“Let’s Take a Walk in the Woods”
Words and music by Marianne Fridell
with Mrs. Anderson’s 4th Grade Class
©2008 Marianne Fridell
Being alone doesn’t bother me much, I was an only child.
So I learned to enjoy my own company and walking outdoors in the wild
My best friend always joins me like my best friends from before.
He runs and jumps and wags his tail then we head out to explore.
Take a walk in the woods.
Let’s take a walk in the woods.
I’d take a book along on my walks just to hold it in my hand
Now I take my camera and capture all I can
I’m an outside girl who’s always had a hunger and a yearning.
I’m eighty years old and learning still. It’s a joy to keep on learning.
Take a walk in the woods. Learn, learn, learn.
Let’s take a walk in the woods. Learn, learn, learn.
I learned to drill with a jackhammer, for a kid there’s nothing finer.
I’m a gold miner’s daughter who married a gold miner.
When my husband came home from Homestake and talked about the mine
I knew exactly what he meant. It runs in my bloodline.
Take a walk in the woods. Work, work, work.
Let’s take a walk in the woods. Work, work, work.
The gifts I received from my family mean as much to me today
I learned to work and I learned to love and I learned to play
The piano and the organ. With the past I’ve opened doors.
Now you are part of my history and I am part of yours.
Take a walk in the woods. Dream, dream, dream.
Let’s take a walk in the woods. Dream, dream, dream.
Today will be tomorrow’s history.
Let’s take a walk in the woods. Let’s take a walk in the woods.
I’ve learned a way to change the world one life at a time.
There are people in Uganda who don’t even have a dime.
Five children of our own, then we adopted Simon.
I’m writing our family’s history with a branch that’s African.
Take a walk in the woods. Share, share, share.
Let’s take a walk in woods. Dream, dream, dream.
Whoever thought that a baby born in a blizzard on a farm,
would learn to live a life so full of history making charm.
I’ve hosted people from ‘round the world. To Homestake Mine they came.
I’ve written books for history, but not so much for fame.
Take a walk in the woods. Learn, learn, learn.
Let’s take a walk in the woods. Dream, dream, dream.
Today will be tomorrow’s history.
Let’s take a walk in the woods. Dream, dream, dream.
Let’s take a walk in the woods. Dream, dream, dream.
Let’s take a walk in the woods. Dream, dream, dream
Let’s take a walk in the woods.
Dorothy Delicate was born in Nebraska in the year of 1928. Her parents were immigrants from Germany. She was an only child and attended Custer Grade School. She was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. Her favorite teacher was Mrs. Smith. But while in school she didn’t have many friends, because her parents picked her up after school and she had to go straight home.
When Dorothy went home, she would read and play outside with her dogs. She also learned to play the piano and the organ. She didn’t listen to the radio much because the radio ran by batteries.
While in High School, Dorothy Delicate learned to type, write shorthand, and took
two years of Latin.
Dorothy Delicate had many adventures, and these are some she shared with us. She was running down the rocks that didn’t need to be used in the mine, and fell on her tail bone. It still hurts her today. One of our favorite stories was when she was in fourth grade, her teacher walked out of the room, and the boys decided to shoot spit‐balls at the girls. Then when the teacher walked back into the room, Dorothy got so tired of them throwing spit‐balls at her that she threw one back at them. She was the only one who got in trouble and had to stay after school.
In South Dakota you didn’t have to have a driver’s license when Dorothy learned how to drive. So, when she and her husband moved to Utah. They went to get a license and got asked to see their old license. The police didn’t believe them, so they checked the records and realized they didn’t have to have a license in South Dakota.
She went to Uganda in Africa twice, and she said she stuck out like a sore thumb because she was the only white person. All the women in Uganda wore dresses, but all that Dorothy brought with her were pants.
At 7 or 8, she worked in a mine with her father. She learned to drill with a jackhammer in the mine. She worked at several jobs before she was married. She worked at the Custer Ben Franklin store, at Ryan Aeronautical Airplanes during World War II, and at the Custer County Bank. When her husband was Superintendent at the Homestake Mine, they hosted about 60 people a month, and Dorothy provided the entertainment for over 800 people a year from all over the world.
Mrs. Delicate is more outgoing now than she was when she was younger. She loves to take pictures in the mountains when she walks with her dogs. She enjoys playing the piano and the organ. She read a lot when she was a child, and she still reads all the time today. She has written two books and is working on a family history. She has always volunteered in her church and community. She believes educating children in Uganda is so important that she is paying for school for several children who are related to Simon. Her advice to us was to always keep learning.