June 17, 1982 - Will Rain Every Stop?Page20 19be *uffolk lrimeg
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Will Rain Ever Stop?
When will the rains stop coming down?
Already-we've passed all previous records
for rainfall this month and we've only
reached midpoint. It's become so distaste-
ful that no one even wants to talk about it
any more. There is one ray of hope,
though, and that is the occasional sunny
day. That tells us there were days and
even weeks of pleasant weather years ago
at this time. So don't give up.
Actually, on one of those rare sunny days
I saw kids walking around barefoot. That
surely is a sign of summer. Thinking back,
I can remember the joy of bare feet.
Seems as soon as school was out the shoes
were off. In those youthful days you spent
most of the time down at the creek or out in
the bay. Shoes or sneakers played no part
in those adventures. We paid dearly for
those carefree days for often we'd come
hobbling home with a cut or two from some
shell or debris we carelessly walked over.
We seemed to always have some sort of
problem -- poison ivy with swollen eyes or
itching rashes in those inconvenient
places. These badges of courage were
always dealt with by Mom, who knew just
what to do for them. Calomine lotion for
the poison ivy and tedious picking out of
sand and splinters seemed to be an
every- evening affair.
Most of the time we'd try to get away
without attention, but often when the
poison ivy got out of hand or the telltale red
line would start up from a cut we'd weaken
and call for Mom. I can remember still
how she'd take a needle - -never a pin - -put it
under a match flame until it glowed red,
and then would be ready for probing.
"Ooohs" and "Ouches" were the standard.
"Now hold still" would go on for what
seemed hours. Yet, I'm sure it was only
minutes before that reassuring voice
would say "It's OK now. Let's soak it for a
while."
Epsom salts and hot water finished the
operation. By that time we were off to bed
with a clean piece of good old- fashioned
adhesive tape over the wound. Somehow
we all survived.
When we stepped on a nail or had a real
bad cut, we'd pile into the old Dodge with
its wooden steering wheel and head for Dr.
Jones in Mattituck. Now there was a real
country doctor. A tetanus shot along with
some minor probing and cleaning all came
to about $3 - -and that I think fluctuated
with the financial status of the family. We
must have been on the bottom because
doctor bills never seemed to be much of a
problem in those days. But then those were
the days of $75 house and property taxes
also.
A Reassuring Word
Once when we kids were fooling about
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my sister fell on a bottle and really cut her
hand pretty badly. There was plenty of
blood and crying but above it all I can
remember the reassuring words of my
mother to Marg. "Well just think you're
getting all your problems over with when
you're young. Later you'll not have any to
worry about." It seemed to work. My
sister was calmed down and the world
looked brighter.
Our feet got tougher as days went on.
Few realize how stony some of our beaches
were in those early days. The reason was
simple. The light sand moved or drifted
down the beach, leaving the heavy stones
behind. Then came the dredging of our
creeks and the sand that filled the mouths
of the creeks were pumped over the stones
to give us a nice sandy beach as most of us
have now.
No beach remains in one place. It's the
natural thing to move. That's how spits of
land are formed, sandbars created and
banks eroded.
Our feet ran over those rough terrains
showing little effect. Occasionally an
"ouch" would be heard when a sharp shell
or object was just too much for our feet to
take but that was a rarity. The real
culprits were the small oysters that in
those days were everywhere. Anyone
familiar with a creek oyster knows the
sharpness of these shells. They are entire-
ly different than the dull rounded edge
oyster of the cultivated beds.
Also in those early days there wasn't the
litter of broken bottles that we have today.
Of course, there were fewer people but the
real reason was that every bottle had a
deposit on it. Many a time we'd collect
bottles and bring them up to the store for
our five cent reward. There's a move to
reinstate the deposit law. Let's hope our
political leaders whose hands these laws
must pass through, support the concept.
There's too much broken glass and our
countryside is having a tough time keeping
itself clean.
On the Bright Side
I've strayed a long way from our topic of
rainy weather and I'd like to get back to
tell of one good effect from all this rain.
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