Wednesday, June 15, 2011

 

My Wonderful Catskills

Please forgive the nasty condition this ancient but joyful photo represents. It is all I can find from a time, around age eleven, when I was ecstatically spending summers up in The NYS Catskill Mountains.
I was such a free spirit, happily not in school (Lord, I did not enjoy school)..... and finally, had lost enough weight to fit into a revealing white bathing suit.

The background is a bungalow cottage we rented in a bungalow colony where in Yiddish it was referred to as "A Koch alein" = roughly meaning to cook for yourself.

Every summer we would schlepp a ton of pots, clothes, our pets... and etc....., to move into a country-like setting that had a pool and woods, surrounded by the once grandiose hotels The NYS Catskills became so famous for. It was also known as THE BORSHT BELT. You remember some of the hotel names like = The Concord, Grossingers, The Pines, The Nevele, Browns, Kutchers, and so very many more.....

I would explore and pick berries with friends and my Grandma Minnie. Especially great was the fact that I would win ping pong tournaments and dance contests. For me it was like a coming out party.
Being there always represented the highlight reward of my entire year.

It would be wonderful to publish some of your own happy recollections to add onto Norma's Ark Blog. That big smile on my face shows you just how much being there meant to me.
RubyNorma *o*

Comments:
What great memories. So glad you wrote this to remind me of my own sweet memories in The Borsht Belt. Thank you.
Lana R.
 
I bet we could have passed each other in The NYS Catskills, as I used to go there too. My family and I loved it. Good to remember those sweet times in America.
Sam and Family in Brooklyn
 
I have never seen better than this site.
 
sehr gute Website!
 
Ladylike Post. This post helped me in my university assignment. Thanks Alot
 
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