dadSlept through the night last night ...... amazing. Does not happen often for sure.
As a kid living in L.A. I looked forward to our time spent in the rustic rural mountain area of the gold claim. Usually my great aunt and uncle would head up to the claim as soon as the snow allowed entrance and see if the cabin survived the winter. Back in those days it was one of two things that you worried about ...... the Caper family or the Carpenter family that lived in there full time and the bears. The Caper's and the Carpenter's were mountain families for sure. The Carpenter's were related to us. Their survival was based on the gold they found and hunting and breaking in to others cabins. Although it was actually never proven ..... it was accepted as the truth. Not too many others back in them there woods. The bears always caused the most damage ..... you could leave nothing there food wise .... no spices, no canned goods ..... nothing or you would be asking for trouble. Sometimes something as simple as books would be taken ..... and unless the bears were really educated in those days .... well, you know .....
Then my grandparents would head up and spend time with what was my grandmothers sister and her husband. Then the latter would leave and we (my mom, dad and I) would head up for our stay. I was usually allowed to take a friend with me, and I usually did. The cabin was always a welcome sight after a 15 hour drive. No phones, no electricity, no running water, no bathroom. An outhouse down the hill and across the meadow from the cabin. That made for some interesting middle of the night runs for sure.
5:00 am wakeup ..... down to the river to catch a few trout with the sunrise. Back to the cabin for fresh fried trout and fried potatoes ...... fresh picked blackberry pie from the wood stove oven ..... you could smell it forever ..... trips to Cecilville for an ice cream treat. As a kid it took forever to get there ..... as an adult it is just about a 15-20 minute drive. Riding horses with the dudes from the dude ranch down the road as they took their groups into lakes for fishing trips. Always so happy to be able to ride along. Sometimes these trips were 6-7 hours and seeing country I would never have otherwise. Baths in the river ..... the water straight off a glacier and always cold. Baby trout nibbling at your legs. Water snakes swimming past. Washing clothes with a tub washboard and ringer and then hanging on the line. The stiffness of your pants when dry ..... checking shoes for scorpions and anything else left outside on the porch ..... fighting the yellow jackets for your soda pop.
Its not the same anymore but the memories abound. Cabin gone for as long as my dad. We finally took the outhouse down last year as it was barely standing anymore, unused for ages. The thumbtacks from my artwork as a kid (outhouse art) still remained stuck in the boards, the drawings long gone. Mom has not been there since my dad passed away. She said she may be ready to go up now, not to stay the night but just to visit during the day. It will be an emotional journey for her I know, but one she should take, at least I think she should. My dads brother won't go in either ..... he tried once and broke down leaving immediately never to look back.
For me it fills my soul .... no other way to explain it. I'm closest to my dad there, closest to what my spiritual needs are there. It is the one true place where I am at peace completely and totally.
Peace. J.
As a kid living in L.A. I looked forward to our time spent in the rustic rural mountain area of the gold claim. Usually my great aunt and uncle would head up to the claim as soon as the snow allowed entrance and see if the cabin survived the winter. Back in those days it was one of two things that you worried about ...... the Caper family or the Carpenter family that lived in there full time and the bears. The Caper's and the Carpenter's were mountain families for sure. The Carpenter's were related to us. Their survival was based on the gold they found and hunting and breaking in to others cabins. Although it was actually never proven ..... it was accepted as the truth. Not too many others back in them there woods. The bears always caused the most damage ..... you could leave nothing there food wise .... no spices, no canned goods ..... nothing or you would be asking for trouble. Sometimes something as simple as books would be taken ..... and unless the bears were really educated in those days .... well, you know .....
Then my grandparents would head up and spend time with what was my grandmothers sister and her husband. Then the latter would leave and we (my mom, dad and I) would head up for our stay. I was usually allowed to take a friend with me, and I usually did. The cabin was always a welcome sight after a 15 hour drive. No phones, no electricity, no running water, no bathroom. An outhouse down the hill and across the meadow from the cabin. That made for some interesting middle of the night runs for sure.
5:00 am wakeup ..... down to the river to catch a few trout with the sunrise. Back to the cabin for fresh fried trout and fried potatoes ...... fresh picked blackberry pie from the wood stove oven ..... you could smell it forever ..... trips to Cecilville for an ice cream treat. As a kid it took forever to get there ..... as an adult it is just about a 15-20 minute drive. Riding horses with the dudes from the dude ranch down the road as they took their groups into lakes for fishing trips. Always so happy to be able to ride along. Sometimes these trips were 6-7 hours and seeing country I would never have otherwise. Baths in the river ..... the water straight off a glacier and always cold. Baby trout nibbling at your legs. Water snakes swimming past. Washing clothes with a tub washboard and ringer and then hanging on the line. The stiffness of your pants when dry ..... checking shoes for scorpions and anything else left outside on the porch ..... fighting the yellow jackets for your soda pop.
Its not the same anymore but the memories abound. Cabin gone for as long as my dad. We finally took the outhouse down last year as it was barely standing anymore, unused for ages. The thumbtacks from my artwork as a kid (outhouse art) still remained stuck in the boards, the drawings long gone. Mom has not been there since my dad passed away. She said she may be ready to go up now, not to stay the night but just to visit during the day. It will be an emotional journey for her I know, but one she should take, at least I think she should. My dads brother won't go in either ..... he tried once and broke down leaving immediately never to look back.
For me it fills my soul .... no other way to explain it. I'm closest to my dad there, closest to what my spiritual needs are there. It is the one true place where I am at peace completely and totally.
Peace. J.
