A Childhood Experience Relived

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to experience a childhood memory I haven't thought of in years, it was awesome!  It was a trip down memory lane to remember how simple, carefree and fun times were back then, some 50 plus years ago.  

I grew up in the country, in upstate New York.  In the pre-teen years, we rode our bikes down county roads, played in the surrounding woods, swam in the local creeks we had dammed up to make a swimming, and fishing, hole.  Down the road from my house there was a house that sat back in from the road, owned by a couple, the Nettleton's.  They were fairly new to our part of the country, I remember us kids riding our bikes to their house and watching them move in and asking all kinds of questions that were probably none of our business, we were just neighborhood, nosy kids being kids.  

Mr. Nettleton was a fisherman, that's all needed to know.  When we knew he was fly fishing in the creek (that ran through their property), we quickly rode home, grabbed our poles and interrupted his quiet time.  He taught us a lot of good things about fishing...  like being quiet and how to approach the fishing holes so we didn't spook the fish.  What I remember most about Mrs Nettleton was that in the winter months, especially when we helped her shovel snow, she always invited us in for hot chocolate.  Since I didn't like hot chocolate, I always got coffee!  Very cool.  They were an amazing couple.

Fast forward to this week.  I was at a customers home in the Quabbin Reservoir region, where the roads full of bumps and pot holes, away from everything.  The neighbors homes were across a farm field or down the road a ways...  county living as it was suppose to be.  As I sat at a table near the front door work on a cell phone repair, there came a knock at the full windowed door next to me.  I looked up to see a young boy smiling and waving to me.  My customer, Lynn, came to open the door and let him in, I kept working and listening to them.  The conversation was so cute and so memorable.

I discovered that this was a neighborhood boy that was just out playing with a couple friends and helping

another child, a 6 year old girl learn to ride her bike better before they went off road to ride on the paths through the woods.  We could see the other two kids on their bikes waiting out at the end of the driveway, maybe 50 yards away.  Lynn knew one of the other kids but didn't know the third.  I really smiled when the youngster really came around to why he was there (it so reminded me of what we use to do when we stopped to see Mrs. Nettleton).  He says, we were a little tired and thirsty, so I thought we should stop and ask you for a drink.  Sure Lynn says, what would you like?  Well, can we go out and get a juice?  Apparently, there was a refrigerator in the garage with a variety of drinks.  With a smile, Lynn told him to help himself.  With a thanks, he was off.

I was telling Lynn how it reminded me of my youth and stopping to see the Nettleton's when soon there was another knock at the door.  The youngster sadly said, there are only 2 juices, do you have anything else, there are 3 of us.  I smiled as I listened to her trying to satisfy them with cups so they could share the 2 drinks.  It was a cool trip down memory lane.