the house that dad built/part one

This is the house my father built. It was a wee bit different when we lived here.

There was a small blue spruce in the front yard which, alas no longer exists. The driveway in the front was placed by the people who purchased the house. But this driveway seems odd as there is another driveway and garage in the back as well.

My sister and I occupied the upstairs front bedroom (the dormer window on the left) and one night I escaped (via ladder) to go to a school dance with some friends. Of course I was caught sneaking back up the ladder and knew I was in deep trouble because my father used my entire name.

You know it's all downhill when the parents catch you in the act.

Nevertheless, it was a fabulous house. The yard used to extend from the road (on the left) to the fence on the right. We would play football in the front with the neighborhood boys. Rather, I would play, but only when my mother wasn't around, otherwise she would find something for me to do elsewhere. It also fell to me to mow the yard (actually I borrowed the chore from one of my brothers because it was such an enjoyable task). To this day, many years removed, I still enjoy mowing the lawn, smelling the freshly cut grass and cleaning the green off my shoes.

In the winter, we would go skating down on the frozen creek... in the summer we would skinny dip in the same creek, keeping an eye out for the occasional copperhead sunning along the rocky bank. I know the creek still exists, but the neighborhood has radically changed in the time since we moved away.

Many of the parents of friends have since died. Now we are the parents.

But, when we lived here, it was a wonderful place and time.