A DAY AT THE BEACH (Old Photos & A Dream-Based Haiku)

I started to open this post saying it may seem odd to do a beach post in winter. But given the unseasonably warm weather we've been having, that's not at all the case...:-)

When I took out my photos I was looking for some of my Uncle Dick who died recently (see the introducing paragraph here for a little more detail). I found the only ones I have left of him are from a visit he made to our family at the beach house we lived in the summers my father was performing in a marine theatre. Here's a postcard from those times, at least 54 years ago:



The back of the postcard (which has no year on it, surprisingly) says: "A typical evening scene at the Jones Beach Marine Theatre where thousands of theatre-goers from all over the world attend Michael Todd's magnificent production of 'A night in Venice.' Built by the Long Island State Park Commission, the new Marine Theatre, seating 8,200, is the world's most modern and beautiful outdoor showplace." I just did a very quick google to see if it still exists and it doesn't look like it survived past the 1980's, though I didn't have the patience to really dig into it.* If it's still there, it may be only as a "landmark." (BTW, my father used to sing the lead part in that particular show.)

This next photo is from the same time, outside our beach house, and is of my Uncle Dick (seated), my father, their mother (my beloved G'ma Hill, who was also visiting), and me:



The beach house was on a canal and we had a boat we "parked" in it. Though the boat in the below photo is not ours; if memory serves, ours did not have a "canopy" and was a bit smaller. However, I am sure that is my Uncle Dick happily paddling along in the canal (we were a family of water rats :-D):



I love this next photo. On the left is my father, in the middle is my brother, and on the right, my Uncle Dick. It is so typical of my father to be reaching out carefully to an animal:



This photo calls to mind an old dream-based haiku of mine:

stormy night
my father tenderly cares
for the ailing bird

My relationships with my father, brother and uncle became, shall I say, ultimately very difficult. But I am delighted to have these photos and the warm memories they remind me to cherish. I.e., I need not "throw the baby out with the bathwater;" I can still have what was good about us.

[If you'd like to see a four generations photo that is over 60 years old from this same side of my family, click here.]

*Note of 2-21-07: I stumbled across this reference to Jones Beach Marine Theatre on KPMG's Long Island campus information page: "Jones Beach Marine Theatre — concerts by the sea by the biggest names in popular music..." So it seems it still exists. :-)

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‘til next time, keep dreaming,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****My other blog: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL.