Tag Archives: childhood

Throwback – Adventures in Underage Bar Hopping (But Not Drinking)

Dinner Guest

Summer in Vermilion, Ohio is interesting.  It is a “resort” town without a resort, a beach town with no good beaches, a… well, you get the picture.  It is a lake town, being on Lake Erie, and has a large small boat harbour.  Back in the day they used to say it was the largest small boat harbour on the Great Lakes, which was supposedly the reason the Great Lakes Museum was located there..  And there are beaches, if not great ones, and restaurants, and quaint shops and other such things.  There are even some bars, or at least there used to be.  And back in the day there used to be a commercial fishing fleet based in town with a big chunk of river front taken up by the Kishman Fish Company.  Strangely enough, the place is crawling with tourists all summer.

The summer before my senior year of high school was very interesting.  Besides the typical summer stuff I usually did and my group of friends I hung out with, I sometimes did things with my sister and her friends.  This was a small group of 21 year olds who were all back in town for the summer or who still lived in town.  Of course 21 is and was the legal age for alcohol, so some of their activities included going out to clubs, mostly in some of the larger towns. Continue reading

Summer (Reruns)

Sunset 19 June 2014 - Swan Pond

Sunset 19 June 2014 – Swan Pond

Firefly crayfish
Salamander frog
Romping through the woods
Jump over a log

Went to the pool
Got there on my bike
Rode to the store
For some candy that I like

Rock skipping stream
Hitting shore afar
Out past twilight
To wish upon that star

Forever in a day
Just acting like a fool
Eternity today
‘Cuase I’m outa school

Firefly crayfish
Salamander snake
Summer is made up
From the moments that we take

Continue reading

Running from the Storm of Learning

Running from the storm

I was running with the wind. I knew it wasn’t the smartest move, but the storm had appeared in the northeast and the beach was to my southwest, as close to a straight line as could be measured by eye from this distance from shore. I was trying to keep the bow into the wind just enough, but a wave unexpectedly lurched us the wrong direction. The boom came cruising around above our outstretched bodies and heads with such momentum the boat came out of the water. We were instantly in the drink, headfirst and backwards.

I had been out on Lake Erie with a friend on a monstrosity of boat. It was a Hobie Monocat, which the famous catamaran maker produced for less than five years. The year before my family picked it up I had spent a day with another friend on a small sailboat and learned everything there was to know about sailing. Well, to my teenaged mind it sure seemed that way, at least. I mean how much was there? Continue reading

The Call of the Loon

Loons

The trees at the top of the cliff on the north shore burned with the last golden light ,slowly fading to grey. I was floating on a depthless void, skimming over a transparent silver surface. All was as still and quiet as I’d ever seen it in my life. I noticed a darker shape carving its way through the fragile layer of quick silver, slow approaching me. I stopped paddling. The still became complete, the silence deep.

But not for long.

A haunting cry emerged from the dark shape, a loud sound. Half of a second later it echoed off the near shore then off of the lightly glowing cliffs. Soon the echoes came from the cliffs behind me and then from an island a kilometer away. The echoes re-echoed through the reverberations. Wave upon wave of the haunting call swirled around the lake, now louder, now softer. How long did it last? Was it 15 seconds or 20? Was it an eternity?

As the final reverbs slowly died the call came again, as loud as a trumpet blast, a trumpet from the past.

This was a call from my childhood, a call that haunted my dreams. Continue reading

Memories and Reality – There’s No Going Home

grinchThey say you can’t go home. Sometimes this is particularly true with childhood memories of books, movies and TV shows. A great case in point is my favorite Christmas special, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”.

“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” wasn’t just my favorite, it was my favorite by a huge amount. I loved it and, if a way existed back in the prehistoric days of yore, I would have watched it over and over. Perhaps it was so special because it was only possible to see it once a year. It was a great tradition. Continue reading

Summer

 

Sunset 19 June 2014 - Swan Pond

Sunset 19 June 2014 – Swan Pond

Firefly crayfish
Salamander frog
Romping through the woods
Jump over a log

Went to the pool
Got there on my bike
Rode to the store
For some candy that I like

Rock skipping stream
Hitting shore afar
Out past twilight
To wish upon that star

Forever in a day
Just acting like a fool
Eternity today
‘Cuase I’m outa school

Firefly crayfish
Salamander snake
Summer is made up
From the moments that we take

Continue reading