The Last of my 60 Snapshots from my Childhood

51. The backdrop of my childhood is the view of the lake from the large picture windows of the three-story white brick house I grew up in. Minor changes came with the seasons: small boats of fishermen in the spring, motorboats and water-skiers in the summer, changing colors amid the evergreens in the fall, and in winter the lake had been known to freeze over so you could walk to the middle. Lilypads, baby ducks, blue herons, Canadian geese, mudhens, otters and the red dock all were part of that view.

52. The long driveway to our house began at the white brick wall. The paved, curbed driveway ran parallel to the creek, and you would pass the “flower”, double cement ponds with a small stone bridge, and a large glass greenhouse. The driveway rose and then dropped down into a figure 8, with a rock pond full of pollywogs in the middle. We played traffic for hours, riding our bikes up and down the driveway, around the circle eight and around the flower-shaped brick garden. It was a great yard for evening games of kick ball or kick-the-can, tag and hide and seek. The long sloping lawn from the house to the lake gave us lots of room for somersaults in summer and snow angels in winter, Red Rover, family pictures, watching the stars, and just plain running and running and running. Mother mowed that lawn for years with a hand mower, the only time she donned shorts.

53. And we had bridges. At the mouth of the creek was a little stone bridge that went to the neighbor’s yard, which got us into trouble if we went into their yard too often. Farther down the creek was a very high log bridge. We weren’t supposed to go on it, but it was a good shortcut to the bus stop, or to visit the gardener with his handicapped daughter or the nice lady who lived in the log cabins on the other side. The fish hatchery installed a green contraption across the creek to control the fish in the lake.

54. My playground included tall cedars, a favorite dogwood tree, a Hawthorne tree, a cherry blossom and a holly tree. We had a couple of trees that were really just huge shrubs that we played in so much we killed them. Laurel hedges ran the full length of our property and the leaves made great pretend money. I loved the rhododendrons, the rose garden, the sweet peas and pansies, the azalea tree at our back door, and the parsley that grew by the kitchen door.

55. I remember black and white television, with a test pattern when it went off the air late at night. Romper Room, Ding Dong School, Howdy Doody, Mickey Mouse Club with cute Annette, Lassie, Leave It to Beaver, Donna Reed Show, Queen for a Day, The Millionaire, Ozzie and Harriet, Dragnet, American Bandstand, Lawrence Welk, and westerns were some of the things we watched. I remember the day we got our first color television. We were the first among our friends. Sunday nights we put our hair in rollers in front of Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, and the Wonderful World of Disney.

56. Having shared a bed with Sue and Kaye, and then a room with them for most of my childhood, I was glad when my brother moved out and I got the dark, musty little room in the basement. I loved the quiet and to be alone, and spent many spent hours in my little cave. I listened to The Kingston Trio, The 3 D’s and Theodore Bikel while I worked on projects, like paint by number kits.

57. When the addition to the basement was complete with its larger laundry room, and two large recreation rooms, I got the one bedroom that was created. It was new and smelled like wood, even if it was buggy. I couldn’t ever get warm enough in that cold climate, so I would run a space heater so hot my mother thought I might burn up all the oxygen and kill myself.

58. I thought if I ever woke up with a spider on my pillow, I would die. But I did, and I didn’t. It happened in my new room. Another time, I was going to bed one night when I saw a big spider behind me and a large cricket in front of me. I managed to get a can of Raid and empty it out on these helpless creatures, but they didn’t seem to die. After a very long time I dashed past them and went to bed, but it was a while before I could go to sleep though it was very late.

59. Pat’s parties. There was a second house on our property we called The Little House. Off and on an assortment of people lived in it. It was vacant when Pat had a big Valentines party there. It was all decorated with crepe paper and I got to watch the fun while they played Spin the Bottle. Pat had another big party, this one in the large bedroom upstairs that was the size of three bedrooms. Everything was cleared out for all the food, decorations and dancing. Those were magical times.

60. For my last snapshot, I don’t know whether to write about roasting marshmallows in our outdoor stone fireplace and presto logs in our indoor fireplace, playing hopscotch and jump ball on the front patio, tetherball behind the garage, the birds’ nests and archway on the path along the creek, going under the tunnel under the road, hearing the little local train across the road, playing Mother May I on our stairs, fencing in the upstairs bedroom, the fruit room in the basement, listening to The Platters on our new stereo in our new basement, getting my own desk for Christmas, or a thousand other memories of growing up in such an enchanted place. I have been ever grateful for my father buying that place, for my angel mother for making it Heaven on earth, and for my brothers and sisters for making it so much darn fun!