For Whom The Bell Tolls.

Remember the bell I told you about inn the tale called The Day of the Dolphins?

Well, that bell became part of the family; it traveled to the lake in summer where it was mounted at the kitchen steps. There, it was ready to sound the alarm, call us to meals, or to summon the right person, for the phone calls. When my wife, Nancy and I, moved in to our new home, in Kalani Iki, it spent the next 34 years, mounted at the kitchen door, while it watched my 3 children grow up. It was rung to summon all of us, when we were needed. The oldest, Mary Ann, 1 ring, Sue Sue, 2 clangs, and, little Mike, 3 dings. When it we time for supper, or time to come in for the night, we clanged it 5 or more times. You could hear it all over the valley; all the neighbors grew into the neighborhood knowing of the Crawford's bell. No one ever complained, especially, after the Saturday the field fire broke over the ridge, and was racing down at our homes, with a strong wind behind it. The whole neighborhood came out, and with plenty of hoses, our backfires slowly burned up the valley, to meet the big blasé head on, and none of our homes were damaged.

After Nancy passed away in April of 1992, and we were all going in different directions, they wouldn't let me part with it, so now you all can still view it, ring it a the bar, in the PACIFIC CLUB, where I've been a member for 40 years. But read the history brass plate first. It states,

He who rings this bell in vain, buy's all who hear a round of cheer,

So ring it soft for just the bar, Or clang like Hell for the whole darn club.