We rented a house on the lake here at twin lakes Michigan, perhaps a summer rental.
I remember that the house had a dock and we did some fishing right off of the dock.
One night I left a pole out, in the morning the pole was gone. I swam down and found the pole, and after reeling it in it had a catfish on it.
We had Somey the Siamese cat. Somey was translated to Gold or so I was told. We also had a new ride a mustang, good for the road and a dog a Chesapeake bay retriever. A great water dog.Champ was his name or Champy. big brown water foul retrieving dog.
One time our cat Somey started playing with a fishing lure and got hooked in the paw, we had to remove the hook from her paw. I guess the lure was too hard to resist.
From here it was of course time to move again, where and when so many it is hard to remember. I do remember the lake there a little and it must have been summer time as there was not snow.
Cedar Camps Lebonon Missouri Summer camp (Christian Science)
http://www.cedarscamps.org/
I got shipped off here for the weeks of the summer by my parents two different times.
I may have been 6 or 7 the first time I went here.
It was okay I guess I went here twice in my childhood and had some humiliating and some fun times.
Being inconstant in a new place is not that much fun, but otherwise I guess it was okay.
We learned how to row a canoe, make fire, fire a bow and arrow and a 22 rifle later
We paddled canoes and swimming which was okay too. Being away from your parents for the first time is a challenge too.
Camp life is your cabin with your camping supplies and herding around to the cafeteria and the activities.
For fun once I accidentally hit a lizard with a coat hangar and felt bad about it, did not mean to kill him.
I even wrote a note to ask for forgiveness from the big guy.
We told ghost stories and walked in places that had a long legacy of other stories so that as your walking miles out from anything you feel like something is watching you or that perhaps the witch that chained the guy down is out here somewhere. Kids will be kids. No religious camp would be complete without Sunday school and prayer time of course as well.
Was time to move to...Albany GA? yes a quite town and schools that needed teachers so of course let's move there. I learned how to crash then ride a bike here.
First time riding I ate it road rash a little scared but carry on, the second time up and riding no problem.
My parents insisted that I meet a daughter of the family friends too.
I remember meeting Beth Eck here, of course all of the talk and how we should meet and we are both from the same church and such why were my parents so interested in matching me up at 10(?) I will never know.
My mother would always talk about her family and about Beth and how I should write Beth and how we should meet later and on and on.
So I finally get to meet her, she is nice and we play a little in the garage and do what kids run around check out the garage piano and maybe some show and tell.
In the end (spoiler alert) Beth moved to Arizona and lives happily on the Indian reservation with an Indian I am not sure or as a worker...She went off to the wild west. Sorry Mom it didn't work out for you.
Kids in the neighborhood I don't know everyone and was introduced to tobacco...My review was tasted like crap. yuck we had to try it. Not much fun, one of the older kids was showing us other things not sure what the reason other than experimentation including a taste of gin another sick taste...
The order of the places we lived is hard as we moved once a year just about if not twice a year. Both of my parents were working, Mom Margaret Wagg as a teacher and my dad working to go through school.
At that age you really don't understand everything but pieces come together at times.
As Hans Bertschi my father had to finish his education it was probably hard for my mom to support him. He lost his diploma from his college in Holland in the war or so the story goes, which at that time is plausible since the Germans in the war were busy bombing and burning everything that they did not like.
Then there was the expense of this eternal moving and always hoping that things would be better in the next town the next job the next place. I can see that people move for better work and that is understandable but hard on the family. I have to wonder if you are moving and you owe some places do the debts get left behind?....
So where now.... Hans is graduating from Albany College with his BA...great must be time to move on.
I think that the stress of everything must have gotten to my parents.
My dad being Swiss German is a bit of a bone head and my mom is probably the same.
I think that the finances and the stress of having to deal with everything my mom decided that a divorce is in order on the grounds of..."mental cruelty" yes these was her actual words
This would take a while and they would remain living together a while and back and forth.
By now my moving skills are being fine tuned watching mostly but can do some boxing. Later I will learn how to load the UHaul up, that means that there's something better down the road ...again
No comments:
Post a Comment