Someone once asked me what my favorite childhood memory was and at the time, I didn't have an answer. But after pondering for awhile, I can think of a couple of them.
I think my most treasured memories are from when we vacationed as a family in a small lake cottage in Andover, New Hampshire, when I was little. I always got so excited as a little girl to hear that we were going to "the Ice House".
But when I got older, it grew too expensive so we found alternatives. And it's ironic too, what you remember as a little girl. I always called the cottage "the Ice House" not realizing that the one we always stayed in was called "the Lake House". "The Ice House" was a cottage that we only stayed in once, because "the Lake House" wasn't available.
But what stands out in my mind from those family vacations was the "frog hunts". We would go out in a giant canoe as a family to catch the frogs. We had this tall, trash-can-like rubbermaid bin that we filled halfway with water. Then as we caught frogs, we'd put them in the bucket and quickly close the lid.
After we caught as many as we could find, we'd paddle back to the cottage and we would then let all of the frogs go in the front room. The front room was this space that had no rug or furniture, and it was a pretty big space. The whole point of this stage of the "frog hunt" was to try and catch as many frogs as you could and put them back in the bin.
As a little girl, I would run around the room squealing, which of course scared the frogs away... but it was fun. And at that age, that was all that mattered.
On one of the many "frog hunts" I made friends with an especially tiny frog. He was really small, and he seemed to like me. I named him Wilbur, after the pig in Charlotte's Web because it seemed like a fitting name for a frog too. At the end of the "hunt", I happened to be the one to let the frogs go. Wilbur was not keen on leaving the bin, and I remember Dad yelling at me because I was shaking the bin around like a banshee in my attempts to free WIlbur.
I also remember the first time that my younger sister Faith joined in on the "frog hunt". She was so young, and not a fan of the frogs, so she usually sat on the kitchen window ledge to watch the rest of us.
(Context: The kitchen in the cottage had a fairly large window that looked into the front room. There was this wood slat that came down and acted as a barricade wall if you didn't want the front room view. When we had our "frog hunts" we would pull the slat down so the frogs couldn't get into the rest of the house.)
The first time she joined in on a "hunt", she was sitting on the ledge and I brought a frog to her asking her to pet it. She did, and wanted to hold it. That was the end of her fear of frogs. From then on she was an active "hunter" like the rest of us.
What about you dear reader, what's your favorite childhood memory?
FEATURE CORNER
My friend J.J. Shafe is finishing a chapter of his life. To commemorate that, he decided to tie up some loose ends by releasing an album which will be the farewell to the Cry of The Voiceless (COTV) band. COTV will have legacy that lives on though, you can follow them on Spotify here:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4aEMNBDHMAtHPMAbotb2Sh/about
to continue to listen to some of his hits. The last album that he will be releasing under the COTV name will come out on April 21, 2020. I am excited to give it a listen!
J.J. is also a part of a band called Trinite. Trinite is a newer band that is continuing to release albums and singles, even though COTV will stop. You can follow Trinite on Spotify here:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1XVOANRipBkw8YFDKhgaNn/about
If you like his work, feel free to reach out to him on Facebook under the name Jonathan Shafe. He enjoys hearing words of encouragement from those his music has touched in a personal way.
Well, that's it from the Feature Corner for today folks!
Until next time folks,
happy reading!