Meyer Creek played a vital part in the lives of my mother and her family. They used it for bathing and laundry washing. They kept their gardens and animals watered from it. Meyer Creek was a constant in their lives. When I helped my aunt create her autobiography, she gave it the title, The Tallents of Meyer Creek..png)
There were so many stories revolving around Meyer Creek... well, a whole book full of them.
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I'll write about MY memories of Meyer Creek.
I was #20 out of 21 cousins. A visit to Grandma & Grandpa's house in summer meant walking to the swimming hole in Meyer Creek. The aunts and uncles would give us towels, tell us to be careful, and send us on our way. Once we got there, the older cousins would first throw rocks at the snakes that would always be sunning themselves on the big gray rocks. Once the snakes had slithered off the rocks, we'd have the all clear. (Now... seriously... think about that for a minute... Where did those snakes go? Into the water probably? Into the cracks of the rocks maybe? Hmmm... ) It was time to try to wade in. I say "try" because the water was sooooo cold. On the hottest summer day, lips would be blue, teeth would be chattering, and limbs would be shivering. The big boy cousins would get in and splash around. The big girl cousins would spread their towels out on the low-water bridge to lay out. (Of course they'd squeal and have to jump up whenever a car would come.) The other little cousins and I would wade up to our ankles or knees then probably think it would be more fun to go and play on the big rocks. (Totally safe since the snakes could no longer be seen.)
So... why did I decide this was a good time to paint this one?
Well...
When cleaning up after our OLLI class, (Click HERE if to see that.) I scraped all of the students' left over paint onto a couple plates. Hmmm... what to do with all those greens and blues...
Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas
Click Meyer Creek if you'd like to purchase this painting.
Maybe with all the noise and splashing, the snakes just didn't have time for that and left, but the idea of them under the rocks - yikes. We had watering holes like that around the area where I grew up, without the fear of snakes! Good memories, though - and a nice painting!
ReplyDeleteYou know... I don't think we had any fear of the snakes either. As I think about it, what kind of silly snake would actually choose to hang around a bunch of squealing, splashing kids.
DeleteIncredibly realistic, Helen!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Odd how memories came flooding back to me as the blank canvas started looking more and more like the image of the creek I remembered.
DeleteGreat story, and wow, I had to scroll back up to the painting, because when I first looked I thought it was a photo! Is this in Arkansas? Isn't it incredible what we were allowed to do alone when we were growing up?
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes, it's near Hot Springs in Arkansas. And, YES, it's crazy what we didn't think twice about way back when!
DeleteHi Helen, wonderful painting and I enjoyed reading the back story. Many of us have such a swimming hole but not one used by family back in the day. Yes, where did those snakes go!!
ReplyDeleteThanks. As I think of it, what kind of silly snake would want to hang around where a bunch of squealing cousins were splashing. We were probably pretty safe. Ha ha!
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