Memories... Chapter 5

Memories keep filling my mind... so many events happened that first
year.... and it all seems like it was yesterday...

Dateline: mid-June, many years ago, sitting in class, Syracuse
University... Dalin and I had been seeing each other for several weeks...

hmmm... that's Woodland Reservoir... I'm looking out the classroom window
at a reservoir that stands so perfectly in my view that it is almost a
photograph... it's important to me because it stands just two blocks from
Dalin's house... in the upscale Strathmore section - so near, so far.
Four miles or so from here... a world apart from where I sit. I find
myself continually gazing out that window towards that reservoir,
standing majestically above a grassy knoll that overlooks the city...
sweet memories...

Four miles. How long it seems. Every Friday -- and sometimes on study
nights as well... I find myself walking down the hill to Colvin Ave,
through the south side of the city, up to Strathmore, by the park, up the
hill and to her house... The walk was usually an hour and I enjoyed every
step... past the new Syracuse University Field House, down the hill to
the main street intersection (which was only 3 blocks from the church in
which we were married, but that was definitely in my unknown future...),
straight to South Ave, up the steep hill to the Strathmore Section and
then eventually to Dalin's house.

Over time, I learned the sidewalk, the cracks in the pavement, the many
mom&pop stores along the way, the parks of which I passed (one of which
was named 'Kirk Park'..), the gazebo, the pond, the tree-lined
streets. Four miles each way... I walked it in the mornings, I walked it
in the evenings, I walked it past midnight and never felt any insecurity
or discomfort. This was the city and I loved every moment that brought me
closer to Dalin and had memories with each step that took me back to the
barracks.

Okay, back to my daydreaming...

Life seemed to move so rapidly. I well remember the day that Dalin and I
sat on the lawn by the reservoir, looking out across the city. Dalin
pointed out to me the tallest (then) building in Syracuse, the State
Tower Building. Little would we have guessed that within 10 years I would
have an office there as the Director of Training for RCA... we would
have laughed... we were enjoying 'today'... ten years away was the
future and beyond our thoughts. Sitting in the grass, whispering and
talking and holding hands was much more exciting than wondering about a
career a decade away.

I recall one day we were there and the heavens opened.. the rain
immediately soaked us and we ran back to her house, laughing all the way,
jumping fences, running through back yards, dashing through clothes
hanging on the line, avoiding neighborhood dogs, pushing each other
through hedges... all to get to her house. We were so wet when we arrived
that her mom demanded that I completely disrobe so that she could put all
my clothes in the dryer before I got sick. Walking around her house
wearing her dad's bathrobe was definitely uncomfortable. After all,
everyone in the house KNEW that I was nekkid under that robe! And I knew
that her mom had "seen my underwear"... . Definitely embarassing for
me. A day that I'll never ever ever forget... :)

And then there were the many times we walked through Onondaga Park around
Hiawatha Lake. The gazebo, the pond, the many trees near the shore, the
covered bench on the north shore. Time stood still while we enjoyed the
moments. We were blessed to have such a romantic neighborhood in which to
find each other. :)

Dalin mentioned that her mom may invite me to dinner next week. I'm
nervous, just thinking about it, but it's a major milestone for us. The
past few weeks have brought us ever closer. I'll get through it. I will,
I will.

Stay tuned... more to come in the romancing of Dalin... :-))

............................
Some URLs to let you see the world of which I speak:

/Views of Strathmore.htm <==Views of the Strathmore section, plus
Onondaga Park and Hiawatha Lake

in center

a history of the Strathmore section

Hiawatha Lake and gazebo - circa 1910

as I said, do stay tuned... :) and there's a lovely photo of hiawatha
lake on the blog... http://altfiftyplus.tripod.com/blog