(Note: It seems I can't link anymore, so just find her on the left side and check her out. I mean, look over the writing.)
My
Tennessee Mountaintop gal over at <a href="http://mysticmud.blogspot.com"> Mystic Mud </a>, who is the mother of 10, a caretaker
to a bevy of animals and an awesome writer, suggested -- Tell us a story
about your childhood, from back in the day when kids were kids and ran wild and
free doing and exploring. How many brothers and sisters did you have and what did
you do for fun - there's got to be a funny story or two!?
Well,
I can say that I was raised about a half mile from the banks of the Chattahoochee
River in a little community call – of all things – Riverside. Back then, in the late 40’s and early 50’s,
Riverside was in Fulton County but not part of the City Limits of Atlanta. That didn’t happen until the mid-50’s.
Anyway,
when we moved into our 6 room house, my dad and mom, two older brothers and a
sister and mom pregnant with my younger brother, there were two horses in our
back yard, with two barns. The neighbors
had chickens, pigs and cows and there were still two outhouses.
The
greatest thing was that across the street and all the way down to the river
bank was woods. My second home, especially
in the summer time.
I
learned to swim in that cold, swift moving river. And I learned to fish from some of the men in
the area who spent a lot of time down there, too.
I
remember two times specifically that the rive tried to get the best of me. Once was on a very hot summer day when me and
a couple of my buddies were down on the bank goofing off. It was so hot and the water looked so good
and we were deep in the woods where no houses had been built yet (now there
are million dollar homes in that area and a park on the other bank.) Tommy and Richard walked on up to the area
where boulders had made a kinda dam. The
river was smooth and calm on the north side of the rocks and a little rough on
the south side with many borders spread out.
But where I stood, the water was calm and inviting.
I
yelled to Richard and Tommy that I was going to take a dip to cool off. They had the same idea, but they were going
to wade out on the rocks. Not me! I
stripped down to my birthday suit and went in head first.
TOTAL
AND UTTER SHOCK!
The
water was so cold that it shocked me into stiffness and I went to the
bottom. Luckily it only lasted till the
pain set in and I raced to the top and to the side of the bank. I never realized how hyperthermia shock worked
until then. I even hurt when I got on
the bank. And then I realized how close
I came to dying. From then on I would
splash water on my body and wade in and duck down to get use to the cold before
diving in again.
The
other time was when I was out in the middle of the river swimming like I was
going somewhere. Then I happened to see a
bolder pass me from behind and going forward.
So I started swimming harder to catch that bolder, but it was outracing
me. Then I realized I was in the main
current and heading down river.
My
first instinct was to panic and yell to the guys for help. But I remembered some comments from my Boy
Scout leader, made while sitting around the camp fire one night…panic will kill
you. So I stopped swimming and thought
about it a second…then started swimming with the current and angling toward shore. I finally was able to sand up in waist deep
water and climb on shore. I had to walk
barefooted back about a half mile through the woods and the bank to get back to
my clothes and the rest of the guys.
Tommy said he saw me swimming downstream, but though I knew what I was
doing so he didn’t say anything. Lucky again!
That
is just a couple of times that I couldn’t tell my mom about, not that she would
have cared anyway. There were many other
adventures on that river bank but this post is long enough. But I think you get the idea.
I
did stupid stuff even as a young kid - and I haven’t grown out of it yet.
3 comments:
Wow! I'm glad you remembered what you learned in scouts.
Love,
Janie
Yeah, we did a lot of stupid stuff as teens, it's a miracle we are still alive. How old do you have to be to outgrow stupid? Apparently 58 is not old enough for me yet.
I think all little (and big) boys come with a guardian angel - they have to or most of them wouldn't make it to adulthood! You were lucky, both times. We have a creek near us that we swim (and bathe) in and in the spring and fall when it is still hot out the water can be ICE cold, so I can see where it could take a person by surprise. You just don't think water could be that cold when it is hot outside.
Did your lesson about panic help you to not panic later in life? I'm not the type to panic, but after reading your story I wonder when/how I learned it wasn't helpful. It kind of drives me nuts when I see people flip out and start to panic - it never makes thing better.
Great stories, Coffey....thanks for sharing:)
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