Friday, September 6, 2013

DRIFTING IN BOATS...


The Sepia Saturday prompt nearly took my breath away; I knew exactly which photograph I wanted to post – exactly – and you can see why, can’t you?
          I nearly tore my house apart trying to find this photograph; I searched through boxes and desk drawers, pawed through things in my cellar, things in my garage; I poked around closets – anyplace I thought it might be stashed.
          It was, of course, in the very last place I looked (I think somebody famous said that, but I can’t remember who): it was inside one of those magnetic picture frames that people stick on their refrigerators. It was even on my own fridge: in the same frame – but underneath my favorite photo of my parents taken years ago.

Here’s my father in the summer of 1990 at a family gathering in East Boothbay, Maine, at our old family summer house.

My father spent every summer of his childhood here; his mother, Nina, had an old rowboat she used every day – it was her favorite form of exercise. She also used it once a week to sink bottles, and she often took my father along to do the sinking!

Remember, this was in the early 1900s, before we had recycling laws; people got rid of their trash very differently back then. They composted all their vegetable matter, burned all paper products in a barrel (with a screen over the top – remember?) and disposed of their broken pottery and glass by dumping it offshore.
To make sure that bottles sank, Nina used a brass rod to poke out the bottom, then drop the bottle over the side of the boat. When Dad got old enough, she’d take him along. He was in charge of ramming the bottoms out of the bottles.
He loved it, he remembered...

When my grandmother’s first boat disintegrated, my grandfather had a second built; perhaps there was even a third, but I’m not sure about that.
When her last rowboat finally gave out, we remained boatless for a few years. But in 1990, we all got together and had a rowboat built to the exact specifications as the old boats; we christened her Nina, and held a celebratory launching party...
          ...and here’s my father, floating around the cove IN Nina, remembering when he was a boy floating around WITH Nina, his mother.
         
Full circle, I guess.

29 comments:

  1. A wonderful story behind this picture (which was worth tearing the house apart for!)

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    1. It was, but I wish I'd remembered to look in the refrigerator frame before I spent all that time searching! Anyway, the photo's on the fridge right now, and it's nice to see.

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  2. What a neat story! And as Little Nell says, worth going bonkers trying to find the picture! I really like that the new rowboat was named after your grandmother. A perfect circle.

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    1. We thought that our grandmother would be pleased! The boat's still in use and looks great; my cousins (who are the ones who use the boat the most) are taking great care of her...

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  3. Deb, You were right. Spot on with the picture. And a lovely story as well.

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    1. I just noticed, Joan, that the boat in the prompt picture AND my family's boat even look the same...fun to find a true response!

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  4. Glad you found & posted the photo. It is serene & perfect for the prompt.

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    1. Thanks, Colleen...the photo's a bit monochromatic (all that water), and there's even some fog in there, but it sure did match that prompt! Love it when that happens....

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  5. I'm glad you found your photo. I hate it when I can't find things. Today I tried to find a book that I'm not even sure I own.

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    1. Have you ever checked out a book from the library and then discovered that it was your own book that you donated to the Book Drive years ago? Boy, did I feel foolish!

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  6. Oh Deb that is such a lovely lovely story. Particularly the naming of the boat. I liked your description of trying to find the photo - been there, done that. And yes, I remember incinerators and my grandmother having a clean up and burn every so often.

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    1. Those backyard incinerators smelled funny, didn't they, Alex? I don't know what it was, but that smell can take me back fifty years...

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  7. Lovely story.. and I hope it's not completely full circle in that you don't sink your bottles anymore! What a story all those bottles would tell!

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  8. Not to worry -- no more sinking bottles! I've got bits and pieces of some really old ones, though. And you're right...oh, the stories!

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  10. I can see why you knew which photo - a great match
    What a strange way to get rid of the bottles - I'd never heard of sinking bottles before.

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    1. People along the coast did this for years (they felt the ocean was bottomless, endless); but when public dumps and trash collection became popular and technology made it possible to clean and reuse soda and milk bottles, the practice stopped. Good thing, right?

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  11. I no longer have to search the house for photos as I have scanned them all - seems a shame nevertheless. It would take ages to come up with a gem like yours.

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    1. Sometimes I get lucky with Sepia prompts; sometimes I know precisely which photograph to use! On those other occasions -- when I can't stay on prompt -- I choose not to post, but still visit everybody else's contributions. I have some scanned, Bob, but I miss the old singles that get passed hand-to-hand...

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  12. A wonderful photograph to match the prompt and I love the way you told of your hunt for it. I have been there, done that with a photograph I knew was just mae for a particular prompt - but I did not have your success in finding it!

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    1. I'll bet we've ALL done that frantic scrambling to find the "right" photo! I just got lucky this time. No matter, it's all such great fun, isn't it?

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  13. Oh my gosh, what a wonderful story. I can see you running around the house trying to figure out where that picture went ... good job on finding it!

    Even though we would consider it a form of littering today, let's think of it as a base for a coral reef, shall we? What a wonderful way to honor your Grandmother.

    Thanks for keeping your eyes open for Tyler, Deb. It was very exciting, being the first time. In a few years, perhaps we'll be seeing him on a NFL team and take his t.v. appearance for granted, lol.

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    1. I'll certainly keep looking! I know TCU games are on TV up here sometimes (not always, but ever since last year I've kept my eyes on the schedules...). I'll see him someday, and you'll hear my hollering all the way to Oregon!

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  14. That's a very fun story. Imagine all the interesting bottle bits in the bottom of the lake.

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    1. It's ocean, really -- and sometimes, when we have very low tides, my cousin Bob walks through the mudflats looking for interesting old bottles --he's found a few interesting ones; old medicines, salves, etc. It's a fun way to pass time!

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  15. Interesting anecdote and a great pic for sure.
    Glad you managed to find it in time.
    :)~
    HUGZ

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    1. As I've said before: sometimes I get lucky! This was one of those times! Thanks, TB!

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  16. Thank goodness you found that photo -- this was a story that needed telling. I really enjoyed it.

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    1. Thanks, Wendy! And you're right -- thank goodness! I think that Sepia Saturday brings out the most interesting photos and stories; a sense of rediscovery is one of the things I love about participating...and we all have that, don't we?

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