Little Eric.... Washington State

My father was transferred to the Naval base at Bremerton, Washington in 1972. We live in base housing that consisted of a Duplex type house with a garage. Quaint but nice. My bedroom was on the lower level along with my brother. The house was set up when you entered the front door was the hallway to the living room. Off to the left was the enterance to the kitchen. Between the hall way and the kitchen was the steps leading downstairs. The living room was large and spacious with a deck off of the dining area. My mom and dad's bedroom was halfway down the hall between the front door and the living room. The lower level consisted of a laundry room, a basement area and a bedroom. There was also a door leading to the outside. In the basement area my dad put up a basketball net. He was able to do this because I wittle as said by Jenny. Ha ha.

The area of Bremerton where we lived was in the Jackson Park area along the Sound inlet. From the deck on the rear of the house you could see Mt. Rainer.. it was very cool. Across the sound from Bremerton is Seattle. Every so often we would go there via a ferry. The thought of driving a car on a boat to get across the Sound is strange to me now.

Our neighbors to the left were the Nelson's. They had two daughters, Andrea and Wendy. We played with them most of the time when we first moved in. The duplex in which we lived was smack dab in the middle of the block. Behind the apartments were a playground with a series of picnic tables and a shelter for gatherings. The neighborhood sat on a hill with houses above and below us with trails leading from one block to the other.

I rememeber my mom telling me that we could not go any farther to play than each of the houses besides ours. Limiting us to anywhere in front of the house to all the way to the bay. I remember playing by the water alot. I remember catching crabs...(Not the type Jenny has given out, just a sling back for the C.S. remarks she seems to enjoy calling me) and keeping them in coffee cans to play with later. One time we caught a whole shitload only to have my brother and little Wendy from next door, smash them with thier steel wheeled rollerskates.

This was the time we actually got a pet. A long legged Beagle we called Rusty. Rusty was a great dog. He would go every where with us. When he got out on his own he was a roamer, so we tended to keep him inside when we weren't playing with him. He did get out one time and was missing for a couple of weeks. Story had it there was a guy that would roam neighborhoods looking for dogs and steal them. He was caught and our dog was returned to us.

Since we lived on the west coast. It was easier for my uncles and aunts to visit from Portland, Oregon. My Uncle Darrell and Aunt Juree would visit often which was nice for my mother. The time we were in Wash., The family would gather at our place for Christmas.

I started school in 1972 at Jackson Park elementary. My kindergarten teacher's name was Mrs. Wartman. She was a young teacher, from what I remember. School is kinda sketchy... I remember certain things but not alot. The next year, in 1st grade, my teacher was Mrs. Kissinger. She was your garden variety teacher with the cat eyed glasses and the grey hair. I did a look up earlier this year in the Kitsap Journal for anybody I remember from there and her name came up. She died in 2001 at 88.

The highlight for the week was Saturday morning cartoons. We didn't have the 24 crap cartoons like kids have today. We had 5 TV channels to choose from. Get up at 6 and watch Bugs Bunny and Road Runner for two hours. At 8 was Super Friends... at 8:30 was SchoolHouse Rock and Fat Albert. 9:00 saw Sigmond and the SeaMonsters and at 9:30 was Shazam. Then it was outside to play.

Everybody thinks that it rains constantly in the Seattle area. It rained sometimes but most of the time it was sunny. 1972 brought us a new car. A 1972 Cheverolet Concourse Station Wagon, red with black interior. My dad paid $2500 dollars for it new. We watched them take it off of the delivery truck. We had that car until 1989. Of course it was my first beater car.

My mother was a volunteer at the community center in Building 30. Building 30 was where everything happened if you were a kid. Every weekend they would show a movie. I saw "Willy Wonka" there for the first time... Way cool. Halloween haunted houses. My brother and I were Batman and Robin. My mother made the costumes. Looking back now they were fucking cool. I'll post pictures when I can dig them out. TV back then, the cool shows were "Emergency" and "The Six Million Dollar Man". I didn't miss any of them. I remember going to a car show in Seattle with my parents and meeting the actors who played Jonny and Roy. I nearly shat myself with excitment. The Bat Mobile was there too.

Before school we watched JP Patches Fun Show. He was a clown that hosted a kiddie show every morning like Captain 11 in Sioux Falls. He was weird and kinda scared me but I watched. Well I've rambled enough in this segment so I'll let you go. More later on Washington.

Eric

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

Little Eric.. in Wisconsin

As a child, my memories are sometimes clear and spotty. The earliest time I can remember was around 2 1/2. I don't remember my brother John being brought home after birth but I remember him as baby.

I was born in January of 1967 at New London, Connecticutt. We lived in Groton, CT. I don't remember anything of our time in Groton, the first time. We lived there after we live in Greenfield, WI.

My father was in the Navy an we were stationed in Milwaukee,Wisconsin. The years was 1969 and we lived in an apartment in Greenfield, a suburb of Milwaukee. The apartment building was shaped like a cresent moon with a playground out front. The sidewalk in front of the building followed the curve of the drive up. I remember the front of the apartment but can't remember the back, also the right side of the apartment not the left. I would usually play on the sidewalk to the left of the apartment. I think the apartment was orange and brown in color with brick.

It must have been Christmas 1969. I got a play Pepsi fountain machine that you could load with Pepsi and it would dispense into little cups. I remember playing with it outside. there was a concrete dome that was probably 10 feet high and 20 feet round that I used play on all the time. I rarely remember playing in the playground.

I also remember running around the apartment and my Aunt Althea, (we called here Aunty Law for some reason) visiting from time to time. My mother had a friend name Essie Kraul and her husband Ed, I remember them serving me cereal in a plastic black bowl.

Our car was a baby blue Ford Galaxy 500. Again, I can't remember alot of detail from those years. It gets much clearer after we move back to Groton, CT.

So next time... Groton, CT

Eric

The Beginning...

Hi, I'm Eric. This is my second blog and it's about the things I remember growing up. I'm going to attempt to remember as much as I can from my first memory until now. Things may skip around a bit but I'll try and keep you on track. Alright? Alright...

Eric