7/29/08 WOW! Reality Sets In

Note: I've added pictures for the past days worth of posts if you care to go back and look.

Its sticky. Its hot and humid and we long for the dry desert...not the brown part of the desert but the dry heat part of it.

Its too hot to do anything other than sit in front of the TV, read or play cards or get some computer time in while sitting in the air conditioning. Its even too hot to eat.

We hung around the cottage today because of the reasons listed above. Besides, Bob has caught himself a summer cold, the worst kind.

The four of us did venture out to dinner tonight, quickly running from the air conditioned cottage to the air conditioned car which was started ahead of time giving it a chance to cool down.

We went to The Granary located in the same area as the Georgetown Yacht Basin. We talked on the way over that the boats don't leave the docks like they used to due to the high fuel costs and lousy gas mileage the larger boats get.

I wanted to get a picture of restaurant, with its second story walls of windows that diners look through at the marina as they eat their meals, but the sun was in the wrong place so all I got was a picture of the sign.

After a 15 minute wait we ushered to our table for four just one row in from the tables next to the windows. This afforded us a good view of the marina below.

We all enjoyed our meal very much and when finished walked down to the docks. We saw this family of ducks, a mother and nine ducklings.

We were going to arrive back at Crystal Beach just before sunset so I asked to be dropped off on Bay Boulevard so that I could catch the sun as it was going down. While waiting this 30-something and I started a conversation and it came out that I grew up and spent my teenage years here during the late 60's and early 70's. She exclaimed, "I've heard about those years! You were so lucky to have been here then." She went on to say that during neighborhood BBQ's the good ol' days are always brought up and she wished she could have lived during that time. ....EXCUSE ME! Did you say good ol' days? My PARENTS lived in the good ol' days, not US! I let its slide and sat on my hands so I didn't slug her. I assured her that she certainly did miss the good times back in the 60's... NOT the good ol' days thank you very much. Punk kid!

As I waited for the sun to turn into a big orange ball and slide down into the horizon my mind drifted back to the days of peace signs, surfer cross necklaces, Nehru jackets, 8-track tapes and spending hours on the fringe of a pair cut-offs getting it just right, not too long and not too short. Separating each thread with a straight pin and pulling slowly so that the fringe wasn't crooked in any way. I looked out over the river, still and smooth as glass, remembering the after dinner trips in the boat with Dad, waterskiing from Crystal Beach to Westview Shores and back again, practicing jumping the wake. What I wouldn't give to spend two hours doing that again. Of course if I did that today I'd probably spend two weeks in traction.

I looked at at Turkey Point and remembered the lazy days of summer when 20 or 30 of us would pile into boats and anchor over there, swimming, drinking our ill-gotten beer or bottles of Boonesfarm wine (at 99 cents a quart) listening to the music of the day, everything from AM bubble gum music to Motown to acid rock and everything in between. When Viet Nam was always on the front page and on the newscasts but it didn't really matter to us. We weren't old enough to be really affected by it until an older brother was drafted.


I remember the day like it was yesterday. July 20, 1969. The beach cleared, everyone went home. We were all going home to watch television to see the first man walk on the moon. I can remember hearing the cheers from the surrounding cottages and those from my grandparents TV room. There must have been 15 of us crowded in there, me and friends sitting on the floor, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. A day to remember for sure.

The sun has set and I made my way back to the cottage. I passed one house with a butterfly bush that was just covered with these winged beauties. There had to be a dozen or more, different colors and sizes. Truly a sight to behold.

I knocked on the door of one cottage on my way back but didn't get an answer even though I could see a TV was on. "Murph" was home but he wasn't answering. Back at the house I looked him up in the phone book. When I called, he answered and I asked him how come he didn't answer the door. He replied, "I didn't hear it". I told him I'd be right over, he asked who I was and I told him he'd find out when I got there to give me 5 minutes. When I returned he answered but it was dark by now and the porch light had burned out. Too dark to see. He asked again who I was. I told him we should go in where its light. When we did he looked at me and said, "Oh my God, Snookie!" We hadn't seen each other in over 35 years. After a big hug we settled on the front steps for a chat. We played a lot of "remember when" and he brought me up to date on his family and our mutual friends that he has seen. He hasn't changed a bit, oh yeah, there are the laugh lines around the eyes and his hair is now light brown instead of blonde but overall, he hasn't changed. It was so great to see him again.

From there I went to see the Sharrow's. Debbie was my closest friend in that family but I hung out with her brothers Steve and Jeff too. Debbie is only down on the weekends now but her mom lives there all year round as does youngest brother Jeff. Again, Jeff hasn't changed much but there is some gray in his hair now and sports a beard I've never seen before.

It was so wonderful to these two friends of mine of years gone by. These once "stud muffins" of Crystal Beach Manor who used to be quick at braggin' about how many beers they could handle or how far they could water ski now brag about kids and grandkids. GRANDKIDS! Wow, we grew up. We're middle aged now. Awwww man,,,,this sucks! Big time! Yep, reality has set in.