The year was 1979 and I remember it well for 3 reasons: my mother had collected all of us children in the dead of night, like so often happened during that time as she escaped one abusive or dysfunctional relationship for some other ‘prince’ in some other place…that evening she loaded us into a station wagon and we moved to Parksville. The second and more fun reason: Claudja Barry had released “Boogie Woogie Dancin’ Shoes” and I owned her cherry red translucent LP and played that song incessantly…man I loved that song, ha ha ha. The final and much more profound reason: it was the first time I swam with Salmon…’Dog’ Salmon. One of the advantages (at least as far as a 11 year old boy is concerned) with having a single mother with alcohol dependencies and some psychosis…is pretty much a completely unsupervised childhood. I was free to explore as far as my pedal bike would take me…early that first summer I discovered the Englishman River and spent days swimming and exploring the river from its two stunning water falls all the way to the ocean – and never once donned a life jacket! I don’t recall how I learned of the late summer Dog Salmon run, but I do recall seeing the river black with salmon – so thick it seemed you could walk across the river on their backs…and how at the rivers edge you could hear the rocks and stones slapping against each other underwater as they were tossed aside by the powerful tails of these huge spawning salmon – a dramatic symphony of sounds and images etched in my mind forever. Chum salmon are often referred to as Dog Salmon, because the males develop large and very sharp canine teeth and elongated snout during their final and fateful spawn and can weigh more than 20lbs…they look mean, intimidating and angry! Nonetheless I was awe inspired…and I swam repeatedly with these magnificent creatures until the summer faded and fall arrived…the water eventually too unbearably cold to enter. I emerged from those swims bruised from head to toe from being stampeded repeatedly by scurrying schools of these giants, and scored numerous lacerations from their dog-like teeth that drew along my body as they rushed past…along with the occasional leech! When I look back on this time I realize that despite the absence of so many things and the hurt of my youth…my life is replete with these types of incredible and amazing experiences that taught me to survive and live…to conquer and to thrive…to flourish and to love my life.
Original Photo by AdrieneH (2010)
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Lawrence Lewis
“I’ve been workin’ all week, savin’ my emotions
for saturday night when I use my potion
to put on a face, pretty clothes
I’m dressed to kill
it’s the one night a week I feel free to obey my will.”
– Claudja Barry “Boogie Woogie Dancin’ Shoes” Album: I Wanna Be Loved by You (Lollipop) (1978)
About Lawrence Lewis
I do a number of things professionally...but most of all and the true purpose of what I do through "my work" is to provide for my family, be a good husband and great father, and try to make a difference as a world citizen...I guess it's not much more complicated than that 🙂