Cooperative Living July 2023 - 34

RURAL LIVING
●et Me Tell You About
My Family Vacation
by Margo Oxendine, Contributing Columnist
Looking back at great memories of summer
I
t's the most
wonderful time
of the year!
No, not Christmas.
I'm talking about
the family summer
vacation.
I have so many great memories of
our family vacations. Whether we were
going to Connecticut to see relatives,
or to some " remote " beach my parents
had discovered, it was truly always an
adventure. I can still laugh out loud
at many of the antics and occurrences.
There was the trip to Ocracoke
Island, N.C. Oh, it sounded glorious.
Not so, it turned out, for a 16-year-old
girl who always kept an eye out for a
" cute boy. " There were no cute boys,
but there was a ferry boat to the island,
which made me queasy. There were
also thousands of sand fleas.
Daddy had bought a summer hat
that went down in family lore as " the
Ocracoke hat. " Oh, my sister and I hated
that hat. We did everything we could
to hide it from him, or to " ruin " it in
some way so it couldn't be worn that
day. Once, we put it into a cooler full
of icy water.
Daddy got back at us for that, you
can be sure. The next morning, when we
went to put on our bathing suits, there
they were: floating in icy water. There's
not much ickier than climbing into a wet,
frigid swimsuit. Oh, how we laughed.
There was something else memorable:
When we loaded our many belongings
into the Pony Island Motel, my mother
began putting away groceries. Opening
the cupboard, she called out, " David!
Come look at this! "
Tucked in the cabinet was a handgun.
Not something you'd usually find next
to the cereal. Daddy, a lifetime law
enforcement officer, took charge of the
weapon. He always carried his gold badge
and his own weapon. " You just never
know, " he'd say.
Before too long, a knock came upon
our door. Daddy moved us to the back
of the room and opened the door to
find two unsavory characters standing
there, trying to look menacing. Well,
no one could look as menacing as my
father, holding a pistol and flashing a
gold badge, sporting his Ocracoke hat.
" Forget something, fellas? "
he inquired.
" Uh ... no ... wrong room. Sorry, "
was the reply. The unclaimed pistol
was then turned in to local authorities.
CL WHEREZ IT?
Look for the CL logo, like the one above, in the pages of this issue of
Cooperative Living. Submit the page number where you found it along with
your name, email and phone number to WherezIt, c/o Cooperative Living,
P.O. Box 2340, Glen Allen, VA 23058-2340 or go online at co-opliving.com
under " Contests. " Deadline is July 20. The winner will receive a $25 Amazon
email gift card.
To order a copy of Margo's " A Party of One, "
call 540-468-2147 Mon.-Wed., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.,
or email therecorderoffice@gmail.com.
The trips to Connecticut could
be fraught. Daddy did all the
driving. He drove for a living as a
state trooper. Pipe gripped firmly in
his teeth; we passed every car on the
highway. Mom read the map (remember
those?). She could never get it straight,
or folded right. And she'd say things like,
" Why don't we stop at such-and-such?
It's only an inch out of our way. " We never
stopped at such-and-such. Daddy was
hell-bent on arriving at our destination.
I can't count the number of Stuckey's we'd
pass. I always wanted to stop. But no.
Mom had packed picnic lunches - which
we ate as Daddy sped along the turnpikes.
I caused a calamity as we arrived at
my grandmother's house. Granny's
nephew, Jack, was sitting at the table,
eating a big steak. By his side was a large
German shepherd named Husky. I bent
down to kiss Jack hello and Husky,
who thought I was grabbing his portion
of the steak, bit me in the face. So,
as soon as we got there, we were off
to the hospital. Some vacation!
I hope your own family's summer
vacation is filled with better memories.
Enjoy these wonderful times, when
the whole family is together sharing
an adventure. And I hope your
adventure doesn't include forgotten
pistols and mauling by an angry German
shepherd. But even those can be funny
in retrospect. 
32 ● Cooperative Living ●
July 2023
co-opliving.com
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Cooperative Living July 2023

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