A Sliver Of Green Soap

Ray Sammons 2005

The last bar of green soap gets smaller with every shower; it’s now down to a thin green sliver.

I’ve always had a fascination about how soap was made. The magic of combining greasy lard with caustic lye and coming out with a product that you rub on your body and clothes is amazing. My grand parents made their own soap, but my parents bought all of their soap.

Therefore, when Steve (our oldest son) and his family started making soap several years ago I was more than interested. One year they brought all the equipment to Tucson and they made a batch of soap; I followed every detail with interest and anticipation.

Before making the soap we bought some white PVC pipe for soap molds; Steve didn’t like square bars of soap. We cut the pipe into short lengths that were the proper depth for bars of soap and we heated some of the pipe in the oven and formed it into oval shapes before cutting it into bar soap sizes.

After all the preparations were finished it was time to make soap. We had the lard, lye, perfumes, palm oil, health aids, and when they asked what color do you want the soap and I immediately said, “Green.” They asked for some green crayons and they shaved them into small pieces, melted them into a liquid and produced green soap. They made a double batch and when the day was done we had 70 bars of green soap spread all over the back patio cooling and hardening; that’s a five year supply of shower soap!


Herb and Doris Goodell were some of my folk’s good friends as I grew up. They lived five miles east of Utica, Montana, our home town, and we lived a mile and a half west. I always looked forward to a visit at Herb and Doris’ house.

Herb and Doris had several big tall pine trees and some big cottonwood trees around their house. We didn’t have any trees around our house; the nearest trees were three miles away, down by the river.

Herb and Doris had electricity in their house and barns and I loved flipping the switches to see the lights go on and off. We didn’t have electricity; we used kerosene lamps in the house and Dad hung the kerosene lantern on a nail as he milked the cows in the barn after dark. I remember walking with my dad when he carried the lantern after dark. Our shadows would move before and behind us as the lantern swung back and forth keeping perfect cadence with our stride.

Herb and Doris had a big two story house and a big barn and several out buildings and they were all painted grey and they were trimmed in white. We had a small two story house and a good sized barn and they had been painted once but that was before my time. Our shop was small but I liked it better than Herb’s. My dad could heat and bend metal, shape horse shoes, fix tractors, and everything. Our shop was fun; Herb’s looked sterile and unused.

Herb and Doris had green grass in their yard and I always liked the click, click, click of the reel lawn mower as I pushed it around their yard. I was too small to mow all of their grass but they let me push it when I came. We didn’t have any grass in our yard, just dirt and a few weeds.

Herb and Doris had running water in their house and barn; turning the faucets and watching the water gush out was a favorite pastime. We had a hand pump over a well across the driveway from our house. When we wanted water we put the water bucket under the pump snout and pumped the handle enough times to fill the bucket and then wagged it back across the driveway to the house and hoisted it up onto the water bucket bench. We drank from the dipper that was always in the water bucket and we also used the dipper to put water in the wash pan, next to the bucket, to wash our hands and face. The white Ivory soap was in a saucer by the wash pan and the community towel hung from a rack above the wash pan, beside the mirror. We poured the used wash water into the waste water pail at the end of the bench; when the pail was full it was taken out and thrown into the yard.

Herb and Doris had a bathroom in their house. We had a path to a two hole out door toilet behind the house where the expired Sears and Roebuck catalogue was put to good use. The toilet was up from the well.

The sink in their indoor bathroom was a light lime green and the bath tub was the same pleasing color. Our bath tub was a galvanized tub that sat in the middle of the kitchen floor on Saturday night and the water was heated on our wood burning kitchen stove. We all took a bath every Saturday night; I was first, my older brother next and dad last. The water was grey and soapy by the time dad got into the tub.

It was a special treat for me to go into Herb and Doris’ bathroom, turn on the electric light, run water into the sink from the faucet, wash my face and hands with their fresh smelling green soap, and dry my hands on their clean green towel.

Fifty years later, when Steve asked me for the color of our home made soap I said, “Green!”

Portion of Wesley for Thursday

"Wherever riches have increased, the essence of religion has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore I do not see how it is possible in the nature of things for any revival of religion to continue long. For religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality, and these cannot but produce riches.But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches. How then is it possible that Methodism, that is a religion of the heart, though it flourishes now as the green bay tree, should continue in this state? For the Methodists in every place grow diligent and frugal; consequently, they increase in goods.Hence, they proportionately increase in pride, in anger, in the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life. So, although the form of religion remains, the spirit is swiftly vanishing away. Is there no way to prevent ... this continual decay of pure religion?" (John Wesley)

Flying Machine

At the airport where I went for an Powered Parachute ride i saw this flying machine. It's powered by an old gas, one clynder Matag Washing Machine motor; one like my mother used when she upgraded from the hand washer. The smoke proves it is running.

The blue ball just behind the engine is a world globe, used for navigation. On top of the post, above the white flying instruction sheet and check list, is a candle in a small glass jar. The preflight instructions say light the candle before take off; it's the strobe light replacement.

The backseat has a spring for rapid ejection should it become necessary.

The wings are made of burlap stretched over a re-bar frame. It is a new design and not completely tested.

The wheels are from two different bicycles.

Flying Parachute

1-13-05 I actually went for a ride in/on this one. It flies about 30 mph and is a bucket of fun to ride. It will haul 500 pounds of people and takeoff and land in 400 feet. Fun, Fun, FUN!

It can't dive, loop, or spin, the things that get fixed wing pilots in trouble. It has three controls: a throttle, a left pedal, and a right pedal. Push the throttle to go up, push a pedal to turn, and decreas throttle to come down.

As soon as the machine starts moving the chute pops up over head, like pulling a kite string, and with full throttle you are airborne in 200 feet.

After the desert receives its sporadic rain it turns green and waits for warmer weather to show the thousands of flowers.

This 50 year old sentinel stood by the 4-wheeler road I traveled near Quartzsite on 1-12-05. These saguaros get their first limb when they are 75 years old. It will be many more years before riders will duck under its arms.

There are thousands of differnt plants on the desert and each one has a unique way to conserve moisture. 1-12-05

Freedom Isn’t Free

Freedom Isn’t Free
Written by Ray Sammons 2005

In this war torn world the quip “Freedom Isn’t Free” is used to remind us that we can not be free if we do nothing. Instead we are reminded that it takes purpose to be free. As a nation we must help other nations to be free so we can insure we will remain free from the tyrants that impose their own will on the masses. We must purpose to defeat the terrorists that want to take away our freedom.

Freedom has some personal applications also. We have a Shih-Tzu puppy she is one year old and named Duchess. She’s cute and impish and she is confined to the house, yard, and her leash. She has not learned that obedience brings freedom.

When I take her for a walk on her leash she wants to be free. She wants to run, play, smell, and get really tired. She strains on the leash and she doesn’t know that I’d like her to have those experiences and many more. The problem is she won’t come when I call her and therefore I can’t give her the freedom she desires. If she would come, stop, and stay on command then she’d have the desires of her heart.

People are like Duchess in many ways. When we obey the laws of the road (driving on the right side, stopping at the signs and lights, observing the speed limits, being considerate of other drivers) we are free to drive from coast to coast and from border to border. Obedience to the laws of the road brings the freedom of the road.

I have flown our private airplane all over the western United States and all the time I was enjoying the freedom of the skies I was carefully watching and following the charts. I needed the charts to stay out of the paths of other airplanes and to reach an airport before running out of gas. The freedom of the skies required close attention to detail.
Huge ships and small yachts plow the seven seas enjoying the freedom of the seas. When they leave port they cannot see their destination. Within hours all they see is water and to reach their destinations they must be slaves to the charts and maps. Freedom isn’t free. Freedom comes from obedience.

Our spiritual lives are the same, we must be obedient to enjoy our spiritual freedom. Jesus came to pay a debt He didn’t owe because we had a debt we couldn’t pay. When we accept His payment of our debt we became free. Free from the Old Testament law, free from past sins, free to follow Him, free to go into the presence of God without guilt.

The Message, a modern Bible translation sums it up this way:

It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. (Gal 5:13-14)