Fresh Air ~ Part 3

It took me a few days to settle in to living with the McCorkles.  

I wanted to hang around Mrs. McCorkle more than I wanted to play with Nan and Peter.  I’m not sure if it was because of the age differences between us or because she was a mom and I missed mine.  It was the only time I remember being homesick.   Mrs. McCorkle consoled me and told me to go outside and play and I would feel better.  I did.

Back side of the house.

Their house was big (fourteen rooms on three stories) and the yard was even bigger. 

That's Nan being towed as Mrs. McCorkle paddles.

Down from the house was a small pond.  I couldn’t swim, but I did go in the water and Mrs. McCorkle took me for a ride in a small boat, towing Nan behind in a floating raft.

Didn't remember that there were ducks in the pond. 
Too bad they "ducked" their heads down for my glamour pose!



In the pond with Mrs. McCorkle and "Lassie!"

I did not remember the McCorkles having a dog until I saw these pictures of the large Collie. His name also escapes me.  We were cat people and we wouldn't get our first dog, Teddy, until we moved to Long Island.  He was part Collie.  

Sunning by the pond.  Peter has his back to the camera.
We played under the weeping willow behind me.

There were two willow trees, but we played only under the right one.

Next to the pond were the biggest trees I’d ever seen—weeping willows.  We played underneath the one on the side of the pond closest to the house.  It was like our own private clubhouse. 

It's hard to tell from the picture just how large those trees were.  In my memory they were as tall as buildings and as big underneath as a city block!    Weeping willow trees continue to remind me of this place and this time.  Mom planted one in our front yard in 1962, two years after we left the Bronx.  I wonder if I had any input in her decision?

Bordering the yard was a cow pasture.  I remember running with Nan and Peter in the pasture.  That is where I saw my first cow patty after being warned not to step in them and me asking, “What’s a cow patty?”  Peter pointed one out to me.  I poked it with a stick.  Gooey!!  After that I was very careful not to step on one!

Besides playing in the yard and down by the pond, I remember the three of us walking down the lane a short way to a little Mom and Pop store and buying candy.  We also went to town a few times where I got to sit down to watch my first country auction. 


One time we went to a small local festival and I got to take my first hayride.  I was fearful riding in the haywagon.  We sat in mounds of straw.  It was just me and Nan and some other kids.  I didn't know where the wagon was going, but in the end, nothing "bad" happened and we returned safe and sound to the waiting McCorkles.  Trust is earned in small doses and they did earn their share during those two weeks.

Front side of the house showing
the large screened in porch on the left.

Another memory I have is being in the living room when Mr. and Mrs. McCorkle were watching the Democratic National Convention on television.  This dates my trip to the time around July 15, 1960 when John F. Kennedy won the Democratic presidential nomination.  I don’t think Mr. McCorkle liked Kennedy very much because I remember him saying, "I hope a Catholic doesn't get in the White House.”  Thankfully, I didn't know about such things as prejudice and discrimination so I did not take offense, even though I was raised Catholic.

Nan and Lassie coming into the living room.

The day finally came for me to go home.  Mrs. McCorkle picked a large bouquet of snap dragon flowers for my mother.  I don’t remember the return train trip but do remember giving my mother the flowers, which were a little worse for wear after the trip.

My mother kept in touch with the McCorkles via Christmas cards and such.  Mrs. McCorkle sent me a Paul Revere whistling tea kettle as a wedding present when I married Don in February, 1970.   Her generosity prompted me to go and see them again.

We drove up for a visit later that summer.  Nan and Peter weren’t there so it was just the four of us.  The McCorkles of ten years ago were gone.  These new McCorkles were once again strangers and the uncomfortable feelings of being in the midst of strangers all came back to me. Too much time had passed.  I never heard from them or saw them again after that, but to this day I do wonder about them.

All in all, my memories of my time as a Fresh Air Fund kid are good ones.  I am thankful that the McCorkles opened up their home to me that summer and gave me a taste of country living.  It may be why I have always preferred to live in the country rather than in a big city. 

My thanks go out to the McCorkles wherever you are!  Thanks for the memories!

~ P