THE LAKE/THE DAM
Piet: As a kid, I had lots of duties. My grandmother or aunties would always send us kids to do various things for them. One of those things was fetching water from the dam. It wasn’t that far of a walk and we would always have lots of fun doing it. We were sent to fetch water so that the clothes could be washed and so that we could have water for bathing. We would only go to the dam, though, during the warmer months, definitely not in winter, it was too cold. Our aunties would often tell us to come back quickly because they had lots of washing to do. We would be so focused on playing in the water that we often forgot the sense of urgency we were sent out with. We would firstly fill up our buckets and containers and then have our fun. We also filled the containers first, just in case we heard them calling and we could quickly run up the hill and pretend like we were on our way.
In the dam we were carefree kids. We would splash around, chase each other, jump off rocks and fish in the dam. It was also in the dam where I learned how to swim…or eventually I did. Before I learned how to swim, we used to doggie paddle around the reeds that were growing up in the water. I was so anxious to learn how to swim and I saw all my older cousins and uncles swimming in the dam. One afternoon a bunch of us were fishing and we were there for a long time. A few of my uncles were having a race to the other side of the dam and had made it about a quarter of the way. I was standing on a rock and called to my uncle in Zulu, “Uncle, watch me! I’m jumping in!!” In my family, we are quite diverse. I grew up speaking four different languages, the forth being English. So to these specific uncles I spoke Zulu, though to others I spoke Afrikaans and still others, Tswana. They screamed, “Kgomotso! (My African name) No!!” So they quickly swam back to save me as I was treading water to stay alive. I must have swallowed quite a few liters of water that day. Practice makes perfect and I eventually learned how to swim properly.
Fishing in the dam was one of our favourite past times. We would bring our homemade fishing pole made out of a stick, fishing line, weight, wine cork (for the float) and hook. We would also bring our pot, meilie meal (dried and finely ground corn) to make pap, salt and would make a fire right there by the water. If we caught something that day, we would fry the fish and that was our lunch. If we didn’t catch anything, we always had our sling-shots to hunt birds. And yes, we would fry the birds right there on the fire.
Leah: Growing up, one of my most cherished vacations was our regular trips to Lake Berryessa. My grandparents owned a small lake house, well technically a trailer, and a boat. I know for certain my Dad and his siblings have been going up to Lake Berryessa since they were teenagers, or maybe even younger.
Lake Berryessa is a magical place for a kid. We used to swing on the rope swing, go water skiing, inter-tubing, we jumped off docks, raced across the bay, and when we were a bit older, my parents bought a jet ski. Even if we didn’t go in the water, just being at the Lake was a breath of fresh air. All of the kids, grandkids and cousins had an open invitation to go to the Lake whenever we wanted to. I can remember hours spent in that two-bedroom trailer watching Pee Wee Herman and Home Alone with my brother. When I was really little, my parents took the church youth group to the Lake. We had 4th of July parties at the Lake. Pastors used the Lake as a quiet place to reflect and retreat. I celebrated my 15th birthday party at the Lake with a few of my close friends and maybe some birthdays before that.
My Dad, and eventually my brother as well, always slept on the porch. Always. It was so warm at the Lake and it was part of the adventure. From the porch, we had direct access to the water, though you just had to go down countless stairs to get there. I remember counting the stairs every summer. I think there were 56.
After a really good run, when I was about 16, my grandparents decided to sell the trailer at Lake Berryessa. No more swimming in murky water, no more Pee Wee Herman, no more sore shoulders from tubing all day. I miss those days.
Piet: As a kid, I had lots of duties. My grandmother or aunties would always send us kids to do various things for them. One of those things was fetching water from the dam. It wasn’t that far of a walk and we would always have lots of fun doing it. We were sent to fetch water so that the clothes could be washed and so that we could have water for bathing. We would only go to the dam, though, during the warmer months, definitely not in winter, it was too cold. Our aunties would often tell us to come back quickly because they had lots of washing to do. We would be so focused on playing in the water that we often forgot the sense of urgency we were sent out with. We would firstly fill up our buckets and containers and then have our fun. We also filled the containers first, just in case we heard them calling and we could quickly run up the hill and pretend like we were on our way.
In the dam we were carefree kids. We would splash around, chase each other, jump off rocks and fish in the dam. It was also in the dam where I learned how to swim…or eventually I did. Before I learned how to swim, we used to doggie paddle around the reeds that were growing up in the water. I was so anxious to learn how to swim and I saw all my older cousins and uncles swimming in the dam. One afternoon a bunch of us were fishing and we were there for a long time. A few of my uncles were having a race to the other side of the dam and had made it about a quarter of the way. I was standing on a rock and called to my uncle in Zulu, “Uncle, watch me! I’m jumping in!!” In my family, we are quite diverse. I grew up speaking four different languages, the forth being English. So to these specific uncles I spoke Zulu, though to others I spoke Afrikaans and still others, Tswana. They screamed, “Kgomotso! (My African name) No!!” So they quickly swam back to save me as I was treading water to stay alive. I must have swallowed quite a few liters of water that day. Practice makes perfect and I eventually learned how to swim properly.
Fishing in the dam was one of our favourite past times. We would bring our homemade fishing pole made out of a stick, fishing line, weight, wine cork (for the float) and hook. We would also bring our pot, meilie meal (dried and finely ground corn) to make pap, salt and would make a fire right there by the water. If we caught something that day, we would fry the fish and that was our lunch. If we didn’t catch anything, we always had our sling-shots to hunt birds. And yes, we would fry the birds right there on the fire.
Leah: Growing up, one of my most cherished vacations was our regular trips to Lake Berryessa. My grandparents owned a small lake house, well technically a trailer, and a boat. I know for certain my Dad and his siblings have been going up to Lake Berryessa since they were teenagers, or maybe even younger.
Lake Berryessa is a magical place for a kid. We used to swing on the rope swing, go water skiing, inter-tubing, we jumped off docks, raced across the bay, and when we were a bit older, my parents bought a jet ski. Even if we didn’t go in the water, just being at the Lake was a breath of fresh air. All of the kids, grandkids and cousins had an open invitation to go to the Lake whenever we wanted to. I can remember hours spent in that two-bedroom trailer watching Pee Wee Herman and Home Alone with my brother. When I was really little, my parents took the church youth group to the Lake. We had 4th of July parties at the Lake. Pastors used the Lake as a quiet place to reflect and retreat. I celebrated my 15th birthday party at the Lake with a few of my close friends and maybe some birthdays before that.
My Dad, and eventually my brother as well, always slept on the porch. Always. It was so warm at the Lake and it was part of the adventure. From the porch, we had direct access to the water, though you just had to go down countless stairs to get there. I remember counting the stairs every summer. I think there were 56.
After a really good run, when I was about 16, my grandparents decided to sell the trailer at Lake Berryessa. No more swimming in murky water, no more Pee Wee Herman, no more sore shoulders from tubing all day. I miss those days.