A View Of The Past

A New Home for the House

My sister gave me one of the best presents for Christmas. She printed and framed a picture of the house from The Ranch. After moving it from one place to another in search of the best location, I only recently found the perfect wall on which to display this wonderful memory.

It now hangs in the entry to the guest room. And I see it every time I walk down the hallway from the bedrooms to the rest of the house. Every time I pass, I smile. I am overcome by emotion and memories of the best two summers of my life.

We lived on The Ranch on Willow Crick (not creek) during the summers of 1990 and 1991. As soon as the last school bell rang, we were all packed with our cowboy hats, play clothes, and fake pistol holsters and ready for the seemingly-forever drive to the Uintah Basin in northeastern Utah. We were to spend the next three months under the loving supervision of my grandparents and in constant companionship with several other cousins. It was a kid's dream come true.

We had horses. We had ticklish goats. We had chickens. We had sheep. We had forest fires. We had a Pout Rock, where I admit I spent an hour or two of my precious time over the months. We had home-cooked food. We had a bunk house where we all got to sleep. We had the great outdoors available to us night and day. We had RAP each night, where we got to express the good and bad that had occurred that day so as to prevent any hard feelings before we fell asleep. We had Clint Black t-shirts. We had endless swimming in the Crick. We would return to the house after a good swim, only to have someone else shout out, "Hey, let's go swimming!"

And we had each other.

We didn't have electricity. Or indoor plumbing. Do you know how exciting it is to use an outhouse when you're a kid? I know I'm not too keen on the idea now, but back then it was exhilarating!

The Ranch House

When I think of those times on Willow Creek, my heart gets warm and fuzzy. Those summers helped to mold me into the person I am today. They helped me learn how to share and how to work hard and how to help. 

It's amazing how the simple things in life can mean so much. I don't know who I would be without The Ranch in my memory bank.

What about you? Any special places from your childhood that always make you smile?