-day Saturday and Sunday.  I remember it as the least favorite because I remember only working and not playing at all. I lost my temper and told Dad *"I have got to go out and play".  I ran out the door and went over and played basketball with Bruce Couch. 

Later, during the remodeling of the house, we tore out lathe and plaster walls and put-up wall board.  We changed the living room and the dining room into one room. We tore out the wall between the kitchen and the pantry and the wall between the kitchen and the back porch. We remodeled the bathroom and put in a shower.  All of these remodel "jobs" required a claw hammer, a wrecking bar and more.  Dad didn't know anything about electricity. It was trial and error. Dad figured out how to get the electricity to the back porch and kitchen. We put in a new electric stove. We put in some paneling. (The remodeling was a huge job.)  The back porch was my bedroom before we remodeled.  I moved down in the earthen basement (which had been a coal bin). My old bed room became the dining area and a sunroom. We also waterproofed the shingles on the roof.  The roof was very steep, we had to tie a rope around our waists (the rope was tied off on the other side of the house to prevent us from falling). We had to spread a substance like tar over the roof to water proof it. After the roof was finished, we had to paint the outside of the house.  We had to build scaffolding so that we could stand on planks to paint the house. (I didn't do much painting.) Mom painted the lower portion of the house. (Where she could reach.) We also had to cut down old elm trees.  We cut up the trees for fire wood. We used the wood from those five big old trees in our fireplace. 

All of this work combined took us about six years. I spent my childhood to teenage years working with Dad.  I only had to work on Saturday and Sunday for four hours after I had reminded him "I had to be able to play". My Dad, Woody, was amazing.  He was a very hard worker, he was very smart, most of the time he was slow to anger but if he got mad, LOOKOUT!, he was really mad.  My Mom, Lorraine, was just the opposite.  She was quick to anger but got over it pretty quickly.  Bill says he inherited both of those qualities.  (sigh)  My Dad taught me many things during this time. I used those skills throughout my life.