1960 -- It Was A Very Great Year

The sky was a cobalt blue, the sun was shining brightly, and the freshly mown alfalfa in the field next door smelled sweet. From my spot on the swing in the back yard I could see a dainty humming bird hesitate over one of mom’s especially fragrant rosebushes. It was June,1960 and the summer was stretching out ahead for what seemed like eternity. (It is truly amazing how much longer the summers lasted back then.)

Meanwhile, across the mountains, a little to the north, and over the state line, Mel was watching that summer day also. He was eleven years old that year and was thinking about getting his chores done so that he could head down to the river for some tubing, fishing and swimming. Mel paused to wipe the sweat off of his forehead as he thought that the lawn that he was cutting in the back yard seemed extra big that day.

Summer back then was an amazing thing. You didn’t spend it with a remote control in your hand or a video game splashed across the screen. You didn’t spend time texting your friends. Instead you spent your time with your friends! Running and exercising wasn’t something that you did to get fit. You were fit because you never quit playing.

In Utah Annette and company were building floats for a neighborhood parade, working on the tree hut in the big tree over the creek, or playing pioneer by pulling the red Radio Flyer to the spring where they could make soap from the scum that formed at the edges of the water. They also had fun building camp fires to get the water boiling water to make cheetah weed soup. Swimming at the Amherst swimming club was also usually part of the daily agenda. Warm summer nights were spent with the neighborhood kids playing Hide and Seek, Annie I-Over, Run Sheepy Run, Flies Up, or 500.

Mel’s summers in Wyoming were spent helping his grandpa slaughter hogs at the ranch, watching dad bring in the hay, sleeping out in the yard, raiding neighborhood gardens with his friends and swinging in the Tarzan trees down by the river. He always enjoyed playing neighborhood baseball in the back field, and was really getting into scouting that summer and was already working on his Star rank.

Favorite television shows were Howdy Doody, Captain Kangeroo, Flash Gordon, Sky King, Zorro and The Lone Ranger. Our television sets were black and white; but no one had a color T.V., so we were blissfully ignorant of what we were missing. T.V. signed off at night with the Star Spangled Banner, and signed on again about 7:00 a.m. the next day.

I was eight years old that summer, and looking forward to being baptized in just a few weeks. Mel was thinking about getting the priesthood on his next birthday. We went to Sunday School on Sunday mornings and then went back to the Church for Sacrament meeting that night. Primary was in the middle of the week, and summer Primary was the best because it was in the morning and that left us the whole rest of the day to play.

Yeah, the Summer of 1960 was just beginning, and we were both looking forward to the best summer of our lives! Times were slower then, and life, it was oh so good!