Daytripping May-June 2021 Issue

Lake Huron
The
Daytripper
Exploring in and around CLINTON
MI
SHOP
NY
LOCAL
ONTARIO
Memory Lane
If you have the time, please come with
me on a walk down memory lane—back
to my childhood, many moons ago. I had
a very happy childhood, although with
eight children, Mom and Dad and Dad’s
mom, “Nanny” in one house, it was not
easy for Dad to keep enough food on
the table. Dad knew responsibility at a
very young age. When he was barely
seventeen his father died and Dad was
then the sole supporter of his mom. He
had to give up any education he may
have wanted to get a job.
Nanny lived in our home from the
time Dad and Mom were married until
her death when I was fourteen. You
rarely heard my dad complain about his
role in life. He was always smiling and
had a wonderful sense of humour. He
was a very honest man and expected
everyone else to be the same. He never
locked his door, saying, “A lock only
keeps the honest man out.”
Dad would walk into a store, any store,
and promptly say, “Could I get a quarter’s
worth of ten dollar bills?” Needless to
say he never found a merchant who
would accommodate him. He would
chuckle and say, “Oh, well, it was worth
a try.” He would occasionally run a bill
By Blanche Haskett, Delhi
at the local grocery store and if it was
owed longer than the owner thought it
should be, he’d ask Dad when he’d be
able to close the account. Dad would
say a certain time and he would have
the money to pay it. “You know, my
friend, I’d rather owe it to you than beat
you out of it.” And he would smile.
Whenever us kids would say we were
afraid, Dad would say, “Never be afraid
until you see something worse than
yourself,” and “Don’t worry about being
kidnapped. They’ll bring you back at the
first lamp post.”
“Beech, birch and maple,
all begins with A.”
When we all went out, it took two
cars. Dad would say to the second
driver, “If I get there first, I’ll draw a line.
If you get there first, you rub it out.” As
each of us grew older we understood
the joke, but as youngsters, we’d always
look for that imaginary line. We would
often wake up to Dad shouting up the
stairs, “Time to get up, kids. It’s daylight
in the swamp!” We couldn’t understand
why we had to get up. We never lived
near any darn swamp!
“Beech, birch and maple, all begins
with A,” Dad would say to us. We would
argue the point until he’d say, “Well, all
does begin with A.”
He taught us to say the alphabet
backwards. I happened to say it in front
of my seven year old granddaughter
one day and she asked me to write it
down for her, which I did. Two weeks
later when I visited them she was quite
excited when she said the alphabet
backwards as if she had been saying it
as long as I had. My son learned it while
on guard duty one night in a foreign
country. “If you and Patricia can do it,
I can too!”
When we’d ask Dad to read anything
to us, he’d say, “You’d better read it. I
went to night school. I can’t read in the
daytime.” As each of us started driving,
he’d say, “Now don’t forget to watch the
car in front of the car behind you.”
“Yes, Dad, we’ll be careful.”
We were a poor family by monetary
means, but we soon learned that
we were the richest family we knew
because love and laughter were the two
main ingredients in our household. We
grew up healthy and happy and every
one of us inherited Dad’s unique sense
of humour. Thanks, Dad!
You should sit
in nature for
20 minutes a day.
Unless you are
really busy -
then you should
sit for an hour!
KILDONAN HOUSE
BED & BREAKFAST
A Healing Arts &
Energy Wellness Haven
Retail:
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Pottery • Incense • Artisan Crafts & Gifts
Services by Appointment:
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Open Fri 12-7, Sat 12-5 & Any Time by Appt.
Ask about our private group bookings &
upcoming workshops, classes & events.
Your Open Door to Infinite Possibilities...
86 Albert Street, Clinton
@journeysofthesoulwithjackie
jackie@journeysofthesoul.ca
43 Albert St.
CLINTON
226-457-0575
OPEN BY
APPT. OR
CHANCE
QUALITY Mennonite-CRAFTED
Furniture, MADE IN ONTARIO
www.cinnamoncabinco.ca
71 KIRK ST, CLINTON
519-482-1163
A must see store,
come & explore.
Gourmet Edibles
& One-of-a-Kind Items!
26 Isaac St., Clinton
See Facebook for Current Hours
519-482-1445
www.madeinhuron.com
Page 24
“There is only one pretty child in the world and every mother has it.” (Chinese Proverb)
May-June 2021