Places I remember
26 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
When I was very small, I often stayed with my grandparents after school. One set lived on the north end of Water Street, and I would walk there at the end of day. The most dangerous part of the walk was going past Sleepy Glen’s 76 Station, where Sleepy Glen’s son Dennis would rush out to tease, tickle, and roughhouse with his nephew Todd, my friend. I came in for some roughhousing, too, and I’m sure it was gentle and good-natured roughhousing, but at 7 years old, it terrified me. I tried taking an alternate route, but got in trouble. For some reason, my Grandma wanted me to walk only on Main Street and Water Street. Franklin was out of the question. Also, I was not to stop and visit at any little friends’ houses on the way home. I could actually understand that, as my Grandpa was waiting for me to eat a peanut butter sandwich and watch Mr. Rogers with him. Also, to help him clean and pack his pipe. Pipe smoke, though very rare now, always brings back those Autumn afternoons.
My other set of grandparents lived south of town, about a mile away. When I went there, I either rode the bus and got off at their house, or I walked down to Swede’s to meet Grandpa. Swede’s was a tiny shack-type restaurant, that always smelled of freshly fried onions and potatoes (possibly liver as well, fresh and rare). They had card games in the back, I understand, but I never saw them. Just about every little restaurant in every little town in the place at that time had card games in the back. I’ve heard that the playing was not cheap, either, and that some of the players were chauffered there. But when I went there, only Grandpa was waiting, and it beat walking past Sleepy Glen’s son.
