I remember buying a new pair of white Keds as a young adult and someone saying, “they’re so blinding white, you might wanna kick some dirt on ’em.” That has stuck with me every time I see a pair of new white shoes, not yet traveled or broken in. And as a lover of well-worn shoes, this photo shared with me by my daughter-in-law sparked joy when I saw the love of living in one of my granddaughter’s shoes as she was fishing on the muddy brink of a pond.
In 1971, we lived in Reynolds, Georgia on Robin Hood Road and the corner of Friar Tuck. Mom was pregnant with my baby brother, Ken, and Dad was pastor of the First Baptist Church. We lived here in the pastorium, and those were days filled with such fun of childhood – it’s where I learned to ride a bike without training wheels. I’m still looking for pictures of my favorite Keds sneakers – Red White, and Blue. Those were my favorite colors in those days, and I can see it in the campground pictures where we camped over the Fourth of July holiday. Mom always proved that she could outfish anyone, even times when she went fly fishing.
I’m still sifting through old photographs as I digitize them and share them with other family members. It’s fun walking down memory lane.
Our house in Reynolds, Georgia at the corner of Robin Hood and Friar Tuck Roads
Mom, Fernandina Beach, Florida in 1971, pregnant with my brother Ken
Happy 250th Birthday, America! It’s a great day for watermelon, and a great day to be born. My son, his wife, and their children await the birth of a son and baby brother. Whatever we do today, it’s day to celebrate.
As July kicks off and I continue to sort through old photographs and newer ones, I’m thinking of travel and vacations this month – reflecting on the experiences on the road, on campgrounds, and on educational conferences where we’ve extended the business to include personal travel as well. The earliest traveling I remember is going to camp and fish at Fernandina Beach, Florida with my parents and my mother’s parents. Granddaddy would put the truck camper on and pull the boat, and my parents would pitch a tent while I crawled into the camper with my grandparents. Early each morning, we’d put the boat in and go out fishing. I would crawl up under the front of the boat and nap on the life jackets and a blanket to get out of the heat. During fishing time, I worked the live well by catching bait with a net and taking it to whoever needed a replacement.
We took the boat out of the water each afternoon. We’d scale fish, fillet them, and cook some for dinner and still put plenty away in coolers to take back to Georgia. The sulfury-smelling showers in those campground bathrooms smelled like rotten eggs, but the memories they bring back are pure joy. We roasted marshmallows after supper, and I’d sleep above the cab with the windows open for the cross-breeze while the adults sat up by the fire well into the night.
I’m pretty sure that’s where the love of camping started for me. When I had my own children who loved to barrel race, we’d load the family and horses up along with my then-husband’s parents, and we’d pitch a tent by their horse trailer for small-camp rodeos. Our favorite was Buffalo River in Tennessee, where we camped right next to a river. The kids rode horses and did racing during the days, and the campground had a live band with two-step and line dancing each night, plus a cafeteria so we didn’t have to cook all the time. It was the first and only time I ever tasted rattlesnake from a trail ride where someone shot one to protect the horses, then brought it back to camp and grilled it up in slices. In those days, we were tent campers.
Soon, we graduated to a pop-up that we bought for next to nothing because the top was dry rotting and coming apart. I burned up a sewing machine stitching the repairs, but it was worth it because it lasted several years before we sold it and got a pull-behind camper with Florida windows and old tires that needed replacing right away. We used it for years while the kids were growing up, and we did the same things: swam, fished, cooked fireside, and played cards all evening.
Fast forward to my second marriage, and out of the blue one day my husband decided we should take up camping. I didn’t think he would like it since he likes to go out to eat dinner so much of the time and has a hard time sitting still. But we started looking for campers, bought a used Keystone Outback, and took it for a spin. And surprise of all surprises, he actually enjoyed it. We kept it for a few years and sold it, then bought a Little Guy Max teardrop camper that we kept for a couple of years and sold. Then we got another pull-behind – an InTech Willow, and kept it for a year before deciding to go with an RV. This time, we traded it in and got a Tiffin Wayfarer that both of us are able to drive and maneuver with setup and takedown, along with a good warranty. I can even dump the thing. I wanted to always be able for both of us to have the skill set to get us home if one of us takes a fall or doesn’t feel well enough to drive. At our ages, that becomes an important consideration when out on the road.
As I trace the love of camping back to the earliest days of my life, I believe those seeds were planted deep and bloomed and thrived. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s summer, spring, fall, or winter – – I’m always ready to back into a space, fire up the grill, and sit by a campfire, rooted in relaxation. Early morning coffee under trees filled with birdsong and the peaceful solitude of nature never, ever get old.
1969, Florida, on the front of Granddaddy’s boat
1969, Florida at the Live Well
Mom and me, Spring 1971, Fernandina Beach, Florida
Summer in Blackshear, Georgia, 1969 at my grandparents’ house
My mom’s mother worked in downtown Waycross, Georgia in the Sears and Roebuck Catalog Department. She took sales orders over the phone, and if my mother didn’t make the clothes I was wearing on her machine, it was practically guaranteed to have a Winnie the Pooh in the waist tag or on the left front chest. We got 20% off on everything – – at least, my grandmother did and so by default my mother did. When I think back on my childhood, this was my standard weekday garb. Shorts or knit slacks and a Winnie the Pooh shirt. The world had not yet thought of Velcro and light-up shoes, and honestly I think I am happy about that. At least I learned to tie my shoes early. Red Keds for the win! These were the days when dressing was so much easier – – this piece, that piece, shoes, and all the better if it actually matched. Oh, if we could just return to those days and clothes could fit as well as they used to. And if only the 100 Acre Wood were still a place as real as it once was.
L-R: Kitty (my grandmother’s good friend), me, Earl (my grandfather), Eunice (grandmother), and my mother, Miriam
In the spring of 1984, Dad took our family of four to London for a weeklong vacation. Those were the best breakfasts – broiled tomatoes, toast, bacon, and eggs. We stayed at Bed and Breakfasts where we had to share a bathroom with other families on our same floor. These are the family photos that make me want to push a button and make it real again – – to be able to sit and chat with Mom. Time stands still for no one, though, and now it’s just my brother and I who are here to have those talks.
It’s America’s birthday year, and like thousands of families across the country during its Bicentennial, my family went to Washington, D.C. in July to visit our local congressman. At that time, we lived on St. Simons Island, Georgia. We loaded up our station wagon with two of our grandparents and went to visit Congressman Ronald Bryan “Bo” Ginn, our 1st Congressional District representative who served from 1973-1983, and who was instrumental in forming the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Brunswick. He was a strong advocate for coastal Georgia, and it was an iconic year to take that trip to our nation’s capital.
There we were, in his office: my dad’s parents Georgia Lee and W.F. Haynes, Sr.; my dad, Felix Haynes (W.F. Haynes, Jr.); my brother Ken, me, Bo Ginn in the striped tie, and my mother, Miriam Haynes. My grandmother had her usual look of hidden amusement as if she’d witnessed something funny the rest of us hadn’t seen and holding her pocketbook like she always did, giving the impression she was always ready to get in the car and go back home. My grandfather was always smiling, too, probably believing that there was a lot to smile about in the world; he was 58 in this photo, and I turn 60 this month – – so perhaps the smile is rooted in the joy of being alive and kicking. Now Dad, I’m not sure why he picked that shirt; he was a Southern Baptist minister, but his collar makes him appear more Catholic, as if he’s about to lead a mass in a Congressional cathedral. My mother and Bo look like they know what’s going on and would be competent to handle any world news situation that might arise at any time. My brother and I, sharing the honors of sitting in the decision chair, look as if we’ve been jumping on the bed in the hotel room and had a few arm wrestling matches on the way to this moment in time; we were ten and five. In the days of film photography, this might have been the best the photographer could do. But I can see the same stance tendencies my grandmother had already forming in me, with those folded arms and gaze set to the left.
There is much to learn about taking photos from this trip, as I look back. Expressions and stance matter, and the photographer should feel free to make a few suggestions to help.
Washington, D.C. – July 1976
Even novice photographers (likely my grandfather, who I know was legally blind in one eye, but still….) can also take an extra moment to be sure things will turn out as intended. Take this photo below, for example. Maybe take a minute and make sure there are no thumbs or unwanted derrieres in the photo, for starters. Even though it’s clear the photographer was attempting to follow the famous rule of thirds in the photo, it might have been thoughtful to crop some of those steps. Likewise, it would have gone a long way to take a moment and yell at my brother. He was on the steps of the Nation’s Capital, for Lord’s sake, and I was the only one – a mere ten year old – trying to make him behave. And I hate mentioning this, but just asking me to put my hand down might have been a good idea that apparently went unsuggested. It brings to mind the sheer reality of how movies like National Lampoon’s Vacation and the things that make us look back and laugh are all sitting right there in all our own family photographs.
