Early-morning scripture study

My parents were really good about holding family scripture study every day before school. Sometimes, however, that meant that we weren’t all quite alert. One morning, we were all a bit sleepy and were reading about the geography of the Nephite lands (maybe Alma 22?). Geography’s great and all, but it’s probably not the most exciting early-morning reading for a 12-year-old.

So when it was Dad’s turn, he decided to see if we were paying attention:

… who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west, and which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, and round about on the borders of the seashore, and in the hotel by the seashore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla…

Mom turned to Dad and gave him a funny look, and the rest of us looked back to see if that was really in the scriptures.  It wasn't.

I still laugh about that every time I read about the "borders of the seashore."