Childhood Memories

This week’s journal entry:

What place or places were most important to you as a child? Jot down some memories, then pick one particular place to write more about. What details do you remember about the place? Smells? Objects? Etc.

By Laura Black

My particular place I picked was a Boy Scout Campground in Michigan called Owasapee. I remember things about Owasapee campground. I remember the cabins with two or three bedrooms, a kitchen, and living room. The entire cabin was tiled. I remember you constantly had to sweep it because the trails that led to the cabins were of sand. The bathrooms were separate from the cabin. I think they called them the shower houses. There was a playground too. It was across from the shower house. If you walked away from the cabin along the trail, it led you to the rec building. This was where the daily activities took place. There were only boys up to a certain age there. Once you were old enough to be a Boy Scout, you went to that camp (the Boy Scout camp). The camp that I'm describing was the family camp. This was for the moms and kids. Well, younger boys, like I explained earlier.

The rec building was where the kids and parents went every morning to split off into their own age groups. Then once in these groups, you went swimming, made crafts, played games and had parties. I remember we always went in July. We were always there during the week of Christmas in July.

The moms would do this weird thing with wearing a paper plate around their neck for an entire day. For that entire day, they had to be silent. If they did talk at all, then the person they talked to would have to tear a part of the plate off. And during this one day of silence, at night, the moms had to walk around the woods and trails with blindfolds on. They were led by moms that had done the ritual the year or so before. At the end of the ritual, they all received a small wooden spoon that they wore around their neck.

I remember every time we had to go swimming we (my sister and I) had to wear swim caps. I hated wearing it because it felt like a suction on your head. Every once in a while it brought tears to your eyes. And no matter how slow or fast you pulled the cap off, it always hurt. I remember trying to learn how to swim. I always had to hold my nose when I went underwater (I still do), so my mom finally bought my sister and I nose plugs.

Going to Owasapee campground every summer as a kid was great. I loved being outdoors, swimming, doing crafts, and walking the campground. Every part of this campground and everything we did there was so much fun. I so wish I could go back there, but I know it no longer exists; therefore, these memories will only live in my mind.