A tent...a lantern and a stove

A tent, a Coleman lantern and a Coleman stove........yep, that was all you needed to go campin' back in the day...actually you didn't need the stove and I guess the lantern either...well for that matter you didn't need the tent....but who wanted to rough it........I was thinkin of those items while killin' some time before a luncheon as I was browsing through a R.E.I. store.

Don't ask me what R.E.I stands for but all I know is... it is a membership-type store,  it's got everything you need to live outside in the wilderness and you better bring a truck load of cash. It ain't cheap.

As soon as you walk in the place, you have kayaks on the right followed by mountain bikes..it seems like hundreds of them ...I kinda checked out the kayaks and it reminded me of my Stillwater days, but what kind of adventure would it be if your boat stayed afloat all of the time...they were way cool though...Next came the clothing and hiking shoe department.....I guess there could be something said for having the right hikin' boot.... I mean, you might be out there for day after day and you sure don't want any blisters....but come on, they had hiking boots for $300.00 and $400.00. They had day hiking boots and night hiking boots...I know, I know there will be one or two of you hiking aficionados who will tell me $400.00 is a good investment for a dang piece of leather....I mean let's face it Lewis and Clark hiked across the good ole U.S. of A and were probably just wearin' moccasins........they even had simulated rocks you could climb on to test out your boots 

I wandered over to the tents and sleeping bags. Now when I pitched my first tent, it was in the backyard. It was canvas, it had wooden poles, and itchy ropes and metal stakes....it smelled like...um....canvas.....and if you touched it when it was rainin' it supposedly would leak in that area..it didn't matter though..it leaked wherever there was a grommet.....we did a lot of things in that tent in the backyard....some of which ended up in a police report as a result of playin' strip poker as little Skeeter kids.......you can read about that though in my forthcoming book, "Skeeter"......I think the neighbors might have put their house up for sale after that incident.

I was amazed at the tents in R.E.I.....I mean you could compress a tent that could sleep 37 people in it down to a size of a cigar box...and it only weighed a pound or two. The sleeping bags were another story...I mean, they have what I call snuggle comfort even if the temperature got down to minus 80 degrees....trust me, I ain't going campin ANYWHERE where it gets under 50 degrees let alone a minus number...some of those bags cost as much as $700.00.

I had to hurry along cuz it was starting to get close to lunch and I did check out the packaged freeze dried food section...The had all the fixin's to feed 24 people, with a 4 course dinner..including 3 dessert choices and all you had to do was add water....amazing....I remember when a couple of us went camping down to Cumberland Lake and all we took was a can of beans...and about 4 cases of beer....and that canvas tent....we didn't play strip poker...but I do think one of us ended up naked sleepin' on a picnic table.

I guess times have changed a little bit and camping isn't quite the way it used to be....it's nice having the luxuries of home...but I thought that was why you wanted to just get away

It's all about the journey.....

 (this is a condensed story from my forthcoming book,  "Skeeter")

"Headin'  downriver"

When I was a young Skeeter boy growing up in the Midwest...one of the first things we did after the school bell rang for the last time and signaled in the start of Summer, was to head down to the Stillwater River and begin our annual adventure of building the best raft in the world. My friend, "The Jer" and I would make the attempt to circumnavigate the world each year  by launching a homemade vessel constructed from fallen trees that accumulated in the nearby woods along the banks of the river. We would lash the logs together with rope I stole from mom's clothesline and "The Jer" and I would dream of migrating into the Miami River and then the Ohio River and then, ....well, we weren't sure what river came next, but we knew we would make it into some ocean.. 

I was in charge of design. I used the basic Huck Finn plan but added such things as a broken aluminum lawn chair that we nailed to one of the logs to serve as the captain's chair and a piece of plywood nailed to a broken broom handle that we used as a rudder. The rudders were never necessary though, because each year we barely made it more than a 100 feet before the rafts started sinking due to the water-logged,  rotten logs.

This probably was best however, since although  we knew we had our first obstacle in finding a way to keep everything intact once we made it to the Helena Street spillway, we weren't sure what lay ahead in our trek.....we were just happy to be attempting the journey....regardless of what the outcome would be.

And so it was.....it would be my training and basis for the rest of my life......"enjoying the journey and not to worry about failure or success...it was about seizing the moment."

It doesn't always have to be about winning or accumulating things....even Babe Ruth who everyone identified as the homerun king maintained a close race on another record....a record for strikeouts. Twenty four percent of the time "The Babe" made an out, it was because of a strikeout.

I've had a recent setback in my attempt to get these stories into print. but that won't dismay me....heck, if nothing else it gives me strength to find a way down that river of hope where all dreams come true.....but more importantly, I'm enjoying the journey....it's the journey that is the adventure.

So, it's time to find more logs, find some more rope and push off from shore once again and continue the journey.

Rikes, Tikes and train sets

Christmastime in the 50s and 60s in Dayton, Ohio meant a visit downtown to Rikes department store and the toy department called Tikes which was a favorite for kids young and old.


Growing up, I had easy access to the electric buses that ran all through the suburbs and eventually downtown  since the bus route literally stopped at my back yard on the Redwood route and the driver would rest or take a smoke break or get back on schedule  So it wasn't unusual that even as young as 6 or 7 my friends and I would take a trip downtown, naturally unbeknownst  to our parents.

One year at Christmas, two of my friends, Jerry Anthony, Gerry "The Jer" Wintersteen and I decided we wanted to get a first hand look at the latest toys on display,  so we paid our nickel, climbed on board and headed downtown to Rikes and Tikes.


Tikes was fantastic...It was Santa's workshop right there in downtown Dayton...we walked around for hours looking and touching as many toys as possible. The electric trains were a showpiece of Tikes and we struggled to get as close to the trains as possible and let our minds imagine having a setup like that in our own basements.

Our timing couldn't have been better because just as we were watching the Lionel engine making its circuitous route a staff photographer for the Dayton Daily News snapped our picture and jotted our names down.


Not thinking much more about the photo session, since we were dreaming of that train set, we ventured on home in time for dinner, with our moms never knowing the difference.


The next day at dinner, as I came into the house I was greeted with a "Young man, do you have anything to tell me"...those words in themselves could bring fear in anyone...I kinda looked around with my head down and spotted that dang picture right smack dab on the front page edition of the Dayton Daily News...I hesitated...and again I heard.."Well, do you...do you have anything to tell me?".....I thought and thought and miraculously the answer came to me.....I said  "I love you..is that it?".......Mom shook her head, put her arms around me and hugged me like only a Skeeter's mom could do and I could see a slight tear in her eye that quickly became a twinkle and she said..."Skeeter what in the world am I gonna do with you"....she never brought the incident up again ...nor did I.......Gosh I loved Christmas. I loved Rikes and Tikes and boy, I loved that electric train.

Harlan's Helpful Tips for Christmas

Mr. Tom has dunned ast me to kinda sit in for him cuz he's a gettin' behind in all of his work stuff. 

I told him I'd write sumthin down for him that he could put on this here  blogger thingy......So, Ma, Pa and my sister Harlanetta, pictured over here, and I sat down last night and we came up with 3 things you do and don't want to have a goin on during these special holiday times. So here goes.

1. Make sure ya git all your rooms cleaned out of stuff and dirty plates and any varmit droppings that ya might have. Often times relatives and people ya don't really know too good will drop in and say "Howdy" or "Merry Christmas" during the holidays and they git ta snoopin and lookin under your beds and take a peek in your undies drawer and whatnot. Also, be sure and throw away any of them toilet paper rolls you been a savin' since last Christmas and are a stackin up in the waste basket.

2. Don't give no pets out during Christmas specially doggies or kitty cats....cept  possums cuz they just lay there and don't do nuthin, , you can give those out...People get all too concerned about themselves and them little doggies git all lost in the confusion and sometimes git throwed out with the wrappings and bows and stuff....If ya wanna give a doggie pet for a gift....ya might wanna check with Pet Homeless Shelters.....them rescued dogs make fine companions and they shore will be indebted to you for sparing their lives...Momma always says you can judge a man by the way he treats animals....Momma is real bright like that....Matter of fact...Cooper was one of them dogie rescues.

3. And thirdly ...don' be a stickin your finger down in the light socket if fer some reason your whole string of lights have gone out. That can smart like the devil and you'll end up with a big ole blister on yer finger that will keep you from doin' any whittlin during the holidays.....Go and git you a neighbor kid and have him put his finger in there....better yet....have him put his tongue in there cuz it will give a better connection.

Thats's all I got fer now...but I'll be back.....this here's Harlan P. Wilcox sittin in for ole Tom.

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated"

Mark Twain uttered those words when news of his death was mistakenly reported in the New York Journal. And it's for his ability to share these kind of stories that he is so enamored  in the hearts of Americans. I don't purport to have that ability, but I think you'll find the following story, not only heart-warming, but entertaining as well.

Earlier this week I had been contacted by the spouse of a former high school classmate asking  if I had heard anything about the passing of a certain individual. That supposedly deceased person was from her husband's and my Class of 1966 of Fairview High School.  Her husband, Ed,  had mentioned that he had heard or read something about the passing and she mentioned  that person had previously lived across the street from them.. For some reason, I have gained the reputation of being able to seek out long lost friends and classmates, so I reluctantly accepted the task even though it saddened me to do so, suspecting the worse case scenario..

I initially inquired of some of my classmates that I am in contact with on a daily basis, one of which who had also lived across the street from Danny and his wife at one time. .She was deeply saddened hearing of the news, however, she had no idea where he lived. So, I started with the simplest source of searching, Google, and began to gain a little headway and in fact found out that Danny was living, or perhaps dead by now, in Pinehurst, N.C.  I didn't have an email address and although I looked in every newspaper of any size in North Carolina, I was unable to find an obituary. I did find, however, someone who I thought might be a daughter, who taught at the Univ. of N.C. at Chapel Hill.
As I get further into my 60's it is not uncommon to learn of the passing of classmates all too often and I began wishing I hadn't taken this quest. I sadly wrote her an email explaining my mission, offering condolences if in fact her father had passed away, and apologizing if in fact she was not related.
Danny was one of the nice guys in high school.. Quiet, friendly  always willing to help you. . And as I kept asking more and more classmates if they had any news, the  same platitudes kept pouring out. All stating what a nice guy he was and he would be missed.
It wasn't  10 minutes later that I had.heard from Danny Joslin and the  "The reports of his death being  greatly exaggerated". Danny's daughter had contacted him upon receiving the email  and he immediately replied. I had to ask him in 2 consecutive emails if he was really  alive. He convinced me he and his wife Susan  Behney Joslin, also a '66 classmate, were alive and living in North Carolina with their two daughters close by and five wonderful grandchildren.

We exchanged a few more emails with  me  giving he and his wife links to Fairview-related web sites and I immediately informed my classmates  of the news and the mistaken report.
Danny thanked me for my diligence and concern and I continually told him how happy I was hearing he was alive. I'm sure he just smiled.
I'm still smiling now as I retell this story and know that I will certainly have a Merry Christmas knowing that the saddest of news turned out to be the happiest of news.