Recently I had the wonderful privilege of revisiting
Hot Springs, this time with all four of my children who
live in various places across the United States. (We
stayed at Anise's BnB4Pets in Hot Springs.)
This trip back to the "old home place" was a
wonderful Christmas gift from my family.
Although I love Oregon, where I have resided for a number
of years, I have an unfading soft spot in my heart for Hot
Springs. If I were a poet, I would write a poem about that
beautiful, unique little town. But I'll settle for writing
my thoughts in prose.
I started the first grade in Hot Springs and am a 1942
graduate of Hot Springs High School. Then later, after I
went away to college and married, my husband, Ken, and I
lived there during most of the 1950's. He served as minister
of the Church of Christ, and then taught at the junior high
school.
I see changes in Hot Springs mainly in many more businesses,
and great accommodations. The spacious new library building
is outstanding. Also, I saw new housing developments -
places I never imagined houses would someday stand.
I walked the Freedom Trail, along the river all the way
through town, and found the experience delightful. I
remembered how that charming, shallow river with its
crystal clear water provided safe places for little children
to play (with mother supervising, of course) and have loads
of fun.
We all enjoyed a swim in Evan's Plunge. I delight to describe
to my Oregon acquaintances how Cold Brook and Hot Brook
run together at the north end of town. Then the stream
flows into Evans Plunge, with many springs feeding from
below. I brag that it is the largest indoor mineral,
warm-water plunge in the world! From there the water forms
Fall River and flows all the way through town, which is
nestled in a valley. I tell them how the water steams in
the winter because it is warm and therefore never freezes.
And then I have to add the joke baout the fellow who,
when he was told that the water never freezes, thought,
"Good deal," and put it in his car radiator. Oops!
I remember the spot in one of those brooks where we could
drive our car right into the creek and wash it.
I like to picture the long section of the main street with
businesses on one side and the river on the other. But,
tell me: what happened to the goldfish? I missed them.
On the other hand, I was amazed with deer and turkeys we
saw all over town. A charming addition.
So many things about Hot Springs are unique. Now, the
Mammoth Site has been discovered. There many animal skeletons
can be seen where they fell into a sink hole many years
ago and couldn't get out. Just to think that when we were
in high school, about a mile from that site, we never dreamed
that not far below the surface of the ground lay such a
fantastic view of past history.
One could spend a whole day in the fascinating museum housed
in the old grade school building where both I and my sons
attended school. I wonder how many people have gone to grade
school on a hill where they climbed a long trail of cement
steps on one side, or up a steep gravel path on the other
side to get to their classroom. (I know the gravel path
later became another set of steps and now isn't used at all.)
This is Norm and me standing at the foot of the stairs that
I climbed on my first day of school (1st grade).
I remember the scary and fun fire escapes at that building.
These were round metal cylinders on the sides of the building
that contained a spiral slide. Someone would stand at the
bottom to catch you. Some kids were afraid to go down.
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I heard a story about one little girl in a classroom on the
third floor. The other kids always made sure that she was
the last one to go down the slide because she would be so
scared that she would wet her pants, and who wanted to slide
down after her? But I thought the slide was fun and felt
cheated the years my room was in the basement, and we didn't
get to use the slide. Those lucky kids on the third floor!
At the foot of the hill, across from what used to be
the library, was a big culvert. Tall enough to stand in,
and we could walk underground for the whole block until
it came out at the river. The eerie feeling in the cold,
dark, cobweb-laden passageway, made it both scary and exciting.
We had to approach the high school, across the river on
an opposite hill, by climbing another set of many steps,
unless you lived on that same hill.
As I passed the same city hall as in years gone by, I could
imagine my father, who was the Justice of the Peace and
small claims court judge, sitting at his typewriter in his
office. I remembered the time when I was awakened in the
middle of the night when a young couple, who couldn't wait
until morning, found the judge at his tiny home and were
married with my mother as the witness.
I was sorry this week in September wasn't the season for
wild crocuses, the state flower. A special memory, when I
was a kid, is climbing hills behind our house to pick
arm-loads of crocuses that covered the north side of the
hills in early spring. And then finding enough vases and
jars to put them in water when we got home. We had a contest
to see who could find the first crocus, poking its pale
purple head through the snow. In Oregon we have beautiful
domestic crocuses, but somehow they just aren't the same.
We enjoyed seeing the homes where we used to live, especially
the one that originally my parents built, and though different,
with its blue stucco siding rather than brown shingles,
is still there. We also visited the home that used to be
the chuch parsonage. The wonderfully hospitable couple who
live there showed us the many changes, with new rooms and
rearrangement of old ones.
We took flowers to the attractive cemetery on top of a hill
where my parents and other relatives are buried.
I have always been especially enthralled by Kidney Springs,
across the river from the business section. It has a list
of all the minerals in the water, and tells how it helps
you healthwise. If you think it tastes odd but, that is
only because it is warm. Just take it home and put it in
your refrigerator and when it's cold it doesn't taste bad
at all. I brought a plastic bottle of it home.
Hot Springs is conveniently located, making it easy to see
all the great attractions in the Black Hills. We enjoyed
many of those during the week, including the picturesque
Needles Highway, Mt. Rushmore, the 1880 train, and Wind
Cave where my husband used to work as a guide in the summertime.
We had a picnic under the covered area in Chautauqua Park.
I had organized this earlier from my Oregon home. We invited
relatives (some from the Rapid City area) and friends from
years ago and had a great time.
I had a fantastic reunion, with all four of my children
under the same roof with me for the first time in several
years, and in a place which holds such pleasant memories.
I will always have a nostalgic feeling for that charming,
unique, and beloved little city.
God bless and guide all of you in my most favorite of all
towns.
Catherine Fox
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