At a yard sale somewhere along South Wayne Street, the summer of 1975, I found an old Brownie camera for sale. It was complete with flash attachment and I couldn't have spent more than a couple of dollars for it. Dad outfitted me with film and flashbulbs and away I went, documenting my life that summer.
It was the summer after starting Junior High School where I had met my best friend Missy. I smile to see the easy smile she shared as we hung out in my bedroom. Note all of the drawings I had cut out and posted on the wallpapered bulletin board behind my bed. There is also a photo of a picnic in Renovo from earlier that summer which I will scan and post another time.
This was the summer where it was hinted that we might be moving to Devonshire, England later in the year. Whatever job prospect my father had there must not have worked out because I lived my entire school life on South Wayne Street in Lewistown.
We did travel a bit that summer. We visited family in New York state in their cabin. Great Uncle Cliff and Great Aunt Rose opened their summer camp to us. The drive seemed to Renovo, PA had seemed take forever so it's no surprise I pulled out the old Brownie in the car on our way to NY.
I find myself wondering what I did with the hot used flashbulbs after a snapped the shots of Tracy and Mom in the car. I just love Tracy's plaid pants and peasant shirt as she sits smiling at me. She is reading what looks like a road atlas (it looks like a map) but all I can remember are the Esso folding maps from that era.
It looks like we are traveling in our white Impala and it was a rainy day. Mom looks like a kid peeping from the front seat an she indulges me in yet another photo. Were we waiting for Dad to get back from doing some genealogy research? I know this was the trip I had terrible cramps and I got sick in the car right around Scranton.
At camp I catch Mom getting ready to brush her teeth. She could pull off a stylish horizontal striped top, typical pattern for the seventies. Note the striped knee socks I am sporting and the puppy, Daisy, is sleeping on my belly.They look a lot like the wool running sock I wear for a little added compression and warmth in winter.
We had a lot of great times around camp but I forgot until looking at these photos that Dad must have been helping out with building and repairs. Many family summer homes are works in progress and he is lending a hand while he sits high on atop of a door. Again with the striped shirts of the time but Dad wore them decades later. They be came know as "Grand Father Lukens'" shirts when we would shop with Arron for something he might like on Father's Day.
Tracy and I didn't help with any of the construction of the camp. When the weather allowed, we would spend time down by the lake. There was a little dock from which one could view the passing motor boats, slide into the shallows launch the inflatable raft or, unless you were a new vegetarian, fish.
Mom and Tracy both enjoyed fishing from the dock and all of the rods were left down there. I can remember a couple of rainy days passed and I was first down to the dock the first morning it had clear. I was shocked and terrified to see that the baited hooks that had been dangling in the water had accidentally caught fish over the rainy day and night. Their bodies were lifeless but still damp and beautiful as they hung from the lines. I was confused as to whether they had jumped up to get the bait, if there was a tide that receded on the lake or if the water level had gone down.
I don't think I ever liked sitting still and much preferred swimming in the water rowing the raft around the dock. In some of the photos I can see a floating deck a little farther out in the lake and remember wishing I could swim out it it. I think we rowed out to it with Aunt Sandy once.
I love these couple of shots Mom must have taken as I row the raft close to the dock. In the first one, I man the ores and Tracy poses. The next shot shows me rowing right into the sliding board on the dock. I can't imagine doing it on purpose and attribute the fact that Tracy is shooting upward from the impact to my lack of rowing expertise.
