Amazing how time changes things, both in reality and in our mind. I have a similar reaction when I go back to my hometown of Walker, MN- population 941 or thereabouts. It remains exactly the same as when I left after I turned 15, and yet it's completely different. The broad outlines remain unchanged, and the bones are familiar, but the people, the businesses, and everything that brings Walker to life has changed.
Walker has become so much more Conservative. It's now a town filled with Trumpers, and it feels run down and as if it's dying from the inside. I may go back, but I have no burning desire to. I suppose it's what happens when your memory and reality diverge over time. Walker may be my hometown and the place where I grew up...but it's no longer home.
Yes, exactly! I'm amazed at the power Willoughby still has over me. Even with all the changes, it's still a place where I feel at peace—at least for now.
I'm sorry your hometown has changed politically in ways that don't mesh with your values. That has got to be terribly painful. Maybe there's hope and it'll go full circle and you'll go back someday and recognize it, find that connection again. Dream on, right?
My version of this is where my dad grew up….my grandparents moved to Vero Beach, Florida from the suburbs of Toronto when my dad was 10-ish. All his friends were local farm kids whose families owned orange groves and wetlands. They used to watch the shuttle launches from a boat from within the network of rivers and springs and then go play billiards with star baseball players when the Dodgers were in town for spring training. I was lucky enough to have summers at my grandma’s house in the 80’s with the same atmosphere. Now, all the wetlands are filled and I believe there’s a Disney beach resort
Oh wow, shuttle launches and baseball and boats—that's absolutely kid heaven! I'm glad you got to experience some of what your dad did. A Disney resort—criminal!
Loved seeing pics of the lake and thanks for the walk down memory lane. I cherish the times our families spent together at Lake Willoughby. I'll miss the maple sugar candy but so grateful the lake is still clear and beautiful.
There was (and is) nothing like it, is there? I'm so glad it's become an important place for my kids too. Sure wish we could develop our land there and have a place to go to whenever we want. Don't worry; maple sugar candy is abundant still, just not the yummy B grade!
Beautiful, melancholy piece. I think most of us can relate: for me it is Rubicon Bay at Lake Tahoe, California. Although I now live just two hours away, I will probably never return. Tahoe in general has changed so much since 'my' era, the 60s-70s, that I just can't bear to see it. When my father was a child (!), he used to camp solo for the summer on the shore. I am glad he isn't around to witness the current day version of Tahoe. Thank you for sharing your memory and experience.
Thank you, Caryl. I'm sorry to hear that Tahoe has changed so much that you don't want to go back there. How sad. I was there a time or two many years ago, in the ’90s, so I never saw what you did. I completely understand how you feel, and I guess I'm lucky that "my" Vermont hasn't changed quite that much. Thank you for commenting and sharing your childhood heaven.
I guess I was lucky then, because our little slice of heaven didn't change while I was growing up. (I have to laugh at the word "resort," though—my mom used to wash diapers in the bathtub, the cottage walls were paper thin and the rooms tiny, drinking water came from a spring and not the tap, and the nearest grocery was a 20-minute drive. :-) ) Glad you enjoyed it!
Resort is absolutely a stretch! I guess it's the word used by all of the bunches of tiny cabins on lakes. This was/is 16 log-style cabins maybe rebuilt in the 50s. Light can be seen through cracks in the walls for sure. No AC or TV but they do have bathrooms and retrofitted tiny showers : )
Maple Groves Farms is no more??? I use to eat that candy as well! That makes me very sad. For you, yes, I get it: soul-crushing.
You touch on something very deep and visceral for me: our childhood happy place that is forever imprinted in our psyche and soul. It becomes so much a part of who we are, impossible to separate from the fibers of our being, our way of thinking and seeing the world.
Omg, you did? Clearly we are soul sisters! If you ever get back to Vermont, check out Bragg Farm a bit north of Barre. Excellent dark maple syrup and maple creamees. Alas, no one has that B-grade candy! Thank you for your lovely comment. We were lucky to have childhoods equipped with happy places.
Yes! My dad use to buy them as a special treat. I had a friend with a home and barn (as his studio) and land in Vermont and that's the only time I've been there, but sadly he has moved. Gorgeous state.
You paint such vivid pictures. Even though I’ve never been there, I have a nostalgia and sadness for the place, and yet an appreciation for what survives. Don Henley sings, “that same small town in each of us,” in his End Of The Innocence that really moves me. You’ve done the same with this.
Does any part of the lake not freeze? I ask because my friends in Idaho float their dock to a non-freezing part of the lake each autumn, rather than lifting it up and out.
Amazing how time changes things, both in reality and in our mind. I have a similar reaction when I go back to my hometown of Walker, MN- population 941 or thereabouts. It remains exactly the same as when I left after I turned 15, and yet it's completely different. The broad outlines remain unchanged, and the bones are familiar, but the people, the businesses, and everything that brings Walker to life has changed.
Walker has become so much more Conservative. It's now a town filled with Trumpers, and it feels run down and as if it's dying from the inside. I may go back, but I have no burning desire to. I suppose it's what happens when your memory and reality diverge over time. Walker may be my hometown and the place where I grew up...but it's no longer home.
Yes, exactly! I'm amazed at the power Willoughby still has over me. Even with all the changes, it's still a place where I feel at peace—at least for now.
I'm sorry your hometown has changed politically in ways that don't mesh with your values. That has got to be terribly painful. Maybe there's hope and it'll go full circle and you'll go back someday and recognize it, find that connection again. Dream on, right?
A boy can dream….
My version of this is where my dad grew up….my grandparents moved to Vero Beach, Florida from the suburbs of Toronto when my dad was 10-ish. All his friends were local farm kids whose families owned orange groves and wetlands. They used to watch the shuttle launches from a boat from within the network of rivers and springs and then go play billiards with star baseball players when the Dodgers were in town for spring training. I was lucky enough to have summers at my grandma’s house in the 80’s with the same atmosphere. Now, all the wetlands are filled and I believe there’s a Disney beach resort
Oh wow, shuttle launches and baseball and boats—that's absolutely kid heaven! I'm glad you got to experience some of what your dad did. A Disney resort—criminal!
Loved seeing pics of the lake and thanks for the walk down memory lane. I cherish the times our families spent together at Lake Willoughby. I'll miss the maple sugar candy but so grateful the lake is still clear and beautiful.
There was (and is) nothing like it, is there? I'm so glad it's become an important place for my kids too. Sure wish we could develop our land there and have a place to go to whenever we want. Don't worry; maple sugar candy is abundant still, just not the yummy B grade!
Beautiful, melancholy piece. I think most of us can relate: for me it is Rubicon Bay at Lake Tahoe, California. Although I now live just two hours away, I will probably never return. Tahoe in general has changed so much since 'my' era, the 60s-70s, that I just can't bear to see it. When my father was a child (!), he used to camp solo for the summer on the shore. I am glad he isn't around to witness the current day version of Tahoe. Thank you for sharing your memory and experience.
Thank you, Caryl. I'm sorry to hear that Tahoe has changed so much that you don't want to go back there. How sad. I was there a time or two many years ago, in the ’90s, so I never saw what you did. I completely understand how you feel, and I guess I'm lucky that "my" Vermont hasn't changed quite that much. Thank you for commenting and sharing your childhood heaven.
We had a similar resort situation - every year things were replaced with new, less-charming versions. Really enjoyed this piece!
I guess I was lucky then, because our little slice of heaven didn't change while I was growing up. (I have to laugh at the word "resort," though—my mom used to wash diapers in the bathtub, the cottage walls were paper thin and the rooms tiny, drinking water came from a spring and not the tap, and the nearest grocery was a 20-minute drive. :-) ) Glad you enjoyed it!
Resort is absolutely a stretch! I guess it's the word used by all of the bunches of tiny cabins on lakes. This was/is 16 log-style cabins maybe rebuilt in the 50s. Light can be seen through cracks in the walls for sure. No AC or TV but they do have bathrooms and retrofitted tiny showers : )
Maple Groves Farms is no more??? I use to eat that candy as well! That makes me very sad. For you, yes, I get it: soul-crushing.
You touch on something very deep and visceral for me: our childhood happy place that is forever imprinted in our psyche and soul. It becomes so much a part of who we are, impossible to separate from the fibers of our being, our way of thinking and seeing the world.
Thank you for taking us back there with you.
Omg, you did? Clearly we are soul sisters! If you ever get back to Vermont, check out Bragg Farm a bit north of Barre. Excellent dark maple syrup and maple creamees. Alas, no one has that B-grade candy! Thank you for your lovely comment. We were lucky to have childhoods equipped with happy places.
Yes! My dad use to buy them as a special treat. I had a friend with a home and barn (as his studio) and land in Vermont and that's the only time I've been there, but sadly he has moved. Gorgeous state.
You paint such vivid pictures. Even though I’ve never been there, I have a nostalgia and sadness for the place, and yet an appreciation for what survives. Don Henley sings, “that same small town in each of us,” in his End Of The Innocence that really moves me. You’ve done the same with this.
Thanks so much, Michael. Excuse me while I go sob now.
Does any part of the lake not freeze? I ask because my friends in Idaho float their dock to a non-freezing part of the lake each autumn, rather than lifting it up and out.
No, it freezes completely. Lots of ice fishing and snowmobiling!