memories

I remember:

• Playing bumper pool in the basement.
• Paddling around the pier in a kayak that was attached to the pier by a 20 or 30 foot rope.
• Sleeping over and faking a dream where I was calling out the name of a girl I kinda liked in elementary school. I forgot I'd done it and everyone was picking on me the next morning.
• Their big ol' Basset Hound lazing on the side porch.
• Riding in the pontoon boat.
• Huge family get-togethers there. We played egg-toss in their huge back yard.
• Someone sitting a baby bare-butt on the pier and someone else hollering he was going to get splinters in his butt!
• Watching family members water ski. I think I tried, but couldn't quite get it.

I had a dream about Drok last night. (o = ah - though I really don't know how his name was spelled) Drok was a huge German Shepherd that lived near Daddy Bob's house. I don't know if he belonged to Kenneth and Sandy or to Uncle Dwight and Aunt Bea - though I think the latter. I was just a wee thing when Drok was around, so I imagine he's not nearly as big as the little Sam that knew him remembers. Drok was an old fella and one we kids were advised to stay away from. Still, I've got some strong feeling that I used to get to pet him when I would visit with Uncle Dwight on their front porch. I haven't thought of Drok (or Uncle Dwight and Aunt Bea, for that matter!) in many, many years. I wonder why he came to visit me...

I remember visiting Uncle Bill and Aunt Betty Jo at their lakehouse on Lake Gaston. I was probably 5-7 years old. My cousin, Dan, taught me how to catch brim with just a line, a hook and a little bit of bread. We fished in the boathouse and caught probably 15-20 of them and had them on a stringer. It was late in the evening when we left them in the water, on the stringer, tied to the dock in the boathouse. The next morning, either my uncle or my father showed us a "magic trick." The brim were all gone! (well, except for some, uh, scraps...) He said the catfish had eaten them during the night. I suppose it's just as well, 'cause I'm sure we weren't going to eat them. Today, I'd let them go.

I also remember my uncle showing my cousin how to hold a catfish and not get stung by it. I don't think I held one.

Another memory is of my father swimming in the lake while wearing funky Hawaiian print swimtrunks. They had little bits of yellow in the design. He got startled when something started nibbling at him. Then he realized it was brim nibbling at the yellow spots on his mostly dark swimsuit. It was funny.

I vaguely remember, with less than a glimpse of an image, being in the YMCA swimming pool with my mother when I was very, very young. I remember her holding me and showing me how to take a big breath and hold it just before we briefly went underwater.

Here's the content of a little something I made up for Daddy Bob this morning:

I Remember...

Running up the walk to feed the dogs with you,
Being in your dog office, watching you tend to puppies,
Riding with you to pick up Dustri's Carolina Sam,
Sitting up in your store office, watching through the little window,
Coffee milk and ham candy,
Biscuits with creamed strawberries or creamed peaches,
Sawdust on the store floor,
Counting change to customers,
"Helping" you mow the yard,
Being pulled around your driveway on the tricycle by Coco,
Your daily letters when I was in the hospital,
Cleaning stock on the lower shelves, 'cause that was all I could reach,
Getting that slice of bologna or cheese when you were preparing an order,
Eating Beanie Weenies and a bologna or tomato sandwich for lunch at the store,
Sitting on the ice cream maker while you cranked it,
Running through the woods so many times to visit, even for a minute,
Helping look for Rebel when he ran away,
Sitting in church with Grandmother and seeing you in the choir loft,
Finding money in the newspaper rack, telling you and our telling the newspaper folk,
Watching you make signs for the store windows,
Learning you had streets named after me,
Riding with you to deliver groceries,
The occasional peeks into the smokehouse (Had to keep out the flies!),
Playing Scrabble at the dinner table, putting the board on the lazy susan,
Delivering a shopping cart full of sodas to Graham Underwriters,
Cheese hoop money (It must've gone into the hundreds!),
Taking deposits to the bank for you (What a responsibility!),
Working with you in the garden (Especially the okra!),
Climbing up the ladder to look at the bee hive in the tree you helped cut down,
Your pride and smile when I told you I’d bought my first home,
Your phone calls just to check up on me when we'd not been in touch for awhile,
Your stories about family,
Lessons not just taught, but shown,
Safety and protection,
Helping people,
Happiness and joy,
Comfort,
Love.
Thank you for all of these memories and for so many more.
I love you, Daddy Bob!

I remember going to the beach with Granny and Granddaddy. Granddaddy (or I) had caught a small ghost crab and I was keeping it in a disposable cup while we were driving to the hotel from the beach. Granddaddy was driving and Granny was in the front seat. I was in the back seat hanging over the front seat, holding the cup. I dropped the cup in the front seat and the crab escaped. Oh man! The fortitude Granny must have had that day! We never did find the crab.

On the same trip (I think), we stopped at a bridge where a river (Cape Fear, I think) emptied into the ocean. At the shore/bank, we found a huge colony of fiddler crabs. Granddaddy used his pocketknife to dig several of them out of their burrows (more than a dozen) and we put them in a small styrofoam cooler, along with some sand, shells and driftwood. They made it home. We set up a short, wide fishbowl for them and I kept them in my room. I had them for a long time and they were a really cool thing for a young boy to have. However, my poor mother had to deal with the stench!

I remember making a kite with Grandmother in the field behind Uncle Dwight's house. We took newspaper, string, tape and rags, found two good sticks and made the kite right there on the ground. I imagine I was around 5 years old.