When they were little, their respective fathers were expected also to take part in the obstacle race, and when with the advance of years the fathers finally refused to be contestants, there was a general feeling of pained regret among the children at such a decline in the sporting spirit.
Another famous place for handicap races was Cooper's Bluff, a gigantic sand-bank rising from the edge of the bay, a mile from the house.

If the tide was high there was an added thrill, for some of the contestants were sure to run into the water.
As soon as the little boys learned to swim they were allowed to go off by themselves in rowboats and camp out for the night along the Sound.
Sometimes I would go along so as to take the smaller children.

Once a schooner was wrecked on a point half a dozen miles away.

She held together well for a season or two after having been cleared of everything down to the timbers, and this gave us the chance to make camping-out trips in which the girls could also be included, for we put them to sleep in the wreck, while the boys slept on the shore; squaw picnics, the children called them.
My children, when young, went to the public school near us, the little Cove School, as it is called.

For nearly thirty years we have given the Christmas tree to the school.