I have a hiking staff that I cut from the 120-acre property that my mom and dad once owned in the mountains of north Georgia. I've had that staff since I was 16 years old. Somehow, I've kept it close over the decades (almost four decades and counting). I have a statue of a bear carved from a piece of cedar that I bought in a shop when I was eight years old on a visit to the mountains of my native state. Again, somehow I've kept it close at hand for 47 years.
But I don't get upset about things like vehicles. However, today we sold our canoe. We've had it for a while. Ten years or more. I can't recall exactly when we bought it, but we've used it to paddle rivers and streams all over the southeastern USA. Everywhere from Tennessee to Virginia to North Carolina to South Carolina to Florida. We had a great time using that canoe.
Well, today we sold it to a very sweet couple from Asheville. I think they're going to have as much fun with it as Carole and Andy and I did. After they purchased the canoe, and before they headed back home to Asheville, we drove them over to Mountain Island Lake (five-minute drive) so that they could take the canoe on a test run. Watching them paddle away, I did get a bit of a pang seeing our canoe go angling away from us forever.
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| The sweet couple who bought our canoe. |
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| Their little boy, Zane. |
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| Goodbye, canoe! I think you're with a great family! |
It's not just the "thing" itself. When I traded in my old Chevy Lumina van what choked me up were the memories of all those road trips we took out of Beaufort, SC, on a whim -- to Atlanta, to Greenville, to Alabama (during the Clinton Prosperity, when gas was 79 CENTS a gallon). Our children were small, and used the built-in car seat. Then we moved to Alaska, and after three years we made our epic journey from Anchorage to Seattle. The whole family, including Otis, practically lived in that van for a week. I felt like I was shooting an old beloved horse when I traded the Lumina in for the Honda.
ReplyDeleteOf course, now I'm choked up just thinking about the days of the Clinton Prosperity, when anyone who wanted a job could get one, and there was always something new and cool around the corner....
Alas. Those were indeed the days. Best President since FDR, for sure. That's why they hounded him relentlessly.
ReplyDeleteI kind of got the same feeling when we traded in the old white Nissan Frontier for the one we have now. It was the truck that took us so many places. But the canoe was a little bit worse. Added to the fact of seeing it sail away with a family that reminded me of me and Carole and Andy once upon a time...
And the dog too, can't forget about her. I'e had some emotional attachments to 'things' but nothing that I truly miss, just sometimes a fond rememberance.
ReplyDeleteThat dog was named Cherokee. He was VERY sweet and mild.
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