#On The Trail

On The Trail

The Boiling Point

 

When you have three boys, a dog and a wife who is about to go insane, a loving husband has the responsibility to ensure some peace and quiet. My father could see the steam vapors from my mothers’ head rise. It could have been the hot July weather, but it wasn't, it was her kids and a barking dog. Our dog Trixie was part chihuahua, part terrier and part bitch. The bitch came out when we tried to sit next to my mom. Trixie was just a little protective, as any wandering chipmunk soon found out. We thought feeding them peanuts wouldn't be too bad. That and the chase was fun to watch.

 

The cool down

 

My mother would often escape the camp, climb the dunes and go stick a toe in the frigid waters of Lake Huron. It was a hot sandy walk with very little areas to stop and cool her heals. My mother and dog danced their way down to the beach stopping to catch their breath in the shadows of a dune bush. We just ran for it. Our feet were on fire. I'd like to say it was because we ran that fast, but they were literally on fire. We didn't care. We had a goal. To be the first one to dive into the water. We had forgotten how shallow the first few feet were, but we would emerge victorious.  Like three bloody knights returning from a battle. Our battle scars: pebbles stuck into flesh. 

 

A good book

 

Then it happened. One day my mother, lying on a lounge chair reading whatever Phyllis Whitney book she could find collecting dust in the trailer, gave my dad the look. My dad had seen that look a bunch of times and was glad this time it wasn't his fault. "Let's go you guys" My dad barked. The dog barked too, some chipmunks never learn.

 

The meltdown

 

I wonder if we premeditated the whole piss off mom and the dog plan, just to spend some alone time with dad. Maybe. We didn't care where we were going. We were with dad aka Mario Andretti. The twenty mile an hour speed limit was more of a please than a must. The camp road had many twists and turns, but the hills were the most fun. My dad called them magnetic hills. He thought since supper was hours away that we'd enjoyed our breakfast twice. That green Mercury buzzed like a green hornet. 

 

This is a sign

 

There are some signs that a driver should pay attention to but deer's never cross the road where the sign is anyways so, he thought he could ignore it. The animal crossing sign should have said potential roadkill ahead. Today's menu; a doe and a fawn. The screeching of hot rubber caught their attention and ours too. You’d think the fox that we almost hit the night before would have given them a heads up. Thankfully we missed. That would have been a story he didn't want to explain. Especially, if it leads to that look. 

 

All roads end

 

Around the bend was the Riverside camp entrance and a little a little further to the right was our destination. Nipissing trail was only about a one kilometer long, an easy hike but we weren't hiking today. My father broke a small branch off a helpless tree and began swing it over his head. He looked like crazy man. He yelled "You guys better get running" but he was no threat. He thought he could scare us with the old snapping belt thing. He never used it. This was just like that. Still, we were intrigued to see who could run the fastest. We were sure we could outrun him. He smoked a pack a day. The race was on. Just a few feet behind a stick waving crazy guy, in front a beaten path. We were even making new paths running through the Carolina Forest. The only protected species we cared about was ourselves; he was gaining on us. Eventually he threw down his weapon and we all emerged peacefully. 

 

The last word

 

We caught our breath and, on our way back to camp he had one last thing to say, "can you guys please behave, you’re driving your mother crazy" We did for a little while.