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He did it! He finally did it! Jim had tried to stand up on water skis over a dozen times and just kept falling and falling. The pressure of the water forces the skis apart, and you have to force the skis together. His dad Dusty was driving the boat. It would pull him for a little ways, he’d fall, and Dad would turn the boat around and go back, and he’d try again.
It’s really boring for the boat driver and really exciting for the person who’s trying to ski, and Jim finally made it and stayed up for a respectable amount of time. All three kids (Jim, John and Jeanne) eventually learned how to water ski, and Jeanne also skied in competition later in her young life. This was just one of the many exciting times we had at the cabin in the summertime.
In the fall of 1967, Dusty had three log cabins built at Summerhaven Lake. He sold two and paid for the third one with the profit. So, starting in the summer of 1968, we would spend the entire summer out at the lake. When school got out for the summer, we moved out to the lake, and we moved back into town when school was about to start.
Summerhaven Lake, which is southeast of Kearney not far from Fort Kearny, was originally several sandpits channeled together with an island in the center, so it has a sandy beach in most areas. The only way to keep all the sand out of the cabin is to have a bucket full of water just outside each door to dip your feet into before coming in. Foot buckets became a way of life.
Since the kids couldn’t swim yet, I required them to wear their life jackets any time they wanted to be outside. The life jackets gave them an odd tan, but they saved many a life, and they also saved me from a lot of worrying. They also gave the kids help with flotation and helped them learn how to swim much earlier.
Jim and John discovered competitive swimming with the Kearney Barracudas and mastered all the competitive strokes. It seemed to come naturally for them since they grew up on the lake.
At the time we had a Brittany Spaniel named Chris who attracted a lot of ticks, so every night was tick night. Dusty had to inspect Chris, and then all three kids, for ticks. Once I found what I thought was a grape on the floor, but it was a tick engorged with blood.
The cabin had a wooden deck and two sets of steps leading up to it, so the kids, barefoot all the time, picked up a lot of slivers. One night a week was sliver night, and all three kids had slivers removed. Jeanne hated sliver night!
The boys spent a lot of time fishing, and they caught hundreds of small blue gills. Dusty and the boys would clean them, and we’d have them for supper. It took a dozen to fill the skillet, but gosh, were they good! Dusty called them “fish chips.”
Besides the motorboat, we also had a paddle boat that the boys used for transporting materials for building “forts.” They built a fort in the wooded area behind our cabin. They played there for a while and then decided that they wanted to move it to the island. They had to make several trips, but the paddle boat made it possible. Chris swam along behind wherever they went.
Jim and John had a lot of Tonka trucks and the entire front beach to build roads for them. They would spend entire afternoons gainfully employed in building roads for Tonka trucks.
The Fourth of July was a natural out at the cabin. We’d always buy a lot of beautiful fireworks and start setting them off when it was just about dark. “Oh, Mom, isn’t it dark yet?” I heard often. Used sparklers had to be put in the foot buckets so no one would burn their foot.
The boys would love to swim with their dad. He’d pick them up and give them a toss into the water a few feet away. This worked fine until Jim and John got too big and too heavy to toss anywhere!
Once when we were in town (probably for groceries), John decided to ride his bike back out to the cabin. We were back at the cabin a long time before we saw him coming down the road. By that time he was so hot and tired that he just drove his bike onto the dock and straight out into the water.
Once somebody brought me a beautiful weed, and it was on the kitchen table until somebody told us that it was marijuana! We did have good times looking for wild asparagus and morels. They were both wonderful.
We all had really good times at the cabin. I’m glad my kids had the opportunity to play creatively like we used to in the old days before TV and video games and texting.
Roma Jorgensen is a longtime Kearney resident and occasional contributor to the Hub.
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