Hi sweet friends,
It is Sunday, the day that I love best. It is not because it is a Church day, although that is a good way to spend some time if you like, but because this is the day that Daddy would take us swimming.
It would be either Morris creek or Munson Dam for us. The Munson trip was a longer one and we loved it when that was the choice. We sat in the bed of daddy's old pick up truck, with our hair flying in the wind. We stood up and hung on to the small lip at the top of the cab of the truck. We did not have any fear and every one else was doing it too. I cringe at that today when I think of my kids doing the same thing, but back then, people did things that were dangerous. Sometimes people got hurt and sometimes they didn't. We were lucky that we never had an accident.
Part of that was likely cause Daddy never drove faster than 30 or 35 miles an hour. It took a long time to get to Munson, but we did not mind. When you drive slow, you get to see things that you might miss otherwise. We never stopped at McCranies store on the way there, but we always stopped on the way back for our Pepsi and peanuts. I still have it today and it is almost as good as it was back then.
Munson was an amazing place to swim. It had lots of space to lose your parents and it had lots of "candy" for a girl like me, isolated at home most of the time. There were people from all walks of life. I will never forget the Sailors from other ports with their dark tans and way of speaking that I had never heard. One of them spoke to me once and I asked him where he was from and he answered, " Phillipines". He asked me out but I knew Daddy would not approve so I arranged to meet him outside church one night. He came and we talked about his country and my life on the farm. It was so much fun meeting people from other lands and I think that is where my wander lust was born.
I keep leaving my story but I want to get back to Munson. This was where I learned to swim or rather where Daddy threw me off the dock and said Swim. lol. It was in 16 feet of water and off the pier where it used to go up and over then back down onto the main walk across the lake. Only those of you who spent your childhood at Munson will remember this, because they are gone now, and with good reason. I and many others fell on those slides so many times.. When the wood got wet, it was like being on a slippery slope. But we ran, played, climbed, and jumped off that raised area more times than I can count.
Parents then were aware of their children, but they did not coddle them. We learned by experience. If we slipped, we learned to be cautious. If we fell and got skinned up, we learned to slow down. I don't remember ever telling Daddy if I got hurt. It wasn't until I was about 14 that I really got how dangerous it was to swim at Munson if you were not careful on the scaffolding.
A middle school boy dove off, hit his head in some way and died. That day is in my memory. It was the day that I stopped getting up on the slippery rail on the top scaffolding to jump off. This experience sobered me a bit and I was not quite as adventurous after that.
I don't remember his name and I am sad about that because he deserves to be remembered.
While we were swimming out to the middle raft, climbing on the scaffolding, rolling on the huge logs in the lake and having the best time of our lives, Daddy was cooking. He would fish lower on the lake and then clean up his catch and fire up his little Coleman stove to cook. That man could make a full course dinner on that thing and it tasted better than any fish and hushpuppies I have tasted since.
There was always plenty of food to go around and my brothers and sister and I ate til our bellies popped. We had to sit out for a while before we went back in, after we ate, so often we hoped that it would take daddy awhile to get the fish fried up. When he called, we dropped whatever we were doing and went to eat. There were no questions about coming when Daddy called because we knew the consequences if we did not. We were mindful children.
After a full day of swimming, eating, and then cleaning up, we started our way home, hoping that it would not rain. If by chance it did, we got soaked on the back of the truck and would shiver our way home. It was a small price to pay for the way we spent our time that day.
There are so many memories about Munson. I could write about them all week but this was one. The sun shining today reminded me of how excited we would all be on this day long ago. No matter how hard Daddy worked during the week and at home, he always took us swimming on the weekend. He was a good Daddy and I miss him still....
Happy Sunday all. Do something fun today with your children so that one day when they are seniors, they will still smile and remember.. Love to all, Kimmee
It is Sunday, the day that I love best. It is not because it is a Church day, although that is a good way to spend some time if you like, but because this is the day that Daddy would take us swimming.
It would be either Morris creek or Munson Dam for us. The Munson trip was a longer one and we loved it when that was the choice. We sat in the bed of daddy's old pick up truck, with our hair flying in the wind. We stood up and hung on to the small lip at the top of the cab of the truck. We did not have any fear and every one else was doing it too. I cringe at that today when I think of my kids doing the same thing, but back then, people did things that were dangerous. Sometimes people got hurt and sometimes they didn't. We were lucky that we never had an accident.
Part of that was likely cause Daddy never drove faster than 30 or 35 miles an hour. It took a long time to get to Munson, but we did not mind. When you drive slow, you get to see things that you might miss otherwise. We never stopped at McCranies store on the way there, but we always stopped on the way back for our Pepsi and peanuts. I still have it today and it is almost as good as it was back then.
Munson was an amazing place to swim. It had lots of space to lose your parents and it had lots of "candy" for a girl like me, isolated at home most of the time. There were people from all walks of life. I will never forget the Sailors from other ports with their dark tans and way of speaking that I had never heard. One of them spoke to me once and I asked him where he was from and he answered, " Phillipines". He asked me out but I knew Daddy would not approve so I arranged to meet him outside church one night. He came and we talked about his country and my life on the farm. It was so much fun meeting people from other lands and I think that is where my wander lust was born.
I keep leaving my story but I want to get back to Munson. This was where I learned to swim or rather where Daddy threw me off the dock and said Swim. lol. It was in 16 feet of water and off the pier where it used to go up and over then back down onto the main walk across the lake. Only those of you who spent your childhood at Munson will remember this, because they are gone now, and with good reason. I and many others fell on those slides so many times.. When the wood got wet, it was like being on a slippery slope. But we ran, played, climbed, and jumped off that raised area more times than I can count.
Parents then were aware of their children, but they did not coddle them. We learned by experience. If we slipped, we learned to be cautious. If we fell and got skinned up, we learned to slow down. I don't remember ever telling Daddy if I got hurt. It wasn't until I was about 14 that I really got how dangerous it was to swim at Munson if you were not careful on the scaffolding.
A middle school boy dove off, hit his head in some way and died. That day is in my memory. It was the day that I stopped getting up on the slippery rail on the top scaffolding to jump off. This experience sobered me a bit and I was not quite as adventurous after that.
I don't remember his name and I am sad about that because he deserves to be remembered.
While we were swimming out to the middle raft, climbing on the scaffolding, rolling on the huge logs in the lake and having the best time of our lives, Daddy was cooking. He would fish lower on the lake and then clean up his catch and fire up his little Coleman stove to cook. That man could make a full course dinner on that thing and it tasted better than any fish and hushpuppies I have tasted since.
There was always plenty of food to go around and my brothers and sister and I ate til our bellies popped. We had to sit out for a while before we went back in, after we ate, so often we hoped that it would take daddy awhile to get the fish fried up. When he called, we dropped whatever we were doing and went to eat. There were no questions about coming when Daddy called because we knew the consequences if we did not. We were mindful children.
After a full day of swimming, eating, and then cleaning up, we started our way home, hoping that it would not rain. If by chance it did, we got soaked on the back of the truck and would shiver our way home. It was a small price to pay for the way we spent our time that day.
There are so many memories about Munson. I could write about them all week but this was one. The sun shining today reminded me of how excited we would all be on this day long ago. No matter how hard Daddy worked during the week and at home, he always took us swimming on the weekend. He was a good Daddy and I miss him still....
Happy Sunday all. Do something fun today with your children so that one day when they are seniors, they will still smile and remember.. Love to all, Kimmee
- Gloria Peacock Kimmel My oldest sister Ruby and I with my brother Ernest in the back ground. We were dressed for swimming..
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