Early 70's...Mom & Dad

...When you look back, into my life, back to the early 70's...it's impossible not to recall how my parents...had finally reached a point in their lives...where they could truly enjoy themselves, without 8 crying kids, constantly demanding their overwhelming attention...

The Lake House always seemed to be teaming with visits from my sisters and their husbands, with their wild & wooly, little ones...but there also seemed to be some breaks from the chaotic atmosphere...when my Mom & Dad would escape to their own world of excitement...

...And that meant, they were determined, to get away and have some great, great times...living life to the fullest...especially during the summers around Lake Geneva...

...Whether it was dining out, up in and around Lake Geneva., going dancing on weekends up at Lake Lawn Lodge, or even having a ball at the Arnold Palmer Golf Driving Range & Miniature Golf, in Elkhorn, it was a time of leisure and laughs...a time of noticeable relief, from my own extensive spinal problems...a time of thinking they had reached a stretch of what they thought the rest of their lives would look like...more or less, a blissful existence...

...You could sense their happiness...especially when they'd go out to Lake Lawn on a Saturday Night...for a night together, on the dance floor...See, on the dance floor, is where they met, so long before, at Saint Sabinas, deep in the heart of the South Side of Chicago...back around 1938, when they were 16 year old teenagers...

They were always like magic, on the dance floor...It seemed as though, their toes never touched the ground...just a graceful, seamless, flow, around the floor, almost the entire night...Sure, sometimes they'd stop, to order a cocktail, occaisionally, my Mom, having an ultra sweet, shake-like, creme de mint-Grasshopper and my Dad going with a brisk Tom Collins or an even brisker, Whiskey Sour...

It was their time to re-live the magic, the excitement, recapturing their youth, for just a few hours...under the stars...amidst a crowded dance floor...out in Lake Lawn's outdoor garden. They made a point, of dressing appropriately, my Mom always in an elegant, beautiful dress and my Dad in his sear-sucker, double-breasted, sports jacket...Together, their smiles were endless, it was, no doubt, their moment, to shine, once again...

It really didn't matter what kind of band was playing, could be a polka, could be a big band, could be anything...They just loved being together...period...A night at Lake Lawn Lodge, gave them more than a chance to break loose, but also a chance to realize, they were not getting older, but just entering a phase where everything seemed to be going their way, finally...

Also, on the docket, back then, was some care-free moments, of enjoying a night of golf adventures...in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, some 8 miles away...First, we'd hit the miniature golf course, at the Arnold Palmer facility, which was rather a nice, new, place...located on the outskirts of Elkhorn, out by where the bowling alley was, out on Route 67, not to far from where the McDonalds is, these days...

The course, itself, was challenging...My Dad, who was a legitimately, good golfer, often would be astounded by my Mom, a relatively decent competitor herself, who could miraculously ace a hole-in-one, from time-to-time...Right then and there...There was some uproarious laughter, when that would occur...

And after the entire 18 holes were through, there was a chance at dropping your golf ball, from the top, into a clown maze, that allowed the ball sift & boblle & bounce to the bottom and sometimes land in a tiny hole, that entitled you to a free case of soda pop...

Well, you know, who always won this...My Mom, just had it down cold...It almost seemed as if we were already thinking about dropping the ball in the maze again, every time we got beyond the 9th Hole...We'd already be discussing what flavor of Graf's soda pop we'd get if we won this time...

Would it be the foamy, root beer, which was pretty damn good...the tangy, orange soda, not bad, either or some other kind, like the new dark chocolate soda...My Dad, just shook his head, because he did not know how my Mom could repeatedly, win, every now and then...and he never, even came close.

After, the round of miniature golf, it was then onto their Driving Range, which was quite a spectacular event, in itself...My Dad, a very stocky, strong, individual, just had a knack, for crushing the ball, out beyond the range, out into a forest, way, way, out there...Move over Tiger Woods...

Me and my Mom, would be clapping, and expecting him, to keep crushing the golf ball, further and further, with every single swing...My Dad loved going to any golf range, he could get to...but this one, was his absolute favorite...Bucket after bucket, of balls, would come and go, as we'd all be swiping and hacking into every swing...sometimes connecting, sometimes hitting, what we'd call a WORM-BURNER...which was a ball, that you'd hit flat, topping it, and just watch it skid, along the grass, never getting any elevation...

There were many a night, we'd be there when the facility would be closing for the night...at 10 o'clock...Time just seemed to fly by...as fast as the golf balls my Dad would pummel out of sight. I don't think the swarms of nasty mosquitos or any rain or drizzle, ever deterred my Dad from pounding out a few buckets, every time, we went there...

It seemed like such a desolate, quiet area, for such a fine, almost pristine, facility...that was surely a hidden gem...amongst the crowded throngs of people who would flock to the other miniature golf venues, in Walworth County, including the giant frog, in Fontana...or the one up on Motel Road in Lake Geneva...

I don't know what happened but the Arnold Palmer facility got torn down...later that decade...No more free cases of soda...no more hitting the twirling-whirling windmill, or finding your ball, shooting through a hollow sounding pipe & landing into a cruddy, muddy, pool of water...No more unexpected, hole-in-one's...and certainly no more watching my father, supplying an endless amount of golf balls, sent whistling, far out, into the luminous night's sky...

These were uniquely, special times, indeed...and I'm certainly glad I had the chance to share this quick look back to a very tranquil era...where the good times, with my Mother & Father, seemed neverending...and my Mom & Dad's great love of having a good time...always made it so much of an entertaining , merry-go-round of laughs, that will always live on, in my cherished memories, forever and ever...and ever...