when i was younger myself as well as all of my cousins and our parents would head off to the cabin in the country for the weekend. our entire family would congregate and the kids would sleep in what was esentially just a porch. we would be sprawled out on hand knitted blankets, some on the floor, some on old couches that had been discarded from the previous generations. the adults would be set up on the top floor just like the kids were.
every morning we would eat big breakfasts with toast freshly burnt on the wood stove all the while records of nat king cole and old willie nelson played in the background.
the rest of the day would be spent salting the leeches off of our bodies from the lake in the backyard, or sleeping in the hammock, the smell of country water sticking to our skin. the days were perfect and we were left to our own devices. safe to explore and create our own world.
that cabin was orginially purchased by my great grandmother. a long time ago it was a home for loggers who came to work and harvest the forest for months at a time. the owner was so in love with my great grandmother and wanted to marry her. my great grandmother being the stubborn woman that she was wanted nothing to do with it. love made him sell her the cabin for five dollars.
five dollars.
about ten years ago the cabin was bought by a more distant relative who decided to burn it down and build himself a home.
he also decided to record the burning of the cabin and send it to us in case we felt like seeing it one last time.
we all cried like babies at the loss of our communal home.
needless to say, those were the last times ever spent with the family as a whole.
susannahjoy:
that is such a sad story!!! *snif snif* now i'm all depressed....