The summer after my senior year in high school started with a trip to camp. But this wasn’t just any camp, this was church camp, and not just any church camp, it was a work camp. For a week members of churches from all over the state were brought to Camp Aldersgate to bunk.
Every day we were sent to our specified houses to work on them, since the owners couldn’t afford professional help. My group, the only group of people over the age of 18, got stuck with the one thing I was scared of, the roof. But I braved the heights for the aid of this woman, who had two children ages seven and one.
The first day of work was spent tearing off old shingles and tar paper with crowbars and hammers. While we were doing this we tended to dance and sing to the Backstreet Boys albums and just have a lot of fun. There were dear running around the backyard so we would watch them, we also liked to joke around with our leaders that Matt, one of the group members, fell through the roof.
Because we were tearing the roof apart, there were a lot of nails sticking out and we had to make sure to get all of them so we could replace the rotten wood. I had a system going, of ripping off sections of shingles, nails and paper then moving to the next section.
As I moved to a new section my leaders announced that it was time for lunch and we had to get off the roof to eat. As I stood up I heard a loud ripping noise. I figured I had just caught the leg of my pants on a stray nail, but then I felt a breeze. I immediately felt my face grow warm and flushed. I had managed to rip my jeans all the way in half right on my butt. To make matters worse I was the first one down the ladder and the seven year old boy, who insisted on helping us, was holding the ladder for me.
They called me sweet cheeks the rest of the week.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Town Description--trying to catch up
What seems to be a typical suburban neighborhood, where all the houses look the same, was my life for fifteen years. But this isn’t typical. All the houses happen to be Victorian houses from over a hundred years ago, but the only way to tell them apart was by looking at their backyards. The world beyond Pine Street felt infinite, but for the children of Pine Street all we had were the days we spent together running around in those very different backyards.
Mine had the big swing set and a field that we played kickball in. Next to me were the Slikers who had an above ground pool. Next to them were the Morgenthiens. One of them, Karline was my best friend since forever and they had the awesome in-ground pool that was heated and had a diving board. After that there was a four family apartment complex. Then across the street there was the Erhard Family. Next to them were the Vogts, who used to like where Kyle and Shannon did. And those were the people I spent every day in the summer with and all the snow days too.
On snow days we tended to go behind the houses to this pond that would freeze over and we could skate on it. This day, it wasn’t completely frozen and I fell into the water. I lost one of my Little Mermaid boots, and they were my favorite. Karline, being the best friend she was, crafted a fishing pole and got it out for me and left it on my front porch with a note.
Mine had the big swing set and a field that we played kickball in. Next to me were the Slikers who had an above ground pool. Next to them were the Morgenthiens. One of them, Karline was my best friend since forever and they had the awesome in-ground pool that was heated and had a diving board. After that there was a four family apartment complex. Then across the street there was the Erhard Family. Next to them were the Vogts, who used to like where Kyle and Shannon did. And those were the people I spent every day in the summer with and all the snow days too.
On snow days we tended to go behind the houses to this pond that would freeze over and we could skate on it. This day, it wasn’t completely frozen and I fell into the water. I lost one of my Little Mermaid boots, and they were my favorite. Karline, being the best friend she was, crafted a fishing pole and got it out for me and left it on my front porch with a note.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Someone wants something from Thelma
“Aunt Thelma why can’t I borrow your sewing machine?” asked Lucy, her niece that is visiting her from Cape Cod.
She is trying to find a way to cure her boredom. She has only been here for two days, and already she can’t find anything to do in the woods surrounding Lake Serenity. She was wandering around the little, two bedroom log cabin when she came across the sewing machine Thelma Dudley uses to sew dolls clothes that she sells at the Lake Serenity flea market every weekend. This is where most of Thelma’s livelihood comes from so there is some resistance to letting Lucy use the machine for God knows what.
They are pacing in the living room while Thelma cleans up the house and Lucy follows her continually asking to use the precious sewing machine.
“I said no. I mean no. It doesn’t matter why I said no, I just don’t want you using it.” Thelma said.
“But there is NOTHING to do here. I am going to be bored to death in about two more hours if I don’t find something to do. Teach me how to use it, please.” Lucy said.
The phone rings and Thelma answers it. On the other end of the line is her son, Chris’s school. He is going to have to move out immediately and would be expelled from the school. They wouldn’t explain to her why, so she would have to get that information from her son, but the whole time she was on the phone there was this nagging in the background.
“Please, please, please. Let me use it, or something, ANYTHING.” said Lucy.
“Not right now.” said Thelma getting increasingly angry. “I have other things I have to do that are a little more important than finding you something to do. You are a creative girl you can figure something out.”
“But I want to sew. You don’t get what it’s like to be stuck here all day with nothing to do.” said Lucy, almost on the verge of tears. “I wish I could go back home already.”
“Well you can’t, so for now just sit there and read a book or something. I have to make a phone call.” said Thelma.
Thelma walks through the dining room to get to the kitchen to call her son Chris. She is staring out the window looking at the trees covered in a glistening sheet of ice from the storm the night before. She can’t get a hold of Chris so she tries to call her other sons, Mark and Dan to see if they know why their brother will be coming home from school three years prior to graduating.
Lucy yells from the other room, “What are you doing in there that is so important? Just come teach me like two things and I will stop bothering you. It’s that simple.”
Thelma yells back, “Just hold on! My life is not dedicated to making sure that you are entertained. If you could just wait a few more minutes and stop bothering me I might just let you use it, but for now just SHUT UP!”
Angry at this, Lucy starts wandering around the house again. She goes into the boys’ room to see if there is anything interesting in there, but all she finds are the remnants of three lives that no longer exist in this house, like a few books, old Corvette models from when they were younger, and the typical half naked woman posters. Then she got the brilliant idea to go back to the sewing machine that is in the far corner of the living room. It is set in this nook that gives Thelma a space of her own to work in. George had built little shelves around it to hold all of her supplies and clothes that she already made.
So Lucy sits down and begins to tinker with the sewing machine. She thinks she got a hold of it, and tries to make something out of one of the many patterns that Thelma had. She gets about halfway through when Thelma walks back in.
“What do you think you are doing?” Thelma said.
“I am teaching myself to sew, since you wouldn’t teach me.” Lucy said back.
“Step away from the machine and pack your bags.” Thelma said.
“You are kicking me out because of this? How will my mother feel about this?” Lucy said.
“It’s not because of this, but you are lucky I don’t do something about this. You could have hurt yourself.” Thelma said.
It seemed unlikely to Lucy that she could hurt herself, but it is true. The machine is old and the stand isn’t very sturdy. Unless you know how to handle the moves that is makes, you could have the machine fall on you.
The phone rings again and Thelma runs to answer it. It’s Chris. Lucy doesn’t follow directions and continues to sew.
“You can hurt yourself.” Lucy said to herself, mocking her aunt. “Blah blah blah. Everything is more important than me.”
At that moment the machine begins to move and Lucy starts to panic. She moves away from it and sits on the couch. As Thelma is walking back unto the room, the sewing machine falls to the ground and shatters into as many pieces as it possibly could.
She is trying to find a way to cure her boredom. She has only been here for two days, and already she can’t find anything to do in the woods surrounding Lake Serenity. She was wandering around the little, two bedroom log cabin when she came across the sewing machine Thelma Dudley uses to sew dolls clothes that she sells at the Lake Serenity flea market every weekend. This is where most of Thelma’s livelihood comes from so there is some resistance to letting Lucy use the machine for God knows what.
They are pacing in the living room while Thelma cleans up the house and Lucy follows her continually asking to use the precious sewing machine.
“I said no. I mean no. It doesn’t matter why I said no, I just don’t want you using it.” Thelma said.
“But there is NOTHING to do here. I am going to be bored to death in about two more hours if I don’t find something to do. Teach me how to use it, please.” Lucy said.
The phone rings and Thelma answers it. On the other end of the line is her son, Chris’s school. He is going to have to move out immediately and would be expelled from the school. They wouldn’t explain to her why, so she would have to get that information from her son, but the whole time she was on the phone there was this nagging in the background.
“Please, please, please. Let me use it, or something, ANYTHING.” said Lucy.
“Not right now.” said Thelma getting increasingly angry. “I have other things I have to do that are a little more important than finding you something to do. You are a creative girl you can figure something out.”
“But I want to sew. You don’t get what it’s like to be stuck here all day with nothing to do.” said Lucy, almost on the verge of tears. “I wish I could go back home already.”
“Well you can’t, so for now just sit there and read a book or something. I have to make a phone call.” said Thelma.
Thelma walks through the dining room to get to the kitchen to call her son Chris. She is staring out the window looking at the trees covered in a glistening sheet of ice from the storm the night before. She can’t get a hold of Chris so she tries to call her other sons, Mark and Dan to see if they know why their brother will be coming home from school three years prior to graduating.
Lucy yells from the other room, “What are you doing in there that is so important? Just come teach me like two things and I will stop bothering you. It’s that simple.”
Thelma yells back, “Just hold on! My life is not dedicated to making sure that you are entertained. If you could just wait a few more minutes and stop bothering me I might just let you use it, but for now just SHUT UP!”
Angry at this, Lucy starts wandering around the house again. She goes into the boys’ room to see if there is anything interesting in there, but all she finds are the remnants of three lives that no longer exist in this house, like a few books, old Corvette models from when they were younger, and the typical half naked woman posters. Then she got the brilliant idea to go back to the sewing machine that is in the far corner of the living room. It is set in this nook that gives Thelma a space of her own to work in. George had built little shelves around it to hold all of her supplies and clothes that she already made.
So Lucy sits down and begins to tinker with the sewing machine. She thinks she got a hold of it, and tries to make something out of one of the many patterns that Thelma had. She gets about halfway through when Thelma walks back in.
“What do you think you are doing?” Thelma said.
“I am teaching myself to sew, since you wouldn’t teach me.” Lucy said back.
“Step away from the machine and pack your bags.” Thelma said.
“You are kicking me out because of this? How will my mother feel about this?” Lucy said.
“It’s not because of this, but you are lucky I don’t do something about this. You could have hurt yourself.” Thelma said.
It seemed unlikely to Lucy that she could hurt herself, but it is true. The machine is old and the stand isn’t very sturdy. Unless you know how to handle the moves that is makes, you could have the machine fall on you.
The phone rings again and Thelma runs to answer it. It’s Chris. Lucy doesn’t follow directions and continues to sew.
“You can hurt yourself.” Lucy said to herself, mocking her aunt. “Blah blah blah. Everything is more important than me.”
At that moment the machine begins to move and Lucy starts to panic. She moves away from it and sits on the couch. As Thelma is walking back unto the room, the sewing machine falls to the ground and shatters into as many pieces as it possibly could.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Thelma Dudley, through dialogue
Thelma hobbles on her crutches to answer the phone.
“Hello.” she says into the receiver.
“Hello Thelma. How are you doing now that you can’t move around very much?”
It was her older sister Beatrice. She is always trying to look after Thelma, even though she lives on Cape Cod and Thelma is stuck in the middle of the snowy woods of upstate New York, alone.
“Things have been ok.” Thelma said. “It gets kinda lonely out here now that George is out all the time and the kids are gone, but I am making due. I have been fixing up the house; changing it around. But that has been put on hold since I broke my ankle.”
“How are the boys doing?”
“Good, I think. I haven’t heard from them in a while, but I know they settled into college and are hopefully doing well.”
“Where are they going again?”
“Mark is at NYU, Dan is at Brown and Chris is at the University of Massachusetts. It’s so weird to know they aren’t together for once in their lives. But they do need to learn to be independent, so I guess this is a blessing.”
“Yes it is. Now you can spend your time doing things you enjoy with George.”
“When he is around. He has been out a lot lately. Working mostly. He has been fixing the houses since we’ve had this really bad winter.”
“That’s good. At least he is working. Maybe if he gets some time off you can take a trip out here and visit. The Cape is lovely this time of year. No tourists. Just calm and quiet.”
“I get calm and quiet here. But that might not be out of the question. And maybe you could come here one weekend. I’ve been dying to try out some new recipes for when the boys come home and you could go to the Lake Serenity flea market with George and I. We go almost every weekend. I sell my doll clothes and he looks around for old furniture to buy and restore. We really have become an old couple. Haven’t we?”
“Not really, but this happens when you age. Kids go away, loneliness sets in and you try to find excitement in your life. You will get used to it, I promise.”
“Sure, sure. I think I’m gonna go for a walk. It’s a beautiful day outside. It was nice talking to you. Bye.”
She hangs up the phone, grabs her crutches and hobbles outside. She starts to walk in the freshly fallen foot of snow.
“Hello.” she says into the receiver.
“Hello Thelma. How are you doing now that you can’t move around very much?”
It was her older sister Beatrice. She is always trying to look after Thelma, even though she lives on Cape Cod and Thelma is stuck in the middle of the snowy woods of upstate New York, alone.
“Things have been ok.” Thelma said. “It gets kinda lonely out here now that George is out all the time and the kids are gone, but I am making due. I have been fixing up the house; changing it around. But that has been put on hold since I broke my ankle.”
“How are the boys doing?”
“Good, I think. I haven’t heard from them in a while, but I know they settled into college and are hopefully doing well.”
“Where are they going again?”
“Mark is at NYU, Dan is at Brown and Chris is at the University of Massachusetts. It’s so weird to know they aren’t together for once in their lives. But they do need to learn to be independent, so I guess this is a blessing.”
“Yes it is. Now you can spend your time doing things you enjoy with George.”
“When he is around. He has been out a lot lately. Working mostly. He has been fixing the houses since we’ve had this really bad winter.”
“That’s good. At least he is working. Maybe if he gets some time off you can take a trip out here and visit. The Cape is lovely this time of year. No tourists. Just calm and quiet.”
“I get calm and quiet here. But that might not be out of the question. And maybe you could come here one weekend. I’ve been dying to try out some new recipes for when the boys come home and you could go to the Lake Serenity flea market with George and I. We go almost every weekend. I sell my doll clothes and he looks around for old furniture to buy and restore. We really have become an old couple. Haven’t we?”
“Not really, but this happens when you age. Kids go away, loneliness sets in and you try to find excitement in your life. You will get used to it, I promise.”
“Sure, sure. I think I’m gonna go for a walk. It’s a beautiful day outside. It was nice talking to you. Bye.”
She hangs up the phone, grabs her crutches and hobbles outside. She starts to walk in the freshly fallen foot of snow.
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