A Halloween Tick-Tack

Over the years, Halloween customs have changed a bit. Children still dress up in costumes and go door-to-door in the neighborhood, saying "trick or treat"; however, the only thing that seems to be expected is the "treat". You don't hear much about the "trick" option. It didn't use to be like this. People of all ages used to do all kinds of tricks on one another. Some tricks were more complicated with preparation and extensive planning while others were quite simple to pull off.

One popular trick that took little preparation was called a "tick-tack" that people would "hang" outside the window of someone's house. To make a tick-tack, all that is needed is an empty wooden thread spool, a nail or small rod, and a few feet of string. First, cut several notches around the edges on each end of the spool, and place the nail through the spool's center hole. Then, wrap the string tightly around the cylinder part of the spool. To hang the tick-tack, sneak up after dark to the window of a neighbor, hold the tick-tack by the nail, placing the notched edges of the spool against the glass, and pull the string quickly. As the spool spins on the nail, it makes a loud noise inside the house, startling whoever is inside! Run before they find out who did it!

If you don't have a wooden thread spool, you can find one like this at a craft store like Michael's.  

This is my rendition of a tick-tack following Dad's instructions.  I used an X-acto knife to carve out the notches, but I'm sure Dad would have used a jackknife.  I "hung" my tick-tack on the inside of one of my windows and got good results!

One Halloween, my brother Bob and his friend Hugh Pearsall were on their way to a drilling rig up Lawton Hollow. They happened to have a tick-tack in a pocket, so when they passed Ronald Pierce's house (now Jim Reynolds' home) and saw him sleeping in his chair near the window, they decided to use it. They crept up on the porch and hung it on the window while the tired man slept after a long day's work. As soon as the tick-tack rumbled and rattled on the window, Mr. Pierce jerked awake and came alive! It was so much fun that Bob and Hugh decided to hang the tick-tack on a couple more windows of the same home before going on their way.

Within a few minutes, they had done their third window and were heading to the road. Hugh asked Bob, "What if Mr. Pierce is outside?" Bob replied, "Just keep walking as if nothing happened." At that moment, Hugh saw Mr. Pierce standing by a tree in the yard. He gasped, "There he is!" and took off on a run up behind the schoolhouse with Mr. Pierce on his heels. As Hugh jumped across the little creek, he slipped and fell in. Mr. Pierce picked him up and dunked him several times in the cold mountain stream before letting him go.

In the meanwhile, Bob had decided there was no reason for him to stick around so he made a fast retreat down School Street and on home to Maple Street. It was only the next morning on the school bus that he learned of the ill fate of his friend.

Whenever I recall this incident, a Bible verse comes to mind. Proverbs 18:24 says, "There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother." This is referring to the Lord as a friend to us as Believers. Jesus Christ is the One that sticks closer than a brother. When all others fail us (even brothers and sisters), Jesus does not. He is totally reliable and faithful. 

Since we are to become more Christ-like in our daily walk with Him, shouldn't we also be a faithful friend to others?

-- Darell (and Jan)

School Days

"The Harris Barn"
Photo by Elaine Harris (c 1993)

As students settle back into a new school year, Oswayo bursts into beautiful fall colors.  Here's one of my favorite school stories, an excerpt from Dad's book, "Coming Full-Circle On Maple Street", pp 33-34.

Behind the Piano

Of all my teachers, my favorite one was Mrs. Mary Greenhill.  She was my seventh and eighth-grade teacher.  I think I learned more from her than any other teacher, although she kept me behind the piano for two years.

The upright piano sat diagonally in the corner of the schoolroom; my spot was there behind it.  She would let me come out for the class time when we had our lesson.  When finished, I would have to go back to the corner behind the piano.  The reason I had to sit there was that I could not keep from talking and disrupting the class. 

Even from behind the piano, I found ways to entertain my classmates.  When I was bored or getting restless, I would peek up over the top of the piano and make funny faces at the other students when the teacher wasn’t looking.  One day, I took the teacher’s turban winter hat that was hanging with her coat behind the piano and put it on my head before popping up.  It brought so many snickers from classmates that the teacher caught me in the act!

Despite all the classroom problems I gave her and the discipline she dealt out, I always felt she liked me anyway.

--Darell

Meet My Dad...

This is Dad... others refer to him as Bud, Uncle Bud, Grandpa, Great-Grandpa, Pastor, Preacher, or Rev.  His given name is Darell Harris.  I am Jan, the youngest one of three daughters that are blessed to call him Dad.  

Today, you will find Dad, at age 91, often in his recliner at my middle sister's home, watching baseball or FOX News on TV, eating popcorn, reading his Bible or a book.  Occasionally you'll find him taking a phone call from family or friends. This is a stage of life that is new to him and each of us girls.  It presents some tough adjustments and challenges for all of us, especially for him and for Sue and her husband who are his primary care-givers.  

Before coming to this rocking-chair stage, Dad has lived a full life.  He was born and raised in rural Potter County, Pennsylvania, and as he shared in his book, came full-circle to retire in his boyhood home in Oswayo.  The journey has taken him into Germany with the army, marriage, the oil fields, welding, fatherhood, and ultimately into full-time Christian ministry. 

His hobbies over the years have been reading, hunting, dogs, and driving and riding horses.  Let's not forget his love of storytelling. With a receptive audience, he can tell entertaining stories for hours!  Sometimes he has gotten so tickled over a story, the tears stream down his face as he struggles to get to the conclusion (those memories make me smile!😂).

No one would probably nominate him for canonization to sainthood because he, like all of us, has feet of clay and is not perfect.  As a father, he has been a strict authoritarian with a quick spouting temper, but I have never doubted that he loved and wanted the best for each of us.  I have countless memories of him, kneeling next to Mom at the sofa in prayer with tears streaming down his face in sincere intercession for their daughters and parishioners.  

As we grew up, he and Mom practiced Deuteronomy 6:5-9. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and when you get up." Did they get it right all the time, every time? No, but they got it right enough times to bring it home to our hearts. The most important thing my parents did was to share Jesus Christ with me and show me how to trust and obey Him. I am literally, eternally grateful!

--Jan

Rocking Forward!

This is a new adventure for Dad and me!  Thank you for joining us as we launch a blog for the first time!  Neither of us knows much about blogging, so we, I mean more specifically, I, will learn as we go... please, bear with us!  

After writing his book, "Coming Full Circle on Maple Street", that went into print this past spring (2019), Dad has continued to remember and reminisce about more stories he heard or experienced that didn't get into the book.  As we share them, I bet you will agree that they are too interesting to pass up!  We plan to use this medium to share those stories, favorite excerpts from his book, Bible meditations, reflections, quotable quotes, and more.  Since this is a shared adventure, some posts will be Dad's, some will be mine, and others will be a combination of both.

The goal will be to post something at least once a week, so I hope you will be back to visit us regularly and respond with your own comments in dialog with us.