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Lyman County, South Dakota Genealogy |
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Huffing in the late forties While discussing an article published recently in the Register concerning "huffing", all the things that are being "huffed" these days and the danger involved, it dawned on me that my sister Frances and I had "huffed" when we were but probably five and seven years old. We lived on the farm south of Reliance and one of our "grown-up and learned" cousins was over. He asked us if wanted to "get drunk". Even though we didn’t fully understand what it meant, we were ready to have fun on an otherwise boring day on the farm. We were stood up on five-gallon buckets next to the 55-gallon drums of gasoline and told to stick our noses in the pour holes and sniff. I don’t know about Frances, but I LOVED IT!! I immediately wanted to smell ALL of it and I WANTED IT NOW!!! I sniffed and sniffed and sniffed. BIG sniffs! Long sniffs! The next thing I knew there was a buzzing in my head likened to that of 47 locusts and I saw stagecoaches forming into a circle and Indians were on the war-path ( going around and around the stagecoaches.) The next memory is of me being in the kitchen sink and my mother was slapping my face, calling my name and pouring cold water on me. I have often wondered how it was that I knew about stagecoaches forming a circle and Indians circling them since that was before movies (in Reliance) and TV. Sad to say, but I can understand the attraction children have with "huffing". We were so little and just wanted to have some fun. We had no clue as to how dangerous it was nor do the little ones today. I don’t know if it had or has anything to do with it, but I have always been hooked on the smell of gasoline and exhaust (before unleaded gas). I could smell it until I get sick if I were to let me. During my pregnancy with Sindi, I wanted desperately to just dip something into gasoline and lick it … or lick a rock! Where does that come from!?! Lord only knows.
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This website Copyright © 1996-2008 by barbara
stallman-speck This page last revised Tuesday May 20, 2008 03:25 PM
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