Is there someone or something in your life that, when you see it happening in your mind, makes you smile? Do you giggle every time you think of it? Do you remember what it was that made you so happy back then? Well here is my story.
We had always been friends. I don't ever remember not being friends with their family. My parents and his parents were best friend and still are. That was over 50 years ago, and when I think of the things we did, I still smile and giggle. Those were some of the happiest times in my younger days.
We spent a lot of time at their house and them at ours. We were always asking if we could go to visit. Little did our parents know(or so we thought) there was more going on during these visits, than just visiting. During those years, we would row boats across the lake to the old camp. We spent many hours out of ear shot of parents and for that matter, anyone over the age of 18. There was always a fire on the beach at night. We would sit around and tell ghost stories and scare the crap out of each other. These things would go on until the late night hours. Sitting out under the stars was fun back then. Laying in the sand and staring up into the unknown sky in awe of the Northern Lights, or a falling star. We would spend hours doing nothing, and having a great time doing it. And then there was always smoking punk wood.
For anyone that has not had the wonderful privilege of smoking this horrible thing, it is a very porous wood that usually floats in the water for a long time. It is a form of drift wood that is in little pieces. When it washes up on the beach and finally dries out, it is like smoking a cigarette, but it burns faster and hotter and tastes just like burning paper. Most who take the chance and do smoke it, do nothing but cough and gag for hours. We would hide under the stairs that went to the beach and smoke this stuff, thinking we were getting away with something really cool. We always got caught. They would just laugh at us. (not many that smoke punk wood did so without getting violently ill afterwards.) You smelled like smoke, your face was usually many shades of green, and there was normally more than one of us that this happened to. Pretty obvious what we had been up to. Even though we would get caught, we always did it again.
The fires on the beach were the best. We would all walk up and down the beach for hours picking up drift wood for the fire. We never got it going till after dark. We would always see how high we could get the flame. Some of the fires, should have been put out, but we always were fairly careful. No one ever got hurt. The parents would sit in the kitchen window shaking their heads and laughing.
Then there was the love story. I was so in love with him. In my eyes, he was the best thing that could have come into my life. He was the oldest of the four boys. For years I would follow him around, just to watch him. He was the love of my life(to bad the feeling was not as evident with him). I guess it was fairly obvious, because my parents were quite aware of what was going on, at least in my head. They said I use to look like a puppy following his every move. Oh my god, was I really that bad. Ya I probably was. I found a book cover that I had back then and guess what was written all over the front. Yep you got it, my name and his, then my name with his last name. How did we not see how pitiful we were. I even went as far as to take dancing lessons, just to be close to him. I think I got to dance with him as my partner once or twice.
Looking back now, I just laugh at how sad young love can be. I do remember that these were some of the best times in my life. We were so carefree and unencumbered by life and all the things that go along with growing up. Oh to be that way again. We had so much fun. Life was about catching bugs, watching stars, swimming and trying to get a kiss from the boy of your dreams. Life was simple back then, remembering the things we did as kids.
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