DON'T GO NEAR THE RIVER, YOU'LL DROWN

    Learning to swim was not an easy thing to do if you lived in our mountain village.  New River, claimed by some to be the second oldest river in the world, flowed along the eastern edge of the little settlement with the railroad tracks creating a barrier between the houses and the river.  Our parents warned us to stay away from both dangers.  They claimed that children could not outrun trains.  and if we went near the river we might fall in and drown.  The boys, being more adventuresome and disobedient paid little attention to the warnings and they usually learned to swim. No matter how much we talked to our mothers, they would not consent to our going near the water.
     Since we could not go near the river, we missed out on a lot of fun.  How could we even go fishing if we could not go near the river?  We knew it was dangerous to get into a boat if we could not swim. But as young people we thought we were invincible and so we did go near the water.  We went to Claytor Lake whenever there was an opportunity.  Again, our parents said, "don't go near the water, just stay on shore and watch others swimming and boating." Now that wasn't any fun. "
    I remember one time when my boyfriend and I, with  another couple, decided to go fishing on the lake.  The boys rented a boat with an outboard motor.  I don't remember if we had life jackets in the boat--maybe we did but I don't  recall wearing one.  The man made lake was very deep in places.  The water covered a community of houses and groves of trees. Sometimes the top of a tree appeared above the waterline and presented danger to boaters.
     The boys maneuvered the boat into one of the shady coves out of sight of the boating traffic.  The water was dark and still.  We wondered out loud about how deep the water was in that spot.  The boys seeing how stressed out we non swimmers were becoming, began ro tell stories of fishermen falling in the lake and disappearing, never to be seen again.  When they saw that we were thoroughly frightened they began to laugh.  It was hard for us to find any humor in their scary tales. 
     We did make it back  to shore safely but we could have drown.
     I never learned to swim--I stayed away from the river

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