By 1961, it was a tradition of Mim's backyard camps that we had Sunday breakfast at Lorimer Park. Mom & Dad would head down to set things up, while the rest of us would hike the distance, following the train tracks.
So, when we woke up that camp Sunday morning to a gigantic rain storm, there wasn't any questions of doing the sane thing & staying put. Mim pointed out there was no thunder or lightening, just sheets of water.
Mim & Tevye were kindred spirits when it came to devotion to their traditions. We went. Mom & Dad packed themselves & all the makings for breakfast into the front cab of Dad's truck, the rest of us piled into the back & off we went.
Driving over, we waved at cars packed with families heading to church & waved even more enthusiastically when they beeped their horns back at us.
The park rangers could not believe their eyes when we showed up. Mind you, the grills - which Mom needed to use for the pancakes - were outside. Somehow, Dad & a bunch of the campers, under Mim's guidance, got a good fire going. Other campers took turns holding umbrellas over Mom & the grill as she flipped pancake after pancake. The rest of us waited in the pavilions for the GO to run into the rain & grab our stack of flapjacks.
As we pulled away, the open back of the truck filled with totally drenched & ridiculously happy kids, the park rangers called out, "Have a great trip back to Norristown!" Even Mim found that weird. They knew we were from Bryn Athyn. It took Mom & Dad to explain they were referring to the state mental hospital, which was in Norristown!
Yes, it probably did look totally lunatic, a troop of boys & girls having a grand time eating slightly soggy pancakes cooked by a grinning Mom who looked to be having the time of her life. Hey, it was tradition & nothing stood in the
way of it or of any of us - especially Mim, who instigated it all - having a blast!
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