"" bshawise: RFL

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

RFL

For some reason I got a little nostalgic over Rocky Fork Lake last night. Hence the blog redesign. The legend is I was conceived there. Which might explain why it's my favorite place on earth. I spent a little time thinking about my earliest memories. My apologies because this is a very mastubatory post. But back in the 1980s, I remember...

-Getting carsick from all the hills but excited because it means you're getting close.
-Pulling off the asphalt and onto the gravel road.
-Seeing that proud A-frame sitting there same as always.
-Opening the door and mixing the musty air with the fresh.
-Turning hovering fireflies into shooting stars with those big, red, wiffleball bats.
-Writing air poetry with sparklers.
-Finding turtles and feeling like C.Darwin on the Galapagos.
-Listening to the Reds on that scratchy AM station after dinner and having it be the only contact with the outside world.
-Solving the world's problems before bed in our bunk beds.
-Getting woke up and wavering on our decision from the night before to get up so early.
-Walking down the path slicing thru spider webs with a trusty stick.
-Puttering out into the empty lake thru the morning fog.
-Waking up completely by the deceptively cold water.
-Standing on the skis in between my dad's legs and calling it skiing.
-Puttering back to the dock just as the heat and bugs start to wake up.
-Turning off the engine and hearing nothing.

9 comments:

John Shaw said...

good stuff, good stuff. even though mine took place in the 90's, i have the same first 4 memories.

Christopher Day said...

"the legend is I was conceived there"

I think this must be why Chase has such an affinity toward hot tubs in Tennessee.

nat shaw said...

joe i'm pretty sure our combined favorite memory is that summer we explored that magical ravine with all of the green plants that turned out to actually be a happy little plant the locals call "poison ivy"

on the plus side i got it so badly i no longer react to it so take that, nature

Scotty Mo said...

To name only a few...
- The Duke
- Slip n Slides
- Max's disregard for human emotions through phone conversation while seated by a campfire
- Wiffleball

bshawise said...

fuller, you can't steal my line that i restrained using on you and use it against me. that's ice cold.

bww said...

All of those were so vivid. I kept saying Yes, Yes, YES. Strange how those same memories are shared. The gravel road one for sure, the sound of the gravel meant so many things. You could have made that list about 45 items long and then some, glad you left it where you did....it always seemed like the best part of the day was over when those engines turned off. Then we walked up the hill and it was another treat...

John Arns said...

a "self-absorbed" post... funny.

Anonymous said...

I highly recommend all of you unmarried folks seek out a spouse that has a lake house. It is pretty UH-mazing. So many of my favorite memories have occurred at RFL- that is where Brad proposed. Sigh :)

Allie said...

In response to Leah's post: UM, HI, UNMARRIED, WITH LAKE HOUSE. Call me. Not Leah, obviously, but some hot 6'3" man with brawn and brains would be nice!

Otherwise...I'm thinking of not taking classes this summer, JUST so I can soak up all my missed summers at the lake! Loved the post Brad, made me wish I we could have been up there this weekend instead of moving!