I’m Next! And Other Snowbird Stories

I’m Next!

Johnny Belyeu
Johnny Belyeu

On this trip to Snowbird, our hideaway in the mountains of North Carolina, there were 20-some people there, family mostly. People were just starting to get up but, already, there was a line waiting to get in the bathroom.

It would have been a long wait for Johnny Belyeu, Brother Pop’s son-in-law, if he had not gone back to his tent and got his pistol.

He pointed his gun at the sky and fired several rounds  and shouted “Bear! Bear!”

When everyone rushed out of the cabin to see what was going on, Johnny walked inside, into the restroom, and closed the door.

Twice Was Enough

Captain Dave
Captain Dave

There’s a bridge over Little Snowbird Creek at the Denton Place, the end of the state-maintained road to Snowbird, that no one has ever had trouble with but Dave.

My brother dropped a tire off the right side a few years back. He had to chew up the ends of the bridge planks a little but he eventually got it back up on the bridge and we went on.

John Sullivan was riding with him.

The very next time we went to the mountain I’ll be darn if he didn’t do it again, dropped a tire off the right side of the same bridge, only this time he had to call a wrecker.

John Sullivan
John Sullivan

John Sullivan was riding with him.

The next time Sullivan rode with Dave he told him to stop when they got to that bridge, and then he got out and walked across.

I guess he figured: 

“Fool me once, that’s your fault.”

“Fool me twice, a, that’s still your fault.”

“Fool me three times, No, wait! Wait! I’m getting out.”

Wasn’t Me

We were up at Snowbird, sitting around the fire chewing the fat, when Pop said, “The Highway Patrol stopped me on the way up here.”

Charles T. "Pop" Stith
Charles T. “Pop” Stith

“Were you speeding?” I asked.  “Did you get a ticket?”

“No, I wasn’t speeding. I didn’t get a ticket.”

“Then why did the trooper stop you?”

“He said somebody had called in a complaint about a red pickup truck with Alabama tags, pulling a four-wheeler, weaving all over the road.”

“What did you say?”

“I said it must have been some other red pickup with Alabama tags, pulling a four-wheeler.”

Coming Monday: Hexed

Here’s A Dime, Have Fun!

Roughly two thirds of parents give their children an allowance, according to a survey by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants of more than 1,000 parents.

You’re not going to believe the average amount – $30 a week. A lot of parents pay their children for doing chores, helping out around the house.  Most folks probably disagree with me but I’ve never thought that was a good idea — children ought to do chores because they’re members of the family.

But that’s not what this post is about.

* * *

The last line...
Here’s  your spending money, a quarter for you and a dime for your sister.  Have a good time!

Brother Dave was going through some of his papers and discovered an early record of his daughters’ allowances: Paige got 50 cents and Jenni, who is younger, got 20 cents – a week.

That’s not all. Of those amounts, they were required to tithe 10 percent and save 40 percent. That left Paige with a quarter a week and Jenni with a dime a week to spend any way their hearts desired “except for candy or gum.”

How long ago was that, you asked?

Dave doesn’t remember, probably 40 years ago, maybe a little more, but what difference does it make? What if it was 80 years ago? Ten cents a week spending money?

The money they saved could also be spent but “only after 3 months of planning” and the item they bought had to be paid for in full at the time of purchase. Jenni could have saved for three months, planning every day about what to buy, and still only had 24 cents in her piggy bank when the big day arrived.

Jenni
Jenni

Oh, it’s way worse than that. :),” Jenni told me.  “In fact, I use that as a story in my classes now. My memory of this must have been later because my memory is that there was a total amount that changed weekly and I had to figure out percentages for each. Like tithe 10% of $3.27 and savings 15% of $3.27….. totally traumatizing and I still can’t do math today.”

We had to report to the kitchen table on Saturday at night after dinner for this exercise. I arrived promptly with my ceramic orange (savings bank) and ceramic banana (spending bank) and my box of offering envelopes.”

Paige
Paige

Also there were rules around the spending of savings. I had to write out a description of my planned purchase along with the price and then give the note to dad and wait… can’t remember how long. Probably 1 month but it felt like 3 months.  If I still wanted it after the waiting period then I was free to purchase. I remember Paige wanted to buy sandals once and summer ended before the waiting period … funny now, not so much then.”

I AM a great saver now… I owe it all to dad and these crazy rules of his.”

Coming Monday: My Free Pass