Back in the day

I am setting the Way Back Machine, (does anyone remember that?) to the late 1960’s.

Come along for just a moment.

I was going to summer camp with friends from the youth fellowship group of the church in which I belonged at that time. (The year is an approximate because, at my age now, the date is really quite vague.)

At that time in my life, as it turned out, I had no swim suit, well, nothing appropriate that I could wear at a religious youth group gathering. 😉

So, I made one; from scratch, without a pattern.

It was very well done, even if I say so myself.

It was a two piece bikini; white, with a brass ring at the middle of the halter top, and one at both hips on the bottom. (How I thought this appropriate for a church youth fellowship camping experience I’ll never know.)

As I said, I made this without a pattern, using some very pretty, shiny white material for the suit itself, (no recollection where it came from,) lining it, however, with material from a white, flat bed sheet my mother no longer needed.

(Are you understanding that, in the late ‘60’s, the sheet had about a 200 thread count??)

It went together fairly easily, as I used to be quite a seamstress. It fit nicely, and I couldn’t wait to get to the campground, and go for a swim.

WE WERE THERE FOR FIVE DAYS.

Every morning we had what was called the Polar Bear swim. We got extra points, (for what, I have no recollection,) if we got up at 6:00am, and, at least jumped into the pool. (Some suck ups actually swam)

Firstly, 6:00am never registered with me unless we were going on vacation. Dad liked to get “on the road” before the traffic got heavy. (HAHAHA!)

Secondly, I was 15ish. What kid that age gets up at that hour of the morning for any reason?

I did. But only 2, or 3 times during that week. It was freezing cold outside, and the water in the pool was not only freezing, but had an actual film of ice on the top.

The bottom of the pool, however, was GREEN.

Needless to say, it took me 2, or 3 days just to make the initial plunge into the yuck, but by then, quite a bit of the algae had been cleaned out, or moved about, or, I don’t remember what.

So, the third morning, I jumped in. When I got out, my teeth were chattering, and my body shivering. I was freezing.

As I got out, a friend of mine gasped out loud. And I do mean out loud. As I looked down at my suit, I discovered that

My swimsuit was completely transparent!!!

For all intents, and purposes, I was NAKED!!

Evidently the sheet that I used as a “lining” wasn’t quite effective!

I was mortified.

The boys, however, were not.

I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Hope you got a chuckle out of that;)

Until next time.

Stay happy, healthy, and safe. Wash, cover, and protect yourselves.

Post script: update- the ranch dressing, the Kefir, and powdered sour cream is awesome. I highly recommend the recipe, and the substitutions.