I remember it was a hot day.
Not unusual for Central California – but hot is hot.
I remember that we’d been riding our bikes in our bathing suits. Now, that means we either were going swimming or had been swimming. I don’t remember.
Isn’t it funny how that memory thing works – or doesn’t? Some parts are so clear, others…not so clear.
But I do remember that we were hot.
Sweltering hot.
And we had just stopped to dip our feet in the water.
We were not going swimming – just dipping our feet in the water.
And then my brother rode by – and said, “Get out of there! You are in so much trouble!”
Almost immediately following that warning, my Mom came by in the car, and said, “Jayne Elizabeth Day, get home now!”
Upon my arrival at home…..My Dad gave me the whupping of my life.
For years, hell. For DECADES I’ve harbored a bit of righteous indignation over that whupping. I mean, we weren’t swimming. We were just getting our toes wet…
I awoke this morning to this headline:
Fresno 4th-grader had been trying to get basketball.
-and I dissolved in tears. Yshema Snowden wasn’t swimming – she was just trying to retrieve her basketball.
I was probably around the same age when I had my toe-dipping experience. There but for the grace of God, my brother Jeff, my Mom and my Dad…..
I just want to thank my family for always being there for me. And please, keep the Snowden family in your thoughts and prayers this week.
9 comments:
Yeah, it's very sad about the girl... I saw it on the news. Glad though that the other one got off with a whuppin... perspective, huh?
Wow, that's horrible. I've been pissed for 28 years because I got in trouble for "playing tag" behind the school. I wasn't "playing tag," I was just hanging out behind the school, b*tch! The rule was "no playing tag behind the school!"
Whew. I feel a little better.
Do you live in Fresno? I'm in Ripon (north of Modesto).
That is such sad news and such a loss for a mom- I will be sure to keep her family in my prayers.
that's a sadness no family should experience.....
lecram - perspective: APj looks hot from far away.
diesel - was that YOU I was playing tag with behind the school?!?!?!? (btw - yes to the Fresno question)
k - thanks
lime - amen
that's pretty heavy.
(getting a whuppin' for something you didn't do... not heavy, that happens, (and I'm glad that you're going near the canal was treated so severely... sorry to say.
I have been in awe at the way Fresno and surrounding areas handle the canals.
If you have a pool in your yard, you have to have a gate with a fence of a particular height, ---to show that kids cannot just 'wander into,' the water, ---or you cannot insure your property.
--If someone has an 'unprotected,' pool, and a person drowns? They can be held liable.
I've often walked or ridden past the canals here, which are all open, have radically sloped concrete sides, are filled with extremely cold water, --and have currents that are really hauling, (and then dissappear beneath bridges that have zero clearance above the surface...
--and I'm blown away...
I think it's more likely that there are lots of people who drown in the canals each year, (probably month,) -but they just don't get reported,(depending upon what part of town this is in.)
When an earlier discussion was posted on MindHub about making certain parts of the canal a 'swim zone, and recreational waterpark,' (yet there was no consideration regarding currents and hydrology of the canals, (until I started barking about it,)
-Folks were really quick to dismiss it...
I guess fencing is too pricey compared to some kids life, (or several.)
I'll be praying for the family.
i'm praying HUGS
...um, yeah, since reading this I floated out a couple of rather specific posts on MindHub asking why the more dangerous canals have not been fenced.
-The response I got from most of the brain trust o Fresno?
-We believe instead in teaching our kids to avoid the canals,
-The canals are pretty to walk by and we don't want our view dimished.
-The parents should have been more involved with the kids lives.
-When we were younger, we actually swam in the canals and we don't want to deprive our kids of even more freedoms than we already have...
...I think one of the greatest?
'Putting fences around canals is stupid... Less is More.'
(this person didn't like the canals being fenced, nor the length of my posts...
What I find mindblowing is:
None of the answers WHY fencing the more dangerous canals (and some of them are very fast moving, extremely cold, and have a lot of 'underground patches,' (no handholds to get out with so to speak, ---and are cement lined...)
---All of the reasons given had nothing to do with actual child safety, and really reflected a mentality of '...well, if they (or their parents,) did this (or let this happen,) it was their own fault.' (aka) '...just natures way of thinning out the herd...'
If I think too much about the responses I've gotten regarding putting up fences along the more dangeous canals, -too much?
I'm not going to like anyone in Fresno, and I'm really going to start believing that folks really are that self-centered and truly couldn't care less about others.
you've been not swimming and whupped for a while now.
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