Memories of Clermont by Karen Coppick

My memories of Clermont are very good although a little cloudy, until I saw the picture of the flag hanging between two beams of a house that is no longer there.

I can remember the steps leading up to the house seemed so long and steep. The house was so high up, but I was a short little thing. The house smelled like pepere, like musty old fish nets and sea water. I can picture everything inside how it used it be; that blue rug on the wall above the sleeper sofa in the living room, the black kitchen swivel chairs, the back room with all pepere’s stuff, and the back stairs that seemed even steeper than the front. I loved swinging on the bench swing under the house. I think us younger folk used to fight for that one. (maybe the older cousins/brothers/sister broke the hammocks!?!)

My favorite memory was crabbing!!!! I still miss those days by the sea wall, fighting over who was the last one to pull up the nets! That was one of the neatest experiences I’ve ever had. It was so exciting to find a live crab or two or three in a net that you just pull up with your hands…….but you gotta be quick! Eating them was fun too, but tiring……just not all that much meat in those things.

I had a love/hate relationship with the floundering………I hated the needle fish poking at my ankles, and I was always petrified when Pepere would shine the light on the other side of the water and leave me walking into the dark, murky, sting ray infested waters! Was I a scare-d-cat or what? I loved it too though! I can’t recall the first flounder I stabbed and I don’t think it was many……….Gil & pepere were always hoggin’ the kill! (I don’t think they trusted me to stab it.)

I loved the beach of course, and having the freedom to walk all the way to the candy store to get treats!!!! It was such a long walk down that street, but I would have walked it a thousand times for that feeling of independence. I loved the sand bars. It was the coolest thing being able to walk so far out into the ocean and still be knee deep. I remember doing hand stands out there and digging for clams. One time Tammy and I were swimming and we dove in and got stung by jelly fish all over our arms. It stung pretty bad. Mom put sand all over it and immediately the sting was gone. That scared me for awhile.

My best memory though was bringing my baby, Jacob at eight months old, and hubby, Tommy to this magnificent place in 1995. This time, we had it all to ourselves, and I felt proud to be a part of this treasure and pass it on to my family. We got to sleep in the big King bed!!!!!!!! That was major! Usually I got the sleeper sofa during big family vacations. Tommy got to experience floundering with Gil. Jacob experienced the beach and was my only child to meet pepere.

The best memories of my life were here in Clermont! Thank you mom and dad! I love you! Karen