When I was young my grandmother ran a small hotel on a lake in the Catskills, and I’ve written about the idyllic summers I spent there with my family. (See My Heart Remembers My Grandmother’s Hotel, Hotel Kittens, My Game Mother, and Our Special Guests.)
One happy memory of those childhood summers is rowing on the lake with my father, and when I was old enough, taking a rowboat out on my own.
Since then I’ve certainly been on larger and more impressive crafts – but it’s the memory of that old rowboat I cherish.
And in my mind’s eye I can still see that little girl out on the lake all alone. And I can still hear the creak of her oarlocks, and the croaking of the frogs as she rowed towards the dock and home.
– Dana Susan Lehrman
Our legacy in this world is to row on . . . no more and no less. This from someone who decades back built a two-person kayak, birch frame covered in stretched canvas, aptly painted Greek flag blue/Israeli flag blue with a white racing stripe.
Thanx Mike for the wise advice to row on! And thanx for the photo you sent of the Joan Louise, your Greek inspired kayak!
My grandmother, too, owned a little hotel in the Catskills. As a young child, I spent two or three summers there. So many memories: carrying huge buckets to go blueberry picking so my grandmother could bake blueberry pies, helping my grandmother roll out huge sheets of dough for making strudel, going to the casino and listening to the music and watching the adults dance. And…yes…going to the chicken farm and seeing a chicken lose its head and appearing later on my plate. I also remember her standing on top of a huge, double-height ladder to paint a ceiling while my grandfather held the ladder, trembling and begging her to get down. No….she did not get down until she completed painting the ceiling.
Wonderful Ellen! We should talk more about our memories of our two strong grandmothers!
As someone who loves small boats, I can appreciate how vividly you evoked this memory.
Thanx Ellen, I have so many wonderful childhood memories of summers at that hotel!
Love it. I have the same memory of rowing on a lake with my father and dog.
Sweet memory of little Midge!