Train Tracks Of My Youth

Last night/this morning while sitting here and finishing my visitation to everyone, I could hear the train whistle blowing and the rhythm of it going down the tracks and I was instantly transported back in time.

I was eight years old and sleeping in my grandmothers house, "the camp" is what we call it. The train was about three car lengths away, up a little embankment just on the other side of the dirt road that ran right in front of the little house on the lake. At times the noise was so loud you couldn't hear each other talk, but I guess with everything you eventually get used to it. How I slept through it, I will never know.

I used to love to go up the embankment and walk the tracks. They would take me to the lily pond and I would sit on the tracks that bridged the water. It was such a beautiful place with all the lily pads and flowers floating on the surface and sometimes I would get to see the beavers at work. I'm guessing I knew the train schedule cause I never had to run for my life.

I had a toy milk jug that had a lid attached to the neck of it, part of my toys that grammie always kept at the camp. I would put pennies on the tracks and wait for them to get flattened, the I would force them into my toy milk jug. Who knew I was saving money so young. LOL!

Somewhere along those tracks grampie took me to go see the raccoons. He had such a way with the wildlife, they all felt very comfortable around him. We drove to what was the dump (in today's terms it would be called a compost pile). I never saw stuff like you would see in a dump now. Folks back then weren't super wasteful like now. The raccoons were all over this pile and they all looked up as soon as we drove up, the lights of the car glowing in their eyes. A few ran for cover, but there were also the ones that would scratch your eyes out if you should dare to think to take their pile from them. They will defend what they believe to be theirs! I was scared, but grampie got out and calmly started talking to them and was coaxing me out of the car at the same time. I stood behind him and peeked out at the wild creatures. They had calmed down and were going about there business. The young ones that had fled were now starting to come back out for their nightly feast. We had become nothing more than a shadow in the dark that was to be ignored. We stood there and watched in silence for what seemed to be forever and then the train came. I remember that it scared me, I was so into watching the raccoons that I hadn't even heard it coming.

Just sitting here reminiscing of my youth at the camp with my grandparents.