Little Eric... In Groton, CT
I'm not clear on how long we lived in Greenfield, WI, but my father was transferred back to New London, CT to go to sea. My father was a COB on a submarine. the Sub was the "Ethan Allen". I remember my dad not being around a lot when we lived there.
What I do remember...
We lived in another apartment but this one was in a complex of them. The apartment complex was in a very nice neighborhood. I remember Connecticut being very woody. Not like the pine trees where I currently live but your typical tree in New England. Out back of the apartment was a playground with a outdoor grill made of concrete. Lots of picnic tables.
I would play with a another kid by the name of Ian. Now, Ian was the type of kid who got into trouble a lot and he had influences over a lot of kids including myself. The reason I say this is because Christmas 1970 or 1971, I got a pedal car. You know the type. You sit in it and there are two pedals and a steering wheel. You push on the pedals like a bike and a way you'd go. I remember my mom telling me that Ian was not to play with the car. The Pedal car was a Corvette, with a little motor in the back that sounded like a revving car engine when you pushed a button... very cool. I would imagine something like that today would go for $5,000.00 today on eBay. Being 3 or 4, I obeyed... Yeah right. One day I was out riding in it and Ian wanted to ride to. Well I told him he wasn't able to. No big deal. I played. Some how this kid convinced me to bash the plastic body off of the frame because he said the frame looked better than the body.. SO...... Ya know what happened? We smashed the plastic off and all was left was the metal frame. I was a big moron at three and when my father got home, I got the beating of my small life. Not only did it look like shit but still worked. My dad waited until the garbage men came to empty the dumpsters then made me watch them throw it in the garbage truck and get smashed. End of my busted up ride. Stupid mistake #1 of my life.
After the smashed Corvette incident, Ian was not a welcomed kid anymore. Another Ian incident involved my baby brother John. He was 1 1/2 when this happened. From now on I'm going to refer to my brother John as Beaver, a nickname I have called him since he was born. Anyways, there were a lot of picnic tables out back of the apartment. We were allowed to play in and around these tables. One day, while Beaver and I were playing on one of the tables, my brother managed to climb up on the seat section of the table. Well, Ian being the little shit he was.. pushed Beaver off of the picnic table seat. I can remember this clear as day. He landed face first in the grass with one arm at his side and the other one underneath him. When my mom picked him up his arm bent in a funny way. He dislocated his arm at the elbow. Of course my mom freaked out, dragging me by the arm to the car. This part is sketchy though. For some reason, we drove to the Emergency Department in a neighbors car. It was a older Rambler with a big red light on the dashboard. These were the days when kids weren't required to sit down in cars and I remember the trees along the road as we drove. We get to the ER someplace... I remember the inside of the ER very well. It had those smooth green bricks you used to see in hospitals and a green floor with black speckles all over them. Typical 1950, 1960's motife'. We weren't there very long because I don't remember the drive home because I fell asleep at the hospital. My brother wore a cast forever on his left arm.
I remember cookouts at the apartment complex a lot. There were a lot a people would cook out in the summer. I remember the skunks would come out of the woods at dusk. The smell was horrendous.
This was also a time when I started remembering music on the radio. My aunt Althea would come stay with my mom when my dad was away. She would play music on the record player my parents had in the living room. I remember one song she would play over and over... American Pie by Don McLean. I'm pretty sure at 3 or 4 years old I could sing every word to that song.
I remember when we would go out to pick my dad up when he returned from sea duty. The entrance on the base, the way the buildings looked, the towers painted in red and white checker. The dock that we picked him up at was huge.
We stayed in Groton until 1971. My father was then transferred to Bremerton, Washington. I have never been back to Connecticut and would like to return someday.
Eric
What I do remember...
We lived in another apartment but this one was in a complex of them. The apartment complex was in a very nice neighborhood. I remember Connecticut being very woody. Not like the pine trees where I currently live but your typical tree in New England. Out back of the apartment was a playground with a outdoor grill made of concrete. Lots of picnic tables.
I would play with a another kid by the name of Ian. Now, Ian was the type of kid who got into trouble a lot and he had influences over a lot of kids including myself. The reason I say this is because Christmas 1970 or 1971, I got a pedal car. You know the type. You sit in it and there are two pedals and a steering wheel. You push on the pedals like a bike and a way you'd go. I remember my mom telling me that Ian was not to play with the car. The Pedal car was a Corvette, with a little motor in the back that sounded like a revving car engine when you pushed a button... very cool. I would imagine something like that today would go for $5,000.00 today on eBay. Being 3 or 4, I obeyed... Yeah right. One day I was out riding in it and Ian wanted to ride to. Well I told him he wasn't able to. No big deal. I played. Some how this kid convinced me to bash the plastic body off of the frame because he said the frame looked better than the body.. SO...... Ya know what happened? We smashed the plastic off and all was left was the metal frame. I was a big moron at three and when my father got home, I got the beating of my small life. Not only did it look like shit but still worked. My dad waited until the garbage men came to empty the dumpsters then made me watch them throw it in the garbage truck and get smashed. End of my busted up ride. Stupid mistake #1 of my life.
After the smashed Corvette incident, Ian was not a welcomed kid anymore. Another Ian incident involved my baby brother John. He was 1 1/2 when this happened. From now on I'm going to refer to my brother John as Beaver, a nickname I have called him since he was born. Anyways, there were a lot of picnic tables out back of the apartment. We were allowed to play in and around these tables. One day, while Beaver and I were playing on one of the tables, my brother managed to climb up on the seat section of the table. Well, Ian being the little shit he was.. pushed Beaver off of the picnic table seat. I can remember this clear as day. He landed face first in the grass with one arm at his side and the other one underneath him. When my mom picked him up his arm bent in a funny way. He dislocated his arm at the elbow. Of course my mom freaked out, dragging me by the arm to the car. This part is sketchy though. For some reason, we drove to the Emergency Department in a neighbors car. It was a older Rambler with a big red light on the dashboard. These were the days when kids weren't required to sit down in cars and I remember the trees along the road as we drove. We get to the ER someplace... I remember the inside of the ER very well. It had those smooth green bricks you used to see in hospitals and a green floor with black speckles all over them. Typical 1950, 1960's motife'. We weren't there very long because I don't remember the drive home because I fell asleep at the hospital. My brother wore a cast forever on his left arm.
I remember cookouts at the apartment complex a lot. There were a lot a people would cook out in the summer. I remember the skunks would come out of the woods at dusk. The smell was horrendous.
This was also a time when I started remembering music on the radio. My aunt Althea would come stay with my mom when my dad was away. She would play music on the record player my parents had in the living room. I remember one song she would play over and over... American Pie by Don McLean. I'm pretty sure at 3 or 4 years old I could sing every word to that song.
I remember when we would go out to pick my dad up when he returned from sea duty. The entrance on the base, the way the buildings looked, the towers painted in red and white checker. The dock that we picked him up at was huge.
We stayed in Groton until 1971. My father was then transferred to Bremerton, Washington. I have never been back to Connecticut and would like to return someday.
Eric
posted by Eric at 10:52 PM
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