Memories of “A Kid from the Heights”

The Pine Tree

There was a huge pine tree near the corner of English and Station Roads before any development in that area. This Pine was ‘our’ tree. Serge Lévesque and I would go to Wood’s store and buy a 5-cent big bottle of Kik Cola.

Then the largest bag of chips from my parents’ store (Moore’s General Store) lay around that old pine tree all day, plotting the upcoming course of our respective lives. We started and completed so many adventures under that old tree.

One could sense the relief of that old tree, as it seemed to sigh when it saw us coming with our supply of food for thought for another day travelling via daydreams.

We travelled the world, near and far, under that old tree. We left our youth behind under that old pine tree.

I miss my friend Serge and that old pine tree. Travelling was so much more fun with my friend Serge and that big old pine tree.

Lucy

With WW-II ending in 1945, tens of thousands of men and women arrived back in Canada, continuing to their respective home provinces to reunite with their families or begin life afresh, starting their own families.

My memory started in 1950, when I was about four years old with my family still living at my grandparent’s home in Montréal at 543 Madeleine St., in Pointe-Saint-Charles, with my mom, dad, and younger sister Margaret Ann. When I was born, my dad had just received his honorable discharge after serving ten years of active duty in the Royal Canadian Navy. So, yes, more often than not, I was dressed in a sailor’s outfit, and my grandfather always called me his little Skipper. Over the years, most of my aunts and uncles lost any memory of my given name, and I became Skipper. Shortened to Skip over the years, a shield I wore proudly for decades.

My parents also had a summer cottage on Center Road in Terrebonne Heights. What an incredible stroke of good fortune this would turn out to be for me, at this time in my young life, and for my entire life journey.

During the week, my dad worked at the Canadian Naval Supply Depot in Montréal. He would come up to the Heights on the weekends. The trip from Montréal was a long, mostly wandering one. Once Dad crossed over the Pie-IX bridge off the island of Montréal, he would continue driving north, arriving at the village of Laval. The remaining road network to Terrebonne would slowly lead from village to town, eventually arriving at the Terrebonne Bridge.

Terrebonne was a beautiful village full of unique Québécois-style homes. These early constructions were usually rectangular structures of one-story, evolving into two-story building structures. These buildings were designed with an extremely tall and steep roof, sometimes almost twice as tall as the house below, to help prevent snow accumulation. These ‘18th’ century houses were usually built of wood, although the surviving ones in Terrebonne mainly were constructed of fieldstone.

It was a long trip for my dad, but every time, I would be sitting on the front steps, waiting for my dad to arrive. It was always pure joy for us when Dad came to our cottage.

Meanwhile, my mom would have some older cousins stay with us for the summer months. Because neither Margaret Ann nor I were in school, Mom and the kids would venture to the Heights in June and stay too late in September. Even at this young age, I felt that there was something magical about this summer cottage on Center Road. I loved every morning, sunshine or rain; it didn’t seem to matter. This place was that distinct.

Later in life, I wished we had named our cottage; it deserved a name. I would have named her Lucy. Meaning Born at Dawn, as this is where this Don’s journey began.

Our little Lucy had an icebox on the front stoop; an old hand pump supplied cold, clean water, a small wood stove to take the chill off when necessary, and electric lighting. There was an outhouse out back; I can’t remember if it was a one or a two-seater, but I remember how cold it could be.

I also remember how we’d scoot across those cold floors on those cool mornings to the safety of the warm sofa waiting to embrace us. Mom would make us egg-in-a-glass—pieces of chopped-up buttered toast with a soft-boiled egg stirred in. If you haven’t eaten toast made on an old wood stove, you just haven’t eaten toast yet.

Other than Mom taking a bottle of Mercurochrome, unscrewing the cap with that little glass rod attached, and dabbing Mercurochrome on the issue of the moment. Injuries could have been anything, from a cut knee to a limb’s near amputation—Mercurochrome was to the rescue. Then, Mom treated a cut knee, a sneeze, and a wasp sting with an Egg-in-a-glass. Yes, there was magic in an egg-in-a-glass.

Now having a bath was always a significant production. Having to heat the water on the stove and fill up the tub, okay, never was that old steel tub ever full, but there would be enough water to get wet and wash.

Drinking water in the Heights was plentiful and relatively easy to access. Sand made up the entire Heights area, and you would be hard-pressed to find anything resembling a stone, let alone a boulder. The two standard methods to access water were digging a well or driving a ‘point’ into the ground until you hit a water seam. The point was a spear-shaped filter attached to the bottom of the pipe, a prevalent method for a cottage.

A residence would often opt for a dug well, with neighbors helping neighbors, facilitating the process, and safety concerns related to this project. Once the initial hole started, a three-foot-high by four-foot diameter cement well casing would be lowered into the cavity. The digging would continue with an additional culvert added as needed. Usually, one man in the well and another at the surface would raise the bucket and empty it before lowering it back into the well. The final stage would be to cap the well.

It is now 1951; I was five years old, so I would always be dirty enough to be the last one in the tub.

Mom: Come on, Skipper, you’re next.

Me: But Mom, I’m only half dirty tonight.

Mom: And I don’t want to know which half young man, so we’re going to wash all of you tonight.

Me: Mom, I’ll really try to get all dirty tomorrow, so we’re not wasting water washing clean places, okay.

By then, the water was neither clean nor warm, but a comforting fluffy towel was always waiting for me.

There were chores to be done by my older cousins in the mornings. At the same time, I was looking for frogs or chasing the chickens. Then, it was off to the beach for the day, with a picnic.

We’d walk along Center Road toward Sunny Side Road because the other option, Park Row Road, only extended from Pine Road to Joy Road. Sunny Side was more of a laneway than a road, but it did cross over Joy Road to Poplar Road, leading to the entrance to Mugford’s beach. One of two beaches in the Heights.

The two beaches established the first ‘zones’ in the Heights. The entrance to Jimmy’s beach was off Garden Road. Garden Road intersected with English Road; it ran north and south. It also physically divided the village in half. So, anyone living east of Garden Road would often go to Jimmy’s, and those living west of Garden Road tended to go to Mugford’s.

Sometimes, on the way to the beach, a dust devil would form on one of those scorching hot days, and the wildflowers would be swirling around while the blowing sands whirled up from the road. I’d close my eyes as quickly as possible, but they liked to watch the flowers. So I usually ended up getting sand in my eyes. But Mom would always be there for me.

Mom: Skipper, I told you to close your eyes when this happens.

Me: I told them to close, Mom, but they wanted to look at the flowers.

Mom: At the flowers, eh…Oh Lord, give me strength.

Mugford’s had this white sugary color sand that would be warm and inviting. Now, I had red hair and freckles. Yes, the Irish in me, subjecting me to be very prone to getting sunburnt.

Even so, my mom would coat me with baby oil to protect me back in the day. Her intentions were wholesome; however, the results were inevitable, with me repeatedly getting burnt. These red welts would soon become blisters. With my skin being so sensitive, the thought of someone touching me would cause me pain.

Then, the Milk of Magnesia would be applied, drying to a flaky thin plaster-like substance. Which honestly seemed to help my mother more than it ever helped me. And ‘aloe vera’ at this time was still someone saying hello to someone named Vera. This constant burning would lead to severe issues for me later in life. But, at the time, life was fantastic. A white t-shirt solved most of these issues, protecting me in and out of the water.

My older cousins, May and Alan, spent summers with us from 1947 until 1954, when my parents bought their store. May was eleven years older than me, and Alan was nine years older.

Alan was constantly tormenting us with snakes of any variety he could find. Even being told that these snakes were harmless and couldn’t hurt me, I was not convinced. Alan was always eager to confirm that he knew of people, who died from snakebites and some, that only had a few fingers fall off due to the snake’s poison. He would tie snakes to the fence and chase me with them, and the worst was when he tied them to the gate, where he knew I had to pass.

Consequently, for the remainder of my life and even today, I have this apprehension, this anxiety or fear that something wrong or unpleasant will happen involving a snake. I’m sure he only saw it as fun while teasing his vulnerable young cousin; it wasn’t.

On the other hand, May was so much fun to be around. She tended to spoil her cute little redheaded cousin and adored my blond, blue-eyed little sister Margaret Ann.

I’m sure my dad appreciated May staying at Lucy all summer. Her Venus attractiveness allured many a young man to visit, culminating with them picking up that giant old scythe and helping Dad with the chore of cutting the deep grasses around our cottage. My mom enjoyed May’s company, too, as they were birds of a feather in their beauty and joie de vivre nature.

Each spring, Dad would order his baby chicks from the hatchery, arriving in crates at the train station in Terrebonne. Knowing how much I loved the sight and sounds of those big steam engines, Dad ensured that we would always arrive early, allowing me to be there for the train’s arrival. Standing on the platform, I’d hear the train’s whistle as it reached the Terrebonne train bridge. This enormous eruption of steam cascading the station would mark its arrival.

Once Dad stowed the chicks in the truck, he would wait so I could watch the train pull out of the station. The engine’s wheels would make one rotation with a big grunt, with the train standing motionless. The clunking of the cars taking up the slack would soon echo down the train’s length. The train slowly crept forward with each additional straining rotation, shortly departing the station.

A blast from the old train whistle signaled its final farewell. I fell asleep on the trip home, transporting me aboard the engine’s cab, with my hand on the throttle and a smile on my face.

With the sun now setting, yet hiding behind the towering Pine trees, while bringing on nightfall, ending another day in the Heights, the stars would begin their appearance. And although we didn’t have a vast night sky, because of the enclosing Pines, these open, blackened areas would become filled with millions of stars, a brilliance unimpeded by city lights and the like.

The heat of the day would surrender to the cooling night air, a freshness many today will never experience. I’m now in bed as my mom tucks me in, telling me she loves me.

The Beaches

As the sunlight poked into my bedroom, I anticipated heading to the beach again sometime today. My only job was staying out of trouble while Mom and May cleaned up the house. This staying out of trouble was never easy for me and not as easy as it sounded. The problem with staying out of trouble when you’re young is that you don’t know it’s trouble until you’re in it.

I peeked out to see what my cousin Allan might be scheming. Allan was fun when he wasn’t tormenting me with snakes he had befriended. I could see Margaret Ann heading to the kitchen, already in her bathing suit and carrying her pail. A sure sign that soon, we’d be off to Mugford’s.

Mugford’s was the first beach I remembered going to, as it was the closest to our summer cottage on Center Road. As my mom prepared the picnic basket and got our towels and blankets ready for our day at the beach, I would be anxiously waiting on Lucy’s front stoop with my younger sister Margaret Ann.

The sun had been up for a few hours, and all the dew had disappeared from the spider’s webs, making the traps disappear. I always liked it when the crickets were chirping in the morning, as it was usually a sign of a good day. I loved the crickets at night too, but I think I may have been alone with that one.

As we walked along Sunny Side, my cousin