I was reading Roxie's postings and I have to apologize for setting a nicotine craving in motion: but that was how it was in those days: coffee, books, music, cigarettes. I think the only reason I wsa motivated to get a job was so I could afford cigarettes in particular. Let's see: I had a paper route - that didn't pay well, and allowances never sufficed. I got odd jobs: once painting cattle feeders at Beaver Lumber - I got Duane in on that gig too. I remember Lynn Cook (Dauphin's prosecuting attorney & Judge Manwaring's neighbour) hiring Duane and I to pick dill out of her lawn. She had a lot of dill! I don't know why she wanted to get rid of it -- when you cut her lawn it smelled like pickles, which I liked. Duane and I used to hang around at Lynn's a bit - interesting lady - sometimes we'd drop in to visit her at the courthouse. And her husband, Alan Stanhope, had a great record collection, including a lot of English imports which weren't yet popular. In particular I remember Kate Bush and Alan Parsons Project.
Dauphin was fun, or tolerable at least, as long as Duane was around. Most of the young people were into alcoh0l and drugs, but Duane preferred coffee and cigarettes and conversation, which was fine by me. Then after about a year or so, Duane was no longer in Dauphin, although the Judge still was. For whatever reason, Duane moved to Winnipeg to finish his schooling, residing temporarily with a quick succession of foster families, before moving in with his new step-sister Betty (his father having remarried) at her house on Dominion Street. He seldom came back to Dauphin after that, but I started visiting him regularly, eventually taking a bus or train just about every second week-end to see him, and of course to be introduced to new friends: Roxie, Carl, Richard, David, and of course my future wife, Tonni. I remember they were all so strange at first, and certainly very different from anyone I knew in Dauphin, which was a good thing. Duane was always a good judge of character, and everyone seemed to mesh well in our circle. I remember too how sweet, mysterious, cool, & kind Roxie seemed to be - it never occured to me she might be shy. It never seemed to be difficult for her to speak up, and least with us -- and it must have been hard for her to do that sometimes, surrounded by a group of egostistical "all-knowing" young boys. I remember I used to write to Roxie as often as I wrote to Duane. I also remember that trip to Dauphin and how much Mom liked her, and was concerned for her when she became pregnant. And how did Mom know? She just did.
Looking back on it, if I hadn't known Duane, I wonder if I would have necessarily left Dauphin at all. Would I still be there I wonder? All I know for sure is that Duane was in Winnipeg, so I visited him there, and eventually moved away from Dauphin, and made new friends, and drank tea, walked around at all hours of the day and night (yes, if you were going to hang with Duane, you were going to use your feet, or maybe a bicycle) and discovered new areas of art, music, and literature, and food to explore. I recall Roogi's, which burned down after a few years, and Salisbury House, Moskovitz, and best of all: Mrs. Lipton's Restaurant, at the corner of Lipton and Westminster, which still ranks as my # 1 favourite restaurant of all time. It was always like being at home in your own kitchen. I still recall those fabulous clubhouses, and the spinach soup, which was so good that I could eat it for breakfast!
I'll sign off for now: next Duane & I see Eraserhead!
Dauphin was fun, or tolerable at least, as long as Duane was around. Most of the young people were into alcoh0l and drugs, but Duane preferred coffee and cigarettes and conversation, which was fine by me. Then after about a year or so, Duane was no longer in Dauphin, although the Judge still was. For whatever reason, Duane moved to Winnipeg to finish his schooling, residing temporarily with a quick succession of foster families, before moving in with his new step-sister Betty (his father having remarried) at her house on Dominion Street. He seldom came back to Dauphin after that, but I started visiting him regularly, eventually taking a bus or train just about every second week-end to see him, and of course to be introduced to new friends: Roxie, Carl, Richard, David, and of course my future wife, Tonni. I remember they were all so strange at first, and certainly very different from anyone I knew in Dauphin, which was a good thing. Duane was always a good judge of character, and everyone seemed to mesh well in our circle. I remember too how sweet, mysterious, cool, & kind Roxie seemed to be - it never occured to me she might be shy. It never seemed to be difficult for her to speak up, and least with us -- and it must have been hard for her to do that sometimes, surrounded by a group of egostistical "all-knowing" young boys. I remember I used to write to Roxie as often as I wrote to Duane. I also remember that trip to Dauphin and how much Mom liked her, and was concerned for her when she became pregnant. And how did Mom know? She just did.
Looking back on it, if I hadn't known Duane, I wonder if I would have necessarily left Dauphin at all. Would I still be there I wonder? All I know for sure is that Duane was in Winnipeg, so I visited him there, and eventually moved away from Dauphin, and made new friends, and drank tea, walked around at all hours of the day and night (yes, if you were going to hang with Duane, you were going to use your feet, or maybe a bicycle) and discovered new areas of art, music, and literature, and food to explore. I recall Roogi's, which burned down after a few years, and Salisbury House, Moskovitz, and best of all: Mrs. Lipton's Restaurant, at the corner of Lipton and Westminster, which still ranks as my # 1 favourite restaurant of all time. It was always like being at home in your own kitchen. I still recall those fabulous clubhouses, and the spinach soup, which was so good that I could eat it for breakfast!
I'll sign off for now: next Duane & I see Eraserhead!
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