February 2004 The Megaphone Page 6
by Julie (Stout) Crim
Hammocks, aren't they great? Have you tried one in the past few years?
Get yourself a good book, a long cool drink, a soft pillow or two, on a good old
summertime day and go out into your backyard where there's peace and solitude.
Lay down and enjoy. The book may only be an excuse. As you sway in the breeze
sleep comes quickly with the relaxation of every limb and muscle.
Oh hammock, hammock, where have you gone, the ones of yesteryears, the ones of
childhood and carefree days in the sun?
The backyard of my childhood was of medium size I suppose and what I
remember most about it was the grape arbor and hammock. At the back of the yard
my dad planted grapevines along the back of the west side. He installed old
fashioned fencing for the vines to wind around. Next came the fencing on the
south side, only about 15 feet deep. Then, the same thing on the north side, and
finally the best part of all, a roof of fence. About August the vines had
completely covered the wire on all three sides and the top and made a semi-private
room.
Next, Dad sunk two large metal poles, one about in the middle of the
grape room and another over by the south fence before going to his shop and
returning with an old WWII Navy hammock. He drilled holes up and down in the
pole.
Then the best part, he hung the hammock on the lowest holes and we got to try it
out! Ohhhhh, did it ever swing and swing and swing! After a while he asked us to
get out for just a moment as he adjusted the hammock to the highest setting. We
stood there puzzled...??? Bringing us over a step stool to climb on, we wiggled
back into the hammock that was hung up higher than our heads! Up this high it
would only swing a tiny bit but that was OK as we could now lay there and pluck
the huge purple grapes, pop them into our mouths and let the juice run wherever
it wanted. And we could do this whenever we wanted. Sometimes we would only eat
the grapes to see how far we could spit the seeds.
There were hundreds of hours spent around that old hammock by
neighborhood kids and after a few years we thought we'd lost her.
You see, my siblings and I had been allowed to attend public schools only
as a favor. I never did know what happened but in my Freshman year we all
attended Frankton. What a nightmare! In September of my Sophomore year we moved
to 1320 North C Street from 1400 South 14th Street. It was a run down huge old
house needing lots of work, BUT, oh yes, but the hammock moved with us...!!!
We lived on the corner and there was the usual backyard. The little
league field was just a couple of blocks north of our house so people we knew
were always passing.
One of the first things my dad did was install the poles for the hammock.
I remember it as one pole and another big old tree. By now I was older and
involved with many other things that took my interest. My brother and sister
each have their own stories about that old hammock. Maybe they'll share some for
us.
I don't know whatever happened to that hammock but as a married adult I
bought my first one when my firstborn was a toddler. After that there was always
a hammock around someplace. We went tent camping, but never without a hammock
and usually both kinds, the kind that tie between two trees and the free
standing kind.
Hammocks. They bring nothing to me but pleasant memories. No, we don't have one
yet, but I imagine we will before the year is up.
Submitted by . . .
JJ
aka Julie (Stout) Crim '57
DeBary, Florida