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here i am in my beloved manitoba, looking sadly out a window at the destruction that lays about in rivers, where mom and dad golden had raised their nine children[43 years ago already!] ..the smile is hiding a hurting heart.
when we had reached the base this particular day, the little red car made a quick stop at one of the rusty hangers because bernie wanted to take a peek inside.
which was really an easy thing to do, considering there were so many broken windows!
after this, the little red car decided it was time to show us the swimming pool where the base kids used to spend their summers, swimming and having such great fun!
bernie parked the little red car and we decided to investigate.it really fills me with wonder that after the many years we were gone that i would be entering into this building.
the door of this little red shack had in its hay day welcomed hundreds of children during the hot summer days.
the entrance had no door! we could enter at our leisure and spend some time reminiscing..
oh!.here are the showers....in very bad shape!
this ladder is located at the "shallow end" of the pool where anyone who couldn't swim three lengths of the pool had to stay.
there was a pool of muddy water in the swimming pool. you can see at the end of the "deep" end of the pool, the low and high diving boards. i will never forget the day that the pool had to be cleared because some old guy did a belly flop off of the high diving board and he lost his choppers!..ha! the life guard had to dive in and search the bottom of the pool to find those false teeth...it was way too funny to us kids and way too embarrassing for that guy!
looking down from the deep end of the pool where the diving boards are, i can catch a glimpse of bernie.
oh the joy of the whole thing! i am hugging the big diving board! many the times i had canon balled from it...making a bigger splash then most of the boys, i must say..so much fun!
neither bernie, nor i took the chance to climb up the ladder!
as i looked down the length of the pool, i could almost picture all of us children when we took the odd break from swimming and laid on towels on the side to warm ourselves up in the hot sun.
alas...no more water flows
from this faucet!
life in the midst of death..this green bush seems to be very healthy.
we say good bye to "our" pool and head out.
one last glimpse into the open window.
the little red car parks itself at the hanger next door from the pool and we go in.
oh the joy of it...i catch another look at the swimming pool through another broken window.
i really don't think that there is a light at the end of the tunnel as far as this air force base is concerned!
oh..i forgot...i found this little red treasure on the grassy side of the swimming pool, and i felt so blessed to have seen this life, where once there were the lives and laughter of the air force kids!
19 comments:
All such a wonderful setting for your post...sad, but it's worth the trip back in time.
My RT is posted, I do hope you can find some time to visit---------
What a wonderful trip down Memory Lane. I'm sure it was bittersweet...sweet...to be back in your beloved Manitoba and the Base where you spent your childhood and bitter...to see everything empty and in abandoned. Loved stepping back in time with you. Tomer was in the Air Force the first 3 years we were married...the Base was a very important part of our lives.
Sorry for you lost. why is it we go back to the places we felt love, Yet they are not the same.. Live goes one and our Memories stay alive. Nice RT memories lane. Sad to see the changes, great to hear your memories.
bittersweet post.....
blessings
donna
Oh my goodness. If that's where I think it is, my mother & her sisters lived there for a while when they were kids(I think she was actually born there, the only one of the five girls who was - in 1953)..she mentioned it before, as "Rivers Camp" or something like that... It's gotta be the same place. :-o
(I found your blog by accident, hopping through blogs on friends sidebars.. We're from Prince Edward Island, but currently living in Fort McMurray, AB. )
Preious memories...How they linger. I feel like singing that song as I read.
A love nostalgiac post Terry dear.
Nice to go back and revive the good old days. I 'd feel very sad too.
Red Riding Hood looks very stylish in the midst of everything.
dear hootin' anni,
thanks for visiting. i went to your blog and your ruby tuesday is great!
you really love maryland as much as i love manitoba...
trish...the air force life is the best life that a kid can have.
the only draw back is that you meet friends and then when you are transferred to another base in another province, it feels like the heart is pretty near torn out of you.
the adults used to say that kids could take it but i sure disagree with that!
it must have been hard for you too when tomer left the air force.
i am sure that you must of met some young married friends at that base!
thanks auntie e..you are such an understanding person..
memories, the older we get seem so crystal clear and yet don't ask me about last year!
ha!!
i really have to think when i try to remember that!!
blessings to you too donna.
hmmm..wasn't it over a year ago that mom golden and betty and i met you at niagara on the lake and had a fun filled day?
that was the day that mom golden promptly adopted you!!
now she has seven girls...always room for one more, eh?
now THAT memory is crystal clear!
oh molytail...i hurried right over to your site and begged you to email me about your mom. i would love to hear who she is and if she and her sisters went to brooke elementary school where there was always a golden kid around.
if she was born in 1953, then she would be a year younger than my little brother, gary.
amita..i really do love the name that you gave the little red car.
but i sure wouldn't want the big bad wolf to get a hold of it!
thanks amrita for visiting.
i have been trying for weeks to phone you and trying to skype you but have failed every time!
love terry
Hi! I'll email you right now with her name, and her sisters as well - there were five girls, but I think it was when my mom was 7 or so that they moved away back east.. she has two older sisters and two younger. :-)
Dear Terry,
thank you for your sweet and deep felt commentary on my blog.
I'm forever grateful for having met you!
Picture # 1 in your Manitoba series is stunning.
You are getting younger and prettier day by day.
Like Mona Lisa.
(She might have felt sad to, you know).
Your swimming pool is looking much like the one Union Carbide put up for the inhabitants of Sauda, and it's still in work.
It's heated by cooling water from the huge melting pots, and was a rare outdoor playground in the fifties.
I learned swimming when i was 6.
I never learned how to dive though.
Funny that you having such respect for the sea, are such an experienced and tough diver.
You really must take Bernie along and come to Haugesund.
You can have freshwater baths as well. Liv will follow you, and so will I.
The shabby chick pictures from the airport base were nostalgic and also told an important story about your family and the development of Canada.
One might hope that airplane enthusiasts might restore the area as it is in pretty good shape.
If I lived there, I'd try to buy the site for my own. Set up a new housing project there.
My friends are always accusing me of wanting to buy every thing I see, when it comes to houses, but I think that just might be a good idea. A vacation colony for the whole Golden family, about a hundred or so?
It's getting late. I must stop before my plans takes completely off.
From Felisol
Hi Terry,
Been keeping up and reading and just wanted to cheer you up from feeling so blue > So I'm sending you lots of prayers and love from Georgia. Me doing alright and girls too !
You can share the prayers with the rest of family especially Mom Golden and allways praying for Her and Dad Golden ?
May God pour out many Blessings to you !
grandpaw ron.
Happy RT, Terry. That holday trip sure was good for you. And yes, you were looking sad.
When you check on my RT be sure to read the second post for the day first. I had it on Monday afternoon but dated it Tuesday. Then last night I put the answer on.
So for now, until those who visited (some did!!) can read the answer. They have alread read the one below with the quiz.
Hope that makes sense to you.
..
I got your message about our small world! Isn't that something?
I love the pictures! There's some great aspects when photographing abandoned places, great composition opportunities!
Hope my video link from the other day ministered to your heart!
Hugs,
Connie
Thanks for sharing the pictures Terry. I'm glad that at least some the ruins were still available. We had a lot of fun in those ruins. I think that we were much luckier than the kids today.
Excellent commentary on the pictures of the swimming pool and the rink. You really captured the sadness of this forgotten base.
To Molly: I just seen your comment where you indicated that you knew someone from Rivers Base. Here is the link to a facebook group, CFB Rivers Manitoba Memories - Little Base on the Prairies. We would love to have people join and share their stories and pictures. Terry can tell you all about it.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=91838196958
you know, i think i may have been at this base, back in 72 when i was a summer missionary for child evangelism ...
Going back to your childhood place certainly brings back old memories. Even the walls of your old place spark some unforgettable moments in your mind. It always feels good to do some back track on the memory lane. But as they say, we must always move forward. And with your little red car, you can always move ahead and remember the good old days!
Indeed, looking back at the good old days can certainly bring joy to one’s heart, since every detail makes you think how time passed you by. But as my favorite movie said, “long for the past, and live into the future.” And like what Carry said, your car can take you there. :-)
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