Swimmers Challenge 2013

Before I could walk I crawled into Cayuga Lake!

Fifty-four years ago on August 15 I swam the 1.25 miles across Cayuga Lake (See Rie of Passage blog of August 14, 2011).  So it is appropriate that this week I have signed up for the “Swimmers’ Challenge” our development is running between August 11 and December 31.  The suggested goal is 40 miles, but my personal goal will be 32 miles.  Today I counted laps and I can swim a half mile in twenty-three minutes.  Wish me luck!

Rite of Passage - Swimming the Lake

Stu Cogan helps me dry off from my swim across Cayuga Lake

For those of us growing up in Willow Creek, i.e. near the shores of Cayuga Lake, it was a rite of passage to “swim the lake.”  This was usually done in small groups and the age for this activity was anywhere from twelve to sixteen.  Everyone kept track of the time it took to swim across, though no notice was given to the exact distance, since the lake’s width varied.

My turn to swim the lake came when I was twelve. The lifeguards at the Park told me I had to swim back and forth from shore to the furthest raft twenty times before they would consider me a lake swim candidate. Since I love the water, this training was not a burden. I was in the water from mid-June through the first part of September. 

The date for my swim was set at August 15.  That morning I was up early and was too excited to eat breakfast.  My mother and I drove to the Park for our 6:00 a.m. meeting with Stu Cogan, the lifeguard who was going to accompany me in a rowboat.  We set the time early so that the Park officials would not realize that one of their boats was missing for this unauthorized activity [smile].  Stu rowed us across the lake from Taughannock Point. I slipped into the water at the opposite shore and started to swim.  One hour three minutes later I walked out of the water onto the shore of Taughannock Falls State Park having accomplished the 1.25 mile swim across the lake.

Happy Anniversary to me!

Home

Taughannock Boulevard House

The house I grew up in was situated on the ridge of Cayuga Lake along Route 89 eight miles north of Ithaca, New York.

A slate sidewalk brought visitors to the front porch where they entered a wide front hall. A landing to the right began the staircase to the second floor. To the left was a large double living room with stone fireplace. Straight ahead the large farm kitchen provided warmth in winter, and was a favorite family gathering spot year round.  The screened porch off the kitchen served as a sitting area.  The kitchen had two large windows around which cabinets were built. Those windows afforded a view out onto the circular driveway and the pear trees that grew within the circle.

Off the kitchen was a long narrow room with a floor that slanted and served as our TV room. Another door went into the living/dining room area. The house had three large bedrooms upstairs, one bath, and a large walk-in attic. Closets were at a minimum.  The bathroom was small; six of us lived in the house over the summer, and we made do.  

Every house has its “quirks” and ours certainly did. Houses on the ledge of the lake did not have a great water supply. We had a tiny well out back that provided the minimum amount of undrinkable water.  For years we brought jugs of water from the restaurant (Taughannock Farms Inn) to provide water for drinking and cooking.  Baths were taken with barely an inch of water, and laundry was done with an old wringer washer with clothes hung on outside clotheslines or inside clothes racks.

Wringer Washer
Photo from irememberjfk.com

The house had lightning rods installed along the roofline to protect against lightning strikes, but electrical current inside the house, however, was a problem. When you plugged an appliance in and something else was running off the same circuit a fuse would blow. Sometimes life at the Boulevard house was a challenge. 

During the 1950s a small silver metal box sat next to the front door.  Twice a week the Dairy Lea milkman left milk products ordered from a list, usually made up by my grandmother (pictured below), left in the box. 

Mary "Nana" Nunn - Aug. 1963

The black wall telephone was located behind the door in the dining room. We were on a party line, so you had to listen for the ring to know if the call was for you. During the 1960s the phone was moved into the kitchen.

My parents sold our family home in 1976 and moved to their Florida home to live full time. The house continues to provide happiness as the family living there now loves the house as much as we did.  I am very thankful got for that.

Sentimental Sunday - Camping at Taughannock

Taughannock Falls State Park abt 1940

Cayuga Lake - New York State

This is a great photo because it ties some of the best times in my parent's lives with my best memories of spending summers at Taughannock Falls State Park. 

This particular memory came about when a friend who grew up in New York City recently talked about how her family vacationed in the Catskills during the summer. Her comments sparked memories of how my paternal grandparents also escaped the city’s oppressive heat, but instead of the Catskills, they went further north. Their son Harold Nunn attended Cornell University, played on Cornell’s football team, and had secured a lifeguard job for himself and his brother, Edward, at nearby Taughannock Falls State Park. He suggested his parents camp in the park’s campgrounds for the summer. So while my grandmother, Mary Doyle Nunn, and her teenage children camped through the summer months, my grandfather made the grueling trip up and down the two lane Route 17 to work his job in the city, returning to his family on the shores of Cayuga Lake whenever he could. 

The park had a bathhouse, and my maternal grandmother, Maude Agard, was the attendant. Her daughter Carol and son Richard would ride their bike – Carol on the handlebars - down the steep hill to the park bringing their mother her lunch. And that is when Carol Agard spotted a handsome lifeguard named Edward Nunn.

Edward Nunn abt 1940

 The first photo is of particular interest as it was a source of anxiety for my mother (pictured center with hand shading her eyes). The perfectly formed acrobat is Genevieve Cosintini, daughter of a well-known Ithaca family, and someone my father (far left with a big smile on this face) seemed to enjoy. Genevieve’s parents are sitting on the grass at the far right. My mother, a farm girl, was very jealous of the city girl, Genevieve, and related she was especially upset the evening the Nunns were invited to the Cosintini’s for dinner. 

Aren’t we fortunate that Dad chose the right gal to be his soul mate. 

Edward Nunn and Carol Agard abt 1940

Nurturing the Land

I love this photo of my great-grandmother, Jesse May Tucker Agard (b: 1876), her sister, Adelaide Tucker (b: 1871), and Honey, the dog (birth date unknown), because this photo explains from where I inherited my need to be close to the land. Each spring I can’t wait to get out in the garden and turn over the soil, even though it is months before it is safe to plant.  Like Jesse I am driven to plant seeds and seedlings of various vegetables, always excited to try something new.

The Agard farm, overlooking Cayuga Lake, was worked by Jesse’s husband, Arthur Agard (b:1880), and his father, John Wesley Agard (b: 1857), and then later with Art and Jesse’s son, William  Agard (b: 1914).  While the men farmed and sold crops from their many acres, Jesse lovingly tended her smaller garden that provided food for her family.  She also grew various flowers in gardens around the yard.  Jesse tends her garden in a dress – she never wore slacks. With corn growing in the back of the garden, I suspect the spiky leaves towards the front are gladiolas. 

Jesse’s sister, Adelaide Tucker, remained single and taught school in Asbury Park, NJ. During school holidays she rode the train from New Jersey to Willow Creek to spend time with her family.