LABOR DAY HOLIDAYS PAST

Everything has a season (Ecclesiastes 3:1) and I'm in the calm season.  But back a few decades ago my husband Gary, son Greg and I would trek from our home in Bowie, MD to Assateague Island every weekend and holiday beginning in April.  We lived in a very nice home in Bowie but purchased a used house trailer which we kept in a seasonal trailer park on Route 611 just a few minutes drive to Assateague Island.

We would make that couple hour drive in the International Scout with 4-wheel drive so we could drive on and fish from the beach on an isolated part of Assateague.  As you can see there are fishing poles located at the front of the Scout.

During the day we'd fish on the beach with friends or just by ourselves.  Hopefully we'd have a good fishing day and feast on our catch.  And boy what a joy it was to feel that tug on the fishing line.  In case you're wondering, yes, I baited my own hook and was great at casting my own line.  So guess I was a 'hooker' even back then tho I didn't own a Hartman.

We had friends who camped and lived all summer in a tent on Assateague Campground.  One such person was someone we met our first year in the area who was known even by locals as "Assateague Charlie".   Believe it or not Charlie was a Special Education teacher in the Baltimore area, but to look at him in the photo below he does look somewhat like a homeless person.

The Assateague ponies were always around.  They are used to seeing humans and as much as I love horses knew they are 'wild' and would never advance to pet.  After all, they are still not domesticated.

Labor Day holiday there was usually a canoe race in the ocean on Assateague, sign done by Gary.  You can see Charlie's canoe in a photo posted above.

In the evening everyone usually congregated at Trader Lee's, listening to the band "Picnic", having a few drinks and meeting up with friends.  That is Charlie behind my husband Gary, and Charlie's girlfriend.

The picture below was off season in November when son Greg and I went to say 'goodbye' to Assateague, for we were going to move to California the following month.

Lots of fond memories of that season but couldn't handle that now in this season of my life.  

So what have I been doing this holiday weekend?  Picking up over 200 pinecones just from the very front of the property.  There's more so will need to go out and pick those up today.  Oh, and I'll be hooking of course.

If you are in a different season of your life, enjoy it as you will gradually enter into other seasons in time.  Once I loved the big gatherings, noise, marathon shopping, travelling, all excitement and activity.  Now the calm is what I find most pleasant.  Happy Labor Day.

Saundra

www.facebook.com/WoodlandJunctionHookedRugs

THROWBACK THURSDAY and PSA

This is a photo of me back in 1977.  It may be a black and white pic but you can tell I'm quite dark.  Just compare me to the guy's neck in the foreground or my clothing.

Yup, I loved the sun, loved the beach and surf fishing off Assateague Island, MD with my husband Gary and son Greg (10 at the time).  My sun lotion was a mixture of baby oil and iodine so I'd bake and turn dark like in a frying pan.  What the hell was I thinking?

Now to the Public Service Announcement.  That skin abuse does come back to haunt us; maybe not right away, but eventually. I saw a spot show up on my arm and waited a couple days to see if it turned into one of those unproblematic age spots.  But it didn't.  

So Monday I went to my dermatologist to show her that spot on my arm and a tiny one on the other arm.  She said they were pre-cancer spots and froze them off.  

At the end of September I'll have my annual visit where she checks the entire body for things I may have missed.  Of course now I use sunscreen during the summer and Solbar Zinc on my face even during the winter months.  That is an over the counter item which she and other dermatologists recommend for daily use even during the winter.

Okay, back to the THROWBACK segment.  This one surprised me.  While looking for that B&W photo of me and flipping thru pages of memories of Assateague Island was stopped mid flip of the album.  In the photo is my ex-Bruce.  What???  I don't recall seeing this even when I was married to him.

You won't know the people but will try to explain.  Okay, so try and stick with me here... the guy with the beard is a long time Assateague Island friend Charlie.  The guy in the white hat is my deceased husband Gary who is handing someone a beer.  We'd known Charlie for years and he always had a group gathered at his camp site.  There are a couple people I don't know by name but the guy in red is a lifeguard.  Charlie always had loads of friends he'd met with other folks on the Island.  I'll come back to this photo is a moment.

That photo was taken 1978 and we moved to Northern California 1979.  Gary died 1981 and I moved myself and son back to Delaware not long after.   Fast forward a couple years when my son and I went to Assateague Island to visit Charlie at his camp site during the summer.  

BTW, believe it or not Charlie was a special ed teacher in the Baltimore school district who lived on Assateague Island  in a tent during the summer months.  Gary and I only knew him because of the Assateague connection.  Okay, FF...

So when I and Greg visited Charlie he asked me if I remembered Bruce Slagle.  Who?  Didn't remember meeting him (but just saw him in the picture).  Charlie said he thought he and I should meet and thought we'd get along well.

Call me SHOCKED when I see that photo and immediately see Bruce, my ex.  He is the guy in the black hat.  Seems I recall in cowboy movies it was the good guys who wore white hats and the bad boys wore black.  Funny as I think about that now.

Sorry this is such a long and boring post.  This is my thermostat today and tomorrow will be hotter.  But Sunday might burn up the thermostat with the heat numbers.  Weatherman said it might reach 108 - 110 on Sunday here.  My lake disappeared and now it's crispy grass and leaves.

Buy that sunscreen and put it on in this sun.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com