The Children of Raquette Lake by Mira Rothenberg

Author:Mira Rothenberg [Rothenberg, Mira]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-1-58394-505-6
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Published: 2012-04-10T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

Week Three

At the beginning of the third week Mrs. Tess disappeared, without leaving any note. In a profound flash of insight we realized we were alone. That created an even stronger togetherness and family feeling among us. Now we had to cook the meals by ourselves, do the pots by ourselves, and whatever else came up, we had to do by ourselves. Mrs. Tess would appear every now and then, make a few meals every now and then, and bring some staples from the grocery store every now and then. Each time she would disappear again—except for the last few days of camp, when she watched us constantly, lest we abscond with her precious Pagoda (more about that later).

For me it was the beginning of cooking, picking mushrooms, making meals out of them, and attempting to drive the motorboat. Our routine then necessarily changed. In the morning, Tev and I, and sometimes Zev (who lived at “home,” apart with his wife and child), would prepare breakfast. Tev insisted that the kids be involved. That meant that all the kids who could were involved with setting the tables, clearing them, washing the dishes and the pots, cracking the eggs, mixing the batter for pancakes, pouring the cereal, etc. They discovered skills—and pleasure with these skills—that they had never attempted before, and we found out that some of the things we never thought those kids were capable of, they were.

Rickie helped set the tables, and so did Lee, Tommy, Matthew, Dougie, and Clark. They could crack eggs without spilling them all over the floor. Kate, under pressure from Tev and the other kids, began to join in. Amy, when she got her eyes focused long enough, could pump the water, bring it to the table, and often wash the dishes. By accident, we blundered onto an idea that pine needles and sand pebbles from the lake could scour the frying pans. That seemed fun to some of the kids, so they did it. After that we’d do the sheets of the pishy kids. As many as could take part in it did, because after that and after bathing, we would go into the boats and go island hopping. The bathing, too, became a totally communal affair. The kids washed themselves and each other as they did with the laundry. Tev, Zev, and I don’t remember whether we had any brushing of teeth. I know we had a lot of washing of hair. Then we’d prepare sandwiches, tie up the motorboats and rowboats, and go.

We’d boat into that treacherous lake and explore. We’d look for an island that pleased us that particular day and visit it. These were uninhabited islands, and they were all ours. Sometimes we’d go in different directions. Zev and I with the youngest kids, or more damaged ones, and Tev with the bigger ones. When we would get to one of our islands, I would start exploring for food, especially mushrooms and berries.

We still bought limited supplies from

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