The process of learning requires repetition and conscious
effort and concentration. We must have a great desire to progress and
improve in order to learn. We must train the mind, the reflexes, and the
muscles of the body until the action is accomplished. Then by repetition
we can improve the facility of doing and learning.
When we are first born the learning process begins. We
must teach and train our bodies, our senses, and our mind. We start by
learning by controlling the movement of our fingers, hands and arms by
using them. We must learn to focus our eyes and adjust our hearing. Even
our sense of taste and smell gradually develop and grow. We must go
through the tedious process of learning to walk. Learning to talk is
more complicated and requires concentration and the use of body, senses
and mind.
Many things that we learn must start at birth and
continue the learning process throughout our lives. One of these is
learning to love and think of others instead of ourselves. We can
continue to learn and develop our minds through out our lives and
through out eternity.
When I was a very small boy I saw my father play
basketball and heard many stories of his basketball career. I had a
great desire to learn to play basketball. I spent many hours developing
the strength and skill to be able to dribble the ball and shoot baskets.
At that time the ten foot high hoop was very high and difficult to reach
for a very small boy. I soon developed a right handed hook shot that I
could use to throw the ball into the basket. It helped to have other
boys my age equally enthusiastic about learning to play basketball.
After we had grown in strength and ability we decided to
form a basketball team. We formed the team with LaSelle at center, Wayne
Romney and I at forwards, my brother Wesley and Earnest Taylor at guard.
We challenged the Dublan grade school basketball team and as I remember,
we won a good share of our games. We played against the Casas Grandes
grade school team and won inspite of students surrounding the court and
throwing little rocks to hit our bare legs. I remember I asked my
Mothers help to make my uniform. We died the Jersey a dark blue color
and sewed on a number 5. We played as often as we could arrange a game
with a team our own age or a year or two older. I remember going to Col.
Juarez to play against the Juarez team. I remember once we walked to
Col. Juarez to play a game. Another time we went up horse back. I
remember the names of some of the Juarez players. They were Dave and
Kelly Spilsbury, Albert and Adrian Alvarz, Wlater Young, and some of the
Romney's. They had Chino Whetten, and Seve Wood also. At first there was
not much of a crowd in the gym to watch us play. Later I remember the
gym seats being lined with people. I remember Enos Wood giving Uncle
Loren Taylor competiton in yelling for their sons. They could both
really hoop it up with their loud cowboy yells. Even my father would be
there sometimes to yell in his high pitched voice, "Give it to Keith
give it to Keith." Uncle Loren would yell, "Give it Selle, Give 'em
hell".
A circus came to Casas Grandes and we boys of our family
were permitted to go to the circus. We were very impressed with the
tumblers and acrobats. We had never seen acrobats doing flips and
somersaults. We saw a man while walking on his hands climb up about ten
steps onto a platform. He stepped up still on his hands onto a wheel
about two and a half feet off the platform. While perfectly balanced
with his feet straight in the air with his hands holding the wheel made
the wheel go slowly around with the strength of his body. Then he
stepped off the wheel and descended down the steps and finally standing
on his feet took his bow at the applause of the audience. The next day
the Bowman boys began to learn how to walk on their hands and turn
flips. This took a lot of practice and time to develop the strength and
the skill to do this. My brother Bob learned first to walk on his hands
and do a good hand spring. He offered my brother Wesley and Me 50 cents
to the first one that could walk ten feet on his hands. After days of
practice, I proved that I could walk the ten feet and even farther on my
hands. I had won the prize of the 50 cents but best of all I had learned
to walk on my hands. I had strengthened my arms by running around on my
hands and feet playing horse. I even learned to run on my hands and feet
and jump over a wooden bar like a jumping horse. This jumping and
landing on my hands with the full weight of my body developed a strength
and toughened my arms and helped me to learn to walk on my hands.
One summer after the wheat had been harvested I was
assigned to ride the three bottomed John Deere plow. The plow was pulled
by a John Deer Tractor. Driven by Antonio Muro. I rode the plow to keep
it from clogging up with wheat stubble and tumble weeds. There were
parts of the field where the wheat stubble was rather thin and there
were no weeds to clog the plow. One day while I was not needed on the
plow I saw Uncle Harvey drive into the ranch house and get out of his
pickup. He was joined by another man dressed in good clothes and a new
felt hat. Uncle Harvey motioned me to come over with his hat in a
beckoning gesture. I went over and met the man with him. Harvey drove
into the ranch house. He introduced him as Jimmy Jewell who had married
Fleeta Hatch and was down for a visit. He said that he wanted to show me
something and asked Jimmy Jewell to show me. Jimmy turned around took a
few running steps and turned a beautiful feet to feet flip high in the
air. He landed standing upright and turned around smiling. He had not
even taken off his hat. I was surprised and excitedly said, "Do that
again". He turned another beautiful flip easily and landed in front of
me. Without a word, I ran out into the field determined to learn how to
do that feet to feet flip. I started to practice running on the unplowed
ground and jumping in the air I attempted to do the flip. I landed in
the soft plowed ground on my seat. I continued practicing again and
again. Each time I got doing it a little better. I had the strength and
the agility that I had developed from turning handsprings and walking on
my hands. In the late afternoon I could finally land standing on my
feet. I was barefooted. So the weight of my shoes did not encumber
me.
When I had gained sufficient confidence and landed on my
feet many times I decided to do it on the solid ground of the field. I
took a good run and went high into the air. Apparently I faltered in mid
air because I came down landing on my back. I got up and went back to do
it again and again landing in the soft plowed ground. Finally I turned
onto the solid ground and turned a beautiful flip landing squarely on my
two feet. After turning a few flips on the solid ground with success I
knew that I had it learned.
It was dark when I got home that night but I immediately
went in the house and told Bob that I wanted to show him something. We
went out of the house past the rose arbor onto the big south lawn. There
was enough light from the moon so that we could see very well. I said
proudly, "Watch this". I took a little run and turned a nice feet to
feet flip. He came over excitedly, asking me how I had learned to do
that wonderful thing. I told him the whole story and how I had practiced
by landing in the soft plowed earth. He rushed into the wash house and
brought out a shovel. He excitedly spaded up a patch of empty flower
garden at the edge of the lawn. He threw down the shovel and began to
practice turning the flip. After landing a few times on his seat he
asked me to show him again how it was done. Again I turned a flip
landing in the spaded up ground on my feet. He saw that I was barefooted
so he sat down and took off his shoes and began practicing again.
Finally after about an hour of work, he could land on his feet. We went
into the house to eat supper and go to bed. The next morning very early
we were out practicing our new learned feet to feet flip. We went around
the house on the north lawn. He decided to turn a flip on the solid
lawn. He took a fast run and went into the air but landed on his feet
and seat. He got up painfully and limped over to show me his wound. He
took down his pants and showed me his tail bone. Right on the end of his
tail bone was a little round bloody place where the skin had been
knocked off in his landing. That ended our practice for that day. From
then on we could show off our new learned feet to feet flip. I remember
doing it barefooted in front of the whole school in our assembly hall in
the Dublan school. Later I turned flips on the stage in the assembly
hall of the Academy after leading the school yell. Many times I would
turn a flip while leaving the gym floor at half time in the basketball
game.
Many years later when I was teaching the students of the
Dublan School to learn some tumbling I demonstrated what I wanted them
to learn by turning handsprings and feet to feet flips. I was around
about 60 years old at that time but I could still turn the flips that I
had learned when I was a small boy. There is saying in Spanish that says
the following. :Lo que bien se aprende nuca se olvida . Translation:
That which is learned well is never forgotten. I can still remember many
things that I learned, but I cannot do them now because of the
limitations of old age. Perhapse some day we will be able to recall and
do all of the things that we have learned to do well here in this
life.
The process of learning is the same whether it is
physical, mental, or spiritual. We still must go through the
conscientious work of learning. Naoma and I are now 83 yrs old and we
are still learning many things. The date of this writing is l9th of
March 2005.