More Memories

MacNaughtens was a huge 2-family house that was somewhat similar to a plantation-like dwelling--complete with a full-sized, screened-in porch in the front. The property in front of the house (going all the way down to the street) was a huge circle of grass--with a driveway all around it. We had 2 neighbors--one on the left side and one in the back. That was it. Everything else was woods, and unless one walked back a ways one would never had have discovered the golf course on the left and a factory on the right. My brother and I were free to roam, and for a 2 and 3 year old, we covered a lot of ground. (We 'were' a hand-full, and my mother had a baby in the house and another on the way). My brother was the adventurous one, and the first time he went into the back woods he went on his own. I was frightened for the both of us--him for going and me for not going along to protect my little brother. Three hours later he emerged from the woods, and I was glad for 3 things: He came back, I wouldn't get a beating, and that there was an outhouse next to our house--where that would be where I passed the time in private. When I asked him why he was gone for so long, he said he saw a golf course, a factory, and a big owl. (I saw that owl close-by days before, and it's eye's seemed to look right through me) At a later time I mustered the courage to go by myself, and the trip took about 30 minutes to complete; however, I didn't explore too much either. It was all too scary, and the last thing I wanted to see was that owl.