water holes

We were playing CashFlow the other night, and I drew a card that was offering a piece of raw land for sale, with a creek running through it. It got us on the topic of creeks. I realized I was very lucky growing up, as the first two places we lived - that I remember - both had creeks running through the property.

The first place had a creek that ran near the barn. There were minnows in the creek. Probably my most distinct memory of the creek is when Mom would make tapioca pudding and we'd take it down and put it in the creek to chill. Looking back, it seems like a looong way to have to walk to the refrigerator, but hey, it worked!

I remember wading in the creek as well - the water was always extremely cold. But when does that ever stop kids? The creek joined the river on the edge of our property, and when our parents were with us, we'd go down to the river as well. The path to the river crossed the creek, where it had carved out a mini canyon for itself, and we'd find all kinds of minnows down in there.

The second place we lived again had a creek that ran into a river on the edge of our property. This was a bigger creek, and came out of a huge culvert at the upper end, with a pool. On hot summer days we'd go play in the pool and the culvert - although the water was still rather chilly! I remember one time some of my siblings found an eel or two in the creek. That was pretty exotic for us. We'd never seen such a thing! This creek also had small fish near the river end.

I was lucky to grow up around so much water. We always had a lake near by to go swimming in the summer, or to go have picnics at. Rivers were abundant as well. We did a lot of canoeing, and spent a fair amount of time camping by lakes and rivers. There was the annual Swan Trip - a grand canoe/camping adventure, where we'd go and camp on an island. I'd like to make that trip again one of these summers.

I remember one particular camping trip, just before my brother Hiram was born. We were supposed to go to Brown Bear (out by Swan) with my uncle and his family and a couple other families, but Hiram was due right around that time, so my parents decided we'd go on our own camping trip closer to home. We went down by the river, at a spot a few miles from our home, and camped on a sandbar. I remember building a "tabernacle" (from the Bible) in the sand with leaves, sticks and stones. I think Mom still has pictures of that camping trip somewhere.

My earliest memories of swimming are of being afraid of it. I was terrified to get out in the water where I couldn't touch the bottom! Even with a lifejacket, I would be freaked out. I'd get myself all psyched up to go swimming, determined that this time I was going to swim by myself, but sure enough, we'd get to the lake, I'd get out on the dock, and I just couldn't do it! So my dad would eventually get me out in the water and then leave me to swim on my own. I am not sure why it was so terrifying, but it was a fear that took me a while to get over! He'd leave me on my own, practically forcing me to swim, and I'd panic a bit - and remember, I was wearing a lifejacket! I did eventually get over that fear...

Yes, I was lucky to grow up around so much water. I now live in Southern Ontario, and guess what? There isn't any water around! Sure, there are the great lakes, and the Detroit River, but they aren't play friendly, unless you have a boat or something. I miss the little lakes and rivers that you can really get down to and enjoy... I miss swimming in the summer, even when it was chilly. I miss picnics and camping by the lakes.

So I've decided, that when I am wealthy, I will purchase a summer home in BC. It's not a place I can ever again live year-round (I can't handle the winters), but I would definitely like to have a summer home to spend a few weeks each year! My winter homes will be somewhere warm and tropical - Thailand maybe - but BC will also be a special place to me as well.