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| The Water Jug |
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| The Water Jug |
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In the spring of 1968, Grandpa and I were on top of the mountain looking for a newborn calf. As we searched, I found an old pottery shard (fragment). I held it up and made some comment about it when Grandpa took it from me, examined it, and started to laugh. He then told me about that shard, a story I will never forget. Many years ago, Molden and I were up here cutting cedar. The cedar was so
thick you could see but a few feet in front of you. Pa had us cutting
cedar and clearing underbrush from this area so the cows could graze up
here, and we also needed firewood. It was really cold that morning, the
temperature was probably in the 20s, and we really had to work hard to
stay warm. Usually when a man cuts cedar he has no problem staying warm,
but on that day we would have to stop now and then to warm ourselves by
the fire. We'd cut the trunk and larger limbs out of the trees and stack
them in a pile, the rest we threw on the fire. Green cedar really makes a
hot fire. The fire we had that morning was just about where we are
standing. It was so cold that morning we had to keep our water jug close
to the fire so it wouldn't freeze. As we worked we would get thirsty and
would take an occasional water break. Molden and I used to play jokes on
each other when we were growing up. I put the water jug right up close to
the fire and left it. It wasn't too long before I could see a little bit
of steam coming out of the jug. Molden Grandpa had a good laugh as he relived that incident which took place so many years ago. I wish I had kept that piece of the jug, but I just pitched it back where I found it. (The site where this incident occurred was about thirty yards east from the top of the snake den.) Since then I have tried to find it again, but with no luck. This story is very special to me because he laughed and reminisced about this story with me the day before he died. JMW/March 1983 |
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was just working away...totally
unaware of what I was cooking up. After a few minutes I said, “I think
I'll get a drink and warm up a bit.” I walked over to the jug which was by
now “just right.” I picked it up and pretended to get a much-needed drink.
As I stood there acting like the water was just right. Molden came over
and wanted a drink. We both had gloves on so we couldn't feel how hot the
jug was. I pretended to take another big swig, and then politely handed
the jug to Molden as said, “Boy, that's good!” He raised the jug high over
his head and took a big swig. “Wahhh...puey!” Molden threw the jug down
and began to spit and sputter hot water. After Molden got over the shock,
we both had a good laugh. The water wasn't really hot enough to scald him,
but it was hot enough to be uncomfortable when he drank it. This shard was
part of the jug Molden threw down and broke that day. I'm sure Molden got
me back for that as we were always playing jokes on one another.