dreemit's world: Come with me to my secret childhood fort (To the site of Anna and Austin's first kiss)
Walk, hike, bike, take a motorcycle ride and a road trip, go wine trailing, hit a brewery, come kayaking, jet skiing, and swimming. Through my words and a lens, see the beauty of the Finger Lakes and other fascinating places in New York and beyond!
Many of you know that I have concentrated mainly on fiction since the beginning. I love spending hours lost in the vast and colorful world of my imagination, it is the passion that drives me, and there is nothing more incredible than bringing others along for the ride.
But lately I have been feeling that I'd like to change it up a bit, add a few more dimensions to my blog.
For months you've been exploring the crazy worlds of my creation, so now I'm asking you to come with me on a new journey, one where we'll explore the crazy world of my reality.
I thought a lot about where to begin this new adventure, and it seemed fitting that I would take you to a place that featured largely in my youth, and incidentally also featured in the novel Reborn.
So for the first 'episode' of this new reality series, walk with me to my tween and teenage clubhouse, the stone fort that so happens to be the setting of Anna and Austin's first kiss...
We begin our mini journey in front of my parent's house, facing north toward the entrance of the biking trail to Sampson State Park.
These will also be the initial photos of the first bike ride I'll take you on in this series, just beyond that gate...
...but today we veer left into the woods.
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This is not a climb for the dexterity impaired (it amazes my friends and family that I've never tumbled down this particular hill...another time I will take you to a few I have gone down arse over teakettle)
My strategy is to go down sideways, tree to tree,digging my feet into the ground with each step.
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As I told my mom when I was young, the worst that can happen is I fall on my butt and slide down into the gaping hole...
...and we will be going down into the darkness...but first let's walk out onto the ancient stone roof. One of my favorite places on the planet for its privacy and view.
I've spent hours stretched out on a blanket, staring at the sky and dreaming, or lying on my side with a book, or propped up on one elbow notebook and pen in hand.
Many stories were read here and many were written. (Many beers were drank here and many a bowl was smoked)
The big tree that's hanging out over the water to the left? It completely hides this place from the populated side of the beach. My parents own the last piece of lakefront before state land begins, so essentially we have miles of beach to ourselves.
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Ready to go down into the hole?
Okay, we're in.
That dirt landslide was a source of serious frustration when I was a kid. I lost count of the times that I conned friends into helping me try and clear it with shovels. If only I hadn't been such a girl, I might have realized I needed a pick ax to hack through those roots.
If you've read Today Again, then you recognize that name on the wall, and now you know where it came from.
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When I was young I used to imagine this was a magical window, a portal to other worlds.
And now when you see this picture in my thumbnail another world will be waiting, so be sure to click and jump on through!
I would have liked to show you this spot from the outside, but the water level was too high (and freezing) for me to walk to it from the direction in which Anna and Austin took to get here. So I had to settle for hanging out the window and snapping a pic:
“I…” she got no further. Austin took his opportunity and leaned down, pressing his lips on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer and he backed her up into the stone wall. His tongue darted into her mouth and she tentatively touched it with her own which seemed to set off fireworks for him. Next thing she knew he was lifting her up and wrapping her legs around his waist, sandwiching her between his body and the wall. It felt amazing to be this close to him, especially since the slide of his tongue was distracting her from thinking.
Do you remember the interruption that followed?
"Oh. Yeah, sure, I mean, who cares how I'm feeling anyway, right?" Geordy staggered and tripped over a rock landing in the lake.
"Shit," Austin grunted. He reluctantly set Anna down and strode over, frowning at the capsized Geordy for a moment before grabbing his arm and pulling him up. Geordy yanked backward landing himself right back in the water.
"Dude, I'm just helping you up."
"I don't want your help. I want her help." He pointed at Anna.
"Anna, no." Austin gave her a meaningful look and turned back to Geordy. "You're wasted numb nuts, so either you accept my help gracefully or I throw your dumb ass over my shoulder and toss you in the boathouse. Your choice." He held out a hand again and Geordy took it, grumbling under his breath.
dreemit's secret fort, from youth until now.
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And thus concludes the first episode of the Real World of Dreemit. I hope you enjoyed it!
Generously created for me by @son-of-satire
What a great, creative idea for a post. Very nicely done!
Ah, thank you, you made my day! steemit...one of the greatest finds of my life.
You are brilliant and talented, dear friend @dreemit I love the introduction, how many dreams you have had in that magic window, that beautiful images you have presented us, thank you very much for this beautiful moment that you have made with this walk
That she is @jlufer, brilliant and talented.
According to the Spanish language "bright", is something that shines, adjective of admirable, outstanding
"Talented" person who has great faculties and abilities to develop an activity.
All these qualities meet my dear friend @dreemit
Thank you very much dear friend @ the-alien for your question, may you have a beautiful week
You also meet all of these qualities @jlufer! Thank you so much :)
I should make a practice of opening my posts all the way up more often, wow you guys, thank you! The compliment means all the more coming from such talent as yourself ;)
Thank you so much my friend @jlufer, it is a very special place!
Awesome! I think we got a prelude of this series when you posted Anna's falls, right? I really love stories rooted in reality. The fantastical elements injected by the author's mind really set it apart. I've always said that you should do a SILVER LINING version for your book, and I'm glad you've finally gotten around to it, my friend!
When I saw the Tyler graffiti I was like :O haha! Suffice to say, I was so proud of myself when you explained the Today Again cameo haha Magnificent pics, my friend! Great behind the scenes look at your life and the fiction roots :D
You did, it definitely gave me the thought-- so funny that both you and Barry noticed Tyler (and in fact I didn't! That name has another story) but not Caleb, haha!!
I noticed Caleb, too. It just so happened that the solo Tyler angle came first haha!
Wow, I'm telling you, I wish I lived in as beautiful a place as you showed us in the photos. Your new series is amazing. Sharing all those precious memories, thoughts and emotions is a real eye opener for us all who know you on Steemit.
Thanks for inviting us into your world. Seems like a great place to be.
Looking forward to the next part. :)
I have to admit, it is beautiful :) When you get a chance, check out my motorcycle anniversary posts (about five weeks ago) they include the waterfalls from the beginning of the book, and ultimately gave me the idea for this.
Thank you sweetheart!
Thank you for the heads up, @dreemit. Will do. :)
That is a great look inside some IRL stuff from your past and present. I love forts. I have had a couple myself.
From a real estate perspective and outdoors perspective you had me at:
Beauty.
And that Tyler guy on the wall gets a lot of the real estate there too LOL
I know, right? I don't think they realize quite what they have from a real estate perspective :)
Tyler does...Caleb too, haha!
I hit the 10k post count last nite - I am top 10 all time now in total post count..... I am 6th if you take out the bots and only count humans LOL!
https://steemit.com/steemit/@barrydutton/some-good-news-steemit-milestones-thanks-i-hit-10-000-posts-finally-lol-a-fun-post-includes-milestone-stats-overview
I couldn't stop reading! Looking forward to the second part. :)
Awesome, that is exactly what I was hoping to hear :)
Haha I'm glad. :) Looking forward for the next one.
Love the idea of sharing your past and the important events and places that shaped who you are, and your many wonderful talents. As well as the insight into from whenst and where many of your characters and events of 'fiction' arose. Thanks for the new series, look forward to more to come. Amazing how strong the memories of youth can be...I could almost feel what it was like to lay on the roof all day long in the sun, reading and writing, and the special little window to the world. Thanks for putting it out here for us.
What an awesome comment!! Thank you, this is exactly what I was hoping to inspire when I thought up this idea :)
I have a very long and vivid memory, I think it helps with my writing. I can definitely remember what it was like to be a child, a tween, a teenager..and on and on to where I am now.
I never realized how cool that window would look in a photograph though! Usually those things are so much better in your mind, but it came through really well :)
It's pretty cool finding out those places aren't entirely fictional XD
Glad to hear that, because I will definitely have a few more posts with spots I've written about :)
That would be awesome! :D
When I saw the slope in the pic, I though just 'dig in' on the way down, then you wrote the same! Speaking of, I think that landslide at the back door there can be explained now; all of that valuable lakefront land is being washed into the lake from all that digging in. ;) It looks like those front walls are worn in interesting places, I wonder if that wear shows times when the lake water was higher, where waves and debris battered the structure for a time. That's a great getaway spot, almost seems familiar somehow, even besides the Reborn connection. Looks like an interesting area to grow up.
Also, our accounts aren't quite reflecting this yet, but steem broke a dollar....
Pretty exciting, I've got to start writing every day again! Or more! At this rate there'll be people making a living in the comments. Crazy times are here!
I know it! Definitely exciting! I was thinking to myself, 'why is it so hard for me to get people to join?' They'll spend all day on facebook when they could be making money for what they're doing. Nonames This Man post today put it perfectly actually. We seem to be a special group :)
Haha I just saw that post, and I agree, we stayed and stayed, and for good reason. I haven't done a lot of trying to promote this besides sharing some on facebook. I think the idea of crypto is too alien sounding for a lot of people, they probably think it's pretend money, not real. I'm excited to have a good head start here, we are special, and my vote is getting potent!
I put up a post about radiation that I'd been working on, then I saw the headline 'The 'Real' Paul died...' so I had to make a third post to clear that up!
Wait, what? Oh no, haha, I have to check this out.
Great minds think a like. Yeah haha! Maybe so.
That's a great question, I have no idea how long it's been there. It is awesome, and it was a great place to grow up. I did spend the first ten years on Long Island in a more city atmosphere, when we moved to that it was paradise--though I might have felt differently had I been a teenager by that time :)
I really enjoyed this. I appreciate knowing the behind the scenes information behind stories. That looks like the coolest place to find inspiration. Do you know the history of the fort or how it got there? It's nice that when you wrote you wrote places you know into the story. Knowing a place so well probably helped with describing the places to readers.
Thank you so much. It really is a cool place. I'm afraid I do not know much about it, except the previous owners of my parents' house thought that it was a bunker of some kind for a very old army base that was shut down in stages, finally closing all together in the eighties.
It definitely helped!