i am so excited summer is coming. but during my walks ive been having thoughts of back home. i was born in deep river, ontario, but summer time meant we would go to port dalhousie in st. catharines ontario. i loved the park they had by the lake. you could hear willows in the breeze as you looked at all the shining stars on those summer nights. there were just so many memories, like laughing on the rides and the midway lights. the hawkers calling out to try your luck with there games. i distinctly remember the merry go round wheezing the same old melody as it went round and round.
those days of barefoot freedom were great as we would race with the waves in the afternoon and at night we would drink by the lighthouse and smoke on the pier. do not tell mum about that part please! i also used to like to read by the lake. my favorite books was the hobbit and lord of the rings. my friends and i would act out the story. we would pretend the old mounty on patrol was sauron the evil necromancer and he would watch us with his magic prism eyes. just like the hobbits we were young and free, living in the valley. but our eyes had just been opened and opened very wide i might add. we couldn’t help but be drawn by the mountain to the east (observation deck along the welland canal) and the fountain at the top (past the carousel). but are teachers and narpets (that was our funny code word for our parents) would tell us to stay in the valley when we wanted to go. they would say you need to learn more, we would answer we need to live more. they would say work and we would say no. they said to earn more, we just wanted to give more and help the needy.
one day we headed out for the bridge. even though we had our bunny hugs and oil cloths on the coldness drawn by the shrieking winds gripped our skin, but we were so eager to venture for distant lands. the skies turned a dark grey colour and started weatherin something fierce. it started givin and poured rain on us and we lost our bearings. we seemed to need a guiding hand. we called out for direction but there was no one there to hear. sauron was closing in on us to take us back to our narpets. we looked around from the bridge for a clue. there it was! we followed the directions given by the water fairy but it seemed to take us to a dead end!
the tantoaster got worse. the path got greasy and we started to stiver and sink. what could we do? the whiteness of confusion was unfolding in our minds. we stared around in wonder, had we left the good life behind? we were trapped with the necromancer getting very close, there was no where to turn. would there be a kerfuffle? but then we turned our heads in surprise, our gaze caught and mesmerized by a cave up ahead. if we hid in there would it deke out the mounty (sauron)? could our panacea be inside there? enchantment fell around us, here was shelter from the storm. we could not resist this gentle lure. we worked our way into the tunnel and about half way through found our cure all. it gave directions to the fountain and how to unlock its secrets.
when the storm subsided and we were sure sauron was thrown off our trail we peeked out the tunnel. the mist was rising and the sun was peaking through. we continued the journey and our steps grew lighter as we reached their final few. we heard the dancing waters and knew we must be drawing near. we could feel our hearts pounding with embattled hope and fear. now, at last we fell before the fountain. we thought we would be singing but we were tired and out of breath. we threw a penny in and made our wishes. at the end of our adventures we’d celebrate another endless day against the silhouettes of darkening grey with another glass of wine. at our secret spot we would drink with eyes that would shine. giving toast to bacchus.
those are my crimson misty memories of a time getting more and more hazy as the years past. i wish i still had that childhood imagination. the kind that can make the story of a bunch of teenagers running from the local mounty to hide their stash of wine and two-fours in to some sort of lord of the rings epic adventure. i will have to settle for hiding these geostashes instead.
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