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Home again, home again...
Aug. 23rd, 2009 09:14 pmI went camping this weekend, at Pleasant Lake RV Park. My best friend from high school's parents used to own it, back when it was Wigwam Campground. It was so nice to be so close to home, and especially to be back on the campgrounds again. Back when I was in high school, I spent a lot of time over there. Granted, most of the time I spent hanging out at Erin's house, which was set back from the campgrounds, but we'd wander around there when we were bored. It's nice to see that things haven't changed much at all. Everyone there was friendly, and we had lots of fun.
It was weird seeing Erin's house again, though. It reminds me that you can never really go back to your childhood. You can always peek over the fence, or look through the window, and catch glimpses of things, but you can't go back. Erin's old house sat there, just like always, and I remembered just going right in there and petting the dog, and playing with the cats, and sitting around and playing video games with Erin. I also remember all the fights she got into with her parents, and I'd be stuck there in the middle. There was one I was reminded of when I was walking back to our tent from the bathrooms in the dark. There's a few street lamps in the campgrounds- one by the office, one by the main entrance, and one by the exit to Hurlburt Rd. One night Erin snuck out of the house and dragged me along with her to meet her "boyfriend"- a 21 year old skeezball who was waiting for us by Hurlburt Rd. and the gates out of the campground with a six pack of beer. I told her she shouldn't go, that her parents would be really upset, but she wouldn't listen to me. (She never did.) Her dad found me trying to convince her to go back home, and her boyfriend trying to get her to go with him. Roy positively flipped when he saw her talking to him- apparently he'd had troubles with this guy before, and he told him to get off the campgrounds or he'd get him arrested for tresspassing, because he wasn't supposed to be there. Erin freaked, told Roy that she was going to go with him whether he liked it or not, and the boyfriend just gave up and left. Erin freaked worse and ran off, and I just burst into tears while Roy went to get his car. I had to go home and tell Linda, Erin's mom, that she'd run off and Roy was going out looking for her. I think Linda started crying- I know I was still crying. I didn't get why Erin wanted to cause so much trouble- her parents loved her and wanted her to be happy and healthy. I remember calling Joe (the guy I was dating at the time), sobbing, and asking him to help us find Erin, since he had a car. He drove out from Phoenix and found Erin walking up a road about two miles from her house by a cornfield, and brought her home. I remember the two of us sitting in her room, crying - she was crying because she thought this guy loved her, and was never going to go near her again because of her dad, and I was crying because I was so afraid for her. Joe just sat there and put his arms around me while I held Erin.
God, the things you remember because of one street light.
Anyway! I visited Mom a few times, we had fun playing with the puppies (Levon accidentally peed on me once, poor boy), and we helped her with her new iPod. We also had to help her bury one of her birds, sadly- her cockatiel, Goldie, died while we were there on Saturday. I felt really bad- she really liked Goldie, and Goldie only went to Mom - she hissed at everyone else. Poor bird, she was only ten years old. I've heard birds live for a long time- I know that Alex, the bird we petsit for along with the Pomeranians, is nearly 25 years old. Oh well. Life goes on, I guess.
On a different note, I think I may have to make my journal access-only while I'm student teaching. The Office of Field Experiences is really adamant about making sure that there's no personal information out there that exposes our private lives and puts us and SUNY Potsdam in a negative light, so I may have to access-lock everything until December. After that, I'll open everything back up again.
It was weird seeing Erin's house again, though. It reminds me that you can never really go back to your childhood. You can always peek over the fence, or look through the window, and catch glimpses of things, but you can't go back. Erin's old house sat there, just like always, and I remembered just going right in there and petting the dog, and playing with the cats, and sitting around and playing video games with Erin. I also remember all the fights she got into with her parents, and I'd be stuck there in the middle. There was one I was reminded of when I was walking back to our tent from the bathrooms in the dark. There's a few street lamps in the campgrounds- one by the office, one by the main entrance, and one by the exit to Hurlburt Rd. One night Erin snuck out of the house and dragged me along with her to meet her "boyfriend"- a 21 year old skeezball who was waiting for us by Hurlburt Rd. and the gates out of the campground with a six pack of beer. I told her she shouldn't go, that her parents would be really upset, but she wouldn't listen to me. (She never did.) Her dad found me trying to convince her to go back home, and her boyfriend trying to get her to go with him. Roy positively flipped when he saw her talking to him- apparently he'd had troubles with this guy before, and he told him to get off the campgrounds or he'd get him arrested for tresspassing, because he wasn't supposed to be there. Erin freaked, told Roy that she was going to go with him whether he liked it or not, and the boyfriend just gave up and left. Erin freaked worse and ran off, and I just burst into tears while Roy went to get his car. I had to go home and tell Linda, Erin's mom, that she'd run off and Roy was going out looking for her. I think Linda started crying- I know I was still crying. I didn't get why Erin wanted to cause so much trouble- her parents loved her and wanted her to be happy and healthy. I remember calling Joe (the guy I was dating at the time), sobbing, and asking him to help us find Erin, since he had a car. He drove out from Phoenix and found Erin walking up a road about two miles from her house by a cornfield, and brought her home. I remember the two of us sitting in her room, crying - she was crying because she thought this guy loved her, and was never going to go near her again because of her dad, and I was crying because I was so afraid for her. Joe just sat there and put his arms around me while I held Erin.
God, the things you remember because of one street light.
Anyway! I visited Mom a few times, we had fun playing with the puppies (Levon accidentally peed on me once, poor boy), and we helped her with her new iPod. We also had to help her bury one of her birds, sadly- her cockatiel, Goldie, died while we were there on Saturday. I felt really bad- she really liked Goldie, and Goldie only went to Mom - she hissed at everyone else. Poor bird, she was only ten years old. I've heard birds live for a long time- I know that Alex, the bird we petsit for along with the Pomeranians, is nearly 25 years old. Oh well. Life goes on, I guess.
On a different note, I think I may have to make my journal access-only while I'm student teaching. The Office of Field Experiences is really adamant about making sure that there's no personal information out there that exposes our private lives and puts us and SUNY Potsdam in a negative light, so I may have to access-lock everything until December. After that, I'll open everything back up again.
