Wednesday, February 07, 2007

vignette

The house I grew up in is where the green arrow is pointing: MAP
It doesn't show that the street actually went all the way to the water, which it does, and it also doesn't show about a half dozen other small islands among the larger ones shown - all uninhabited.

I had a canoe through a large part of my childhood and well into my teenage years and once I was big enough had little trouble carrying it down to the water from my house. In the spring when the water was really high some of the islands were inundated so I got to paddle through the island, around trees and large rocks, it was kind of a magical experience gliding silently in the still water...

It is these kinds of memories that my own children will not have of growing up, but they are sure to have their own.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

i often wonder at the differences of my childhood and that of my own children and i think about all the little things they will miss that made me who i am, and the little things they will experience that i did not that will make them who they will be.

Debstar said...

What a lovely memory to share. Did you swim much as well?

I grew up not far from the water too but it was pounding surf. When the surf was big you could hear it from my place and many a night I would fall asleep with that noise in the background.

tmfrt said...

Yes, your children will definitely have things that shape them... but I also think it's so important to go back to your childhood with your own children so they better understand who you are. My parents brought us back to their hometowns in Italy every few years when we were growing up, and I can't imagine being who I am and having the relationship I have with them without those memories.

Anonymous said...

:)
thanks for sharing this.
memories are good.
"ARE YOU AWAKE?"
"BAND"
Just stopping in.
Love the flylady.net website by the way. All I have to do is get my hubby to read it.

I think of you often even if I don't visit.

Speaking of visiting, I'm thinking of spending a short time in Ottawa in June -- would love to see you and your wonderful family then, too.

moi said...

I have some of my best childhood memories at the front of a canoe. there is something magical about how different your view of the world is when in one.