Living Family Archive

big woods behind Swanson’s

Stories set here

Bike Rides and a Hideout with Ray RohrerBernard recalls his unlikely childhood friendship with Ray Rohrer, a boastful, tough-acting boy whose badness he admired. Ray claimed a fight had broken his tooth, though Bernard later learned he had fallen off his bike. Bernard speculates that Ray's domineering behavior reflected being bossed around by his older brother Dick. Ray introduced Bernard to dirty jokes, an “eight-page bible,” and profanity. On a tiring bicycle expedition through woods and along a creek, Ray led Bernard to a cardboard-floored cave hideout near Coaltown Road, where Bernard tried a strong homemade corn-silk cigarette that briefly burst into flames.

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