Freedom to Play: We Made Our Own Fun

VERY SPECIAL FRIENDS

VERY SPECIAL FRIENDS Ken Strong recalls a very special adventure of his childhood. As the 1940s turned into the 1950s I was a child of a poor family living on the Victoria waterfront. I mention this for a couple of reasons. First, even though I was thirteen, I was referred to as a “child” as advertising agencies had not yet developed the use of the term “teenager.” Second, the old pre-1930s uninsulated summer cottages along the waterfront were home to many people in our struggling financial circumstances. (These cottages would be torn down later to make way for new housing.) The memory that stands out, and which I share with you, did not cost a cent, but the action would be illegal today. A friend of better financial means than I had a ten-foot clinker boat which we would take out in all kinds of weather. During the summer of 1950 we were out every day, raking herring, spearing halibut, and just motoring or rowing around. Sometime during the summer a group of three porpoises, living just outside the bay, began to swim beside our boat. As time went on they moved in closer and closer until they were within arm’s length, and just stayed motionless beside us. After we became accustomed to such familiarity , they started a game. One would swim rapidly at the boat and at the last minute duck under the boat and come up on the other side, then lie back and look at us with what seemed to be a smile on its face. This went on for several days, and then the rules changed. They would get out in front of us and we would go full tilt at them until, at the last minute, they would duck under the boat and come up, placing themselves for our next run. We became good friends, to the point that if we were late getting out of the bay they would come looking for us. This continued for several weeks. But one afternoon while we were playing “chicken” with them, the two smaller ones took off. The big one made several attempts, using his nose, to push our boat back into the bay. Once we got the idea and headed in, he disappeared , too. Right then several killer whales appeared around the point. I never saw the porpoises again, but the free fun we had and the friendship we developed made that summer of 1950 Animals: Friend, Foe, or Food 171 into a very special summer. Of course, today it is illegal to approach sea mammals as the “powers that be” have decided we are interfering with them and they would rather be left alone. Yeah, right! A YOUNG SPORTSMAN Maple Leaf Club, Family Herald and Weekly Star May 26, 1909 Fred J. Bicknell (15) Barclay Siding, P.O., Ont. Dear Maple Leaves: Although I have been a member of this Club for several years, this is my first letter to the Leaves. I live in New Ontario not far from a couple of lakes, where there is pretty good fishing during the summer months. Big game is not very plentiful around here, but there is good sport for us boys in the fall, shooting partridges and rabbits. In the spring there is a little lake that melts and floods the marsh, and then the fish come up to the surface and are easily caught. If some of the boys do not soon write, the girls will have the Club entirely to themselves. I would like to correspond with members of my own age. Wishing all success to the Club. 172 Freedom to Play ...