I grew up in a small town in Ohio.  I was raised by two wonderful parents who raised us a little later in life.  We grew up relatively sheltered, not that bad things didn’t happen here –they occasionally did- but considering all things we were pretty safe and secure.  Dad and Mom did a great job providing for us –and when I say us I am referring to my brother and myself.  We didn’t have many expensive things but we had a lot of love. 

North Canton has a population of 17,404 in 2012, when I was growing up here the population was around the 15,000 mark.  We were a factory town.  Many of the people here worked at the Hoover Company making vacuums for almost 100 years until it was moved away to a foreign land.  I grew up seeing neighbors with their packed lunch boxes walking to the factory.  The whole city centered on it –it helped us live and breathe.  The city seems to be bouncing back from that blow.   My father was a teacher so he would get in the car and travel to Kent to teach –he taught college level courses and taught at different times so we were very lucky to have a somewhat different schedule with our parents.  My Mother was a retired telephone operator from Ohio Bell-boy did she have some stories about the old days with the headsets and switchboards. 

At this time of year I think of pickles and applesauce.  Mom canned the best bread and butter pickles you could every imagine-unfortunately her recipe died with her, every year I think I am going to attempt to can those same pickles and every year flies by and before I know it, winter is here.  She also made transparent apple sauce.  Transparent apples were cooking apples and they were some of the first apples of the season.  We would go visit Mom and Dad’s good friend-he was a very shy confirmed bachelor with a horrible stuttering problem of course he also worked at the Hoover Company.  He always appeared a little rumpled, clothes not pressed and maybe slightly too big.  He was soft spoken with a huge heart.  He had a small orchard behind his house –it smelled delicious-sweet and green and light and when we went there I just knew that in the next few days the house would be  filled with the smell of those wonderful apples cooking into a delicious sauce containers stacked up everywhere to go into the freezer.  The applesauce was slightly tart, Mom would add some sugar when she cooked it but not too much- just enough.  This year I am going to make applesauce with my Grandson and he will get to delight in the smell of the cooking apples and the delicious taste-you can’t get transparent apples anymore –at least that I have found in ohio but I will make do.

It is funny how at different times of a person’s life it is viewed with such a different perspective.  I see the city much differently now than when I was young.  

On August 6th of this year we diligently loaded up the rv and headed on up the road toward Symco, Wisconsin to participate in a little festival known as The Symco Shakedown.  It sounded like it would be a really fun gig so off we went.

I knew a few things about this event before we left.  The first being it was over six hundred miles away, a thought that weighed heavy on my mind with the old girl but Steve with the help of his cousin Aaron did some maintenance on her before we left and fingers and toes crossed we headed that way.  The second thing I knew about this show was that there was an old town-Unionville- set up and the only vehicles on the grounds would be authentic old cars and vintage campers.  The third was there are a lot of people that dress the part-well this was no problem because I dress rockabilly for Steve’s shows, old work shirts, big hair etc. so that was covered.    I knew we would be camping in an adjacent field with many others.   What I didn’t know was that our friends Tilford Sellers and the Wagon Burners (Patrick, Josh and Justin) were camping next to us.   This of course meant some shenanigans were to be had, but also sometime just spent chatting.  They are from Indiana so we don’t get to see them as often as what we like.  We also got to visit with some more of our friends Rodney and the Regulars –they are from Ohio like us but we don’t get to see them too much either.   

An unexpected surprise for me was the the mini-bike races-from the grandstands to the dirt track what else can I say about this, except that this is something to see in person.

I have to say when we got there Thursday night and things were pretty empty I had an idea what it was going to be like but when things filled up it was something else.  I turned to walk down the main street of the town and there were vintage cars parked everywhere-it was beautiful.  There were people dressed in time appropriate clothing.  The playground had great merry-go-rounds on it, the big old ones with wood benches and bars to hold onto.  The kind of merry-go-round that would teeter and creek creating a delightful combination of ups and downs and round and rounds –memories of being spun until I was ready to vomit, laughing and wrapping my legs around the bar so I could let go and yell “Mom, look no hands no hands go fasssssstttttttter!”  I was completely taken back in time.  I closed my eyes for a minute and sucked in the hot Wisconsin air and listened to the sounds of the playground –imagining just for one small second that I was young again and my parents were still alive-as I opened my eyes  I dragged myself back into the future. 

This is definitely a must visit festival.  You don’t have to dress vintage to go and you don’t need a classic ride.  You can come and spend the day –or several-and camp or just walk around.  There is food, vendors, music and many activities during the event.  I hope we get to go back next year.

As we are driving down the highway on this rainy day I am typing and looking out the side window at the green cornfields and the dreary skies.   The slight rolling hills and vibration of the rv do make this a little more difficult but I will push through.  The summer wildflowers are still blooming and the corn in this part of Ohio is tall and dark green with brindle colored tassles which does somewhat brighten the dreary landscape.  There is also an occasional freshly painted red barn to brighten things up.  The wild morning glories are blooming still although I am sure they are not showing their faces today.  The cattails are at their peek.

We have a little swampy area in our city with a trail.  Just before this last trip to Wisconsin I ventured out there with my grandson.   He did pretty good since he doesn’t think the “nature park” is quite as fun as the park with swings and slides. 

It was bouncing between sun and overcast skies that day and we were observing the things that a person doesn’t always notice-like the flowers blooming or the bees humming along sipping sweet nectar to make honey, or that occasional little turtle sunning himself on a nice swampy log.  We had a nice walk and I snapped some shots while holding his sweaty little hand and stooping down beside him to observe the world through the eyes of a three year old-every bug that crawled or flew, every bit of mud or water he took notice of.  After he would notice something we would have a very serious talk about it and move on to the next area.  I think he has a longer attention span for the crawling and wriggling things than I do,  but I was patient with him and listened attentively while he told me things- treasuring each moment and word.  I enjoy every moment I spend with him.  I try and absorb every bit of it because like the seasons this part of his little life will move so quickly and before we know it he will be all grown up.  I only hope that I can spend this kind of time with any other grandchildren that come about.  I also hope that when I am very old he will hold my sweaty hand and attentively listen to my stories.

At this time last year we were at the legendary Buffalo Chip for pre- rally and bike week.  Steve’s friends The Living Deads kidnapped him- so he could play guitar with them for almost a month, I tagged along to do what I do on the road.  We made a quick twenty four hour trip out to Denver, driving through state after state.  We didn’t take the rv on this trip because I can guarantee it would have taken a lot longer in it.  So we motored through in the little escape taking turns driving and sleeping in the back with all the gear.  We made it out there –parked our car and hooked up with them in their house on wheels.  It was quite an adventure seeing Denver, Colorado driving through the states.  It was a whirl wind trip. 

As we headed from Denver to Sturgis we went through even more states which thrilled me!  These were places I never thought I would get to go.  Wyoming is beautiful.  Then on up through the Black Hills and Deadwood-I couldn’t even wrap my brain around all the history in the area, I was awed to be in this little town where so many others had gone before me and so much history was made.  The Black Hills really did appear black, I could see where they got their name.  I wanted to get out and just roam through all the wilderness, but that was not meant to be at this time.  I hope to travel out that way again and spend some time wandering around a bit. 

Before I knew it we were in Sturgis, South Dakota.  We drove through a small town that was bustling with activity in preparation for the well-known motorcycle rally.  Tents were going up, inventory was being unpacked, stages were being erected and we headed on out of town to the Legendary Buffalo Chip which would be our home for a while.  They had pre-rally shows scheduled so we were going to get settled in a very quiet and empty campground that very quickly became full.  The rv was parked on a outer loop and when I would step out the door and look to my left there was Bear Butte-a beautiful sight but with my immature sense of humor and some twists in spelling and pronunciation it became bare butt.  I am sometimes very juvenile for my age.  It became the first thing we would see every morning and the last thing we would see before we went to bed-the Butte not the butt that is.

We met so many great people out there, and thanks to today’s internet we can still keep in touch with.  There was a constant hubbub of activity and a lot of miles walked-I purchased a pair of Ariat Cowboy boots before I left, good sturdy working boots that looked cute-I must have put 30 miles (just on that trip) on those things and they are still going strong!  I love those boots-infact they are going to Wisconsin with us this week.  They go on all our travels.  Then one day while we were there our friends Pepper and Lumpy called me –I was thrilled- those boots walked me the couple miles right out to the front bar to see them.  It was so good to sit and visit with Ohio friends – and if you are in Lima, Ohio stop in the Avalon Bar and say hello to them.

I have many more stories about Sturgis but that will be for another time.  Till next week-

And a special thanks to Symphony and Randee for making this possible for us and for sharing their home with us!