Thank you Photo Challenge: (Extra)ordinary for this wonderful theme.
Autumn: how I yearn for your cool weather, warm hues and the sound of leaves cracking underneath my feet. Alas, the extended heat wave that has befallen Los Angeles shows little sign of abating.
To ease the heat I go back to New Jersey and Milton Lake where I spent most of my summers fishing and winters skating.
The lake is extraordinary in that it grew me up. Ordinary because it’s simply a small lake that lays between Rahway and Colonia, New Jersery.
As a tomboy I could spread my wings without the watchful eyes of an adult and their constant refrain, ‘girls don’t do that.’ I could tag along with my brother and his friends as long as I ‘didn’t act like a girl’. I was more than happy to comply.
I would follow my older brother Michael as we cut through Stanford’s back yard then through the pump station. Lake Avenue was the only obstacle that stood between us and the lake. It was a somewhat busy street, therefore, I was not permitted to cross Lake Avenue without the assist from Michael.
Alas, without fail I would have to pee. Inevitably I’d forget to bring toilet paper so I could do it in the woods. Michael would not interrupt his fishing fun to escort me home. I had to find a solution to my predicament: How to get home without crossing Lake Avenue alone. My solution—the sewer. I would slip down the sewer grate and go UNDER Lake Avenue, but only if it hadn’t rained in awhile. 
Milton Lake is no longer the hub of childhood fun. Now overgrown and little visited it stands alone in its autumn cloak.
Photo Challenge:(Extra)Ordinary
What great childhood memories and photos.
Judy, the first two pictures look just like the area in Michigan where I used to live. I loved ice skating down the river to the lake, chasing fish that we could see swimming below the thick ice. It’s sad to see how things change and I think the generations to come (and the last one or two) will miss and have missed the sort of wandering and exploring on their own which helps build independence and curiosity. It’s very sad.
Thanks for posting these lovely photos and your memories!
Christina, yes it’s a bit sad how the lake is deserted while holding such potential for fun.
I guess I’d be more drawn to Los Angeles heat than to the Scandinavia looking autumn in New Jersey, but I love your description of growing up by the lake. And crossing the street through the sewer.
I love LA and miss autumn in NJ.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/fashion/where-have-all-the-tomboys-gone.html
Wow, beautiful images both written and photographic. I too used sewer drains to navigate, not to avoid a busy street however. I used them to avoid the bullys that always lurked in the corners looking for very non-Tom-boy boys like me! XOGREG