Oma's Bathing Suit

"We Just Drove Over a cat!"  I looked back, and yelled at Tyll, "I saw it's tail twitch!  Go Back, Go Back, before some other car gets it!"  We are zooming  a U turn across Victory  Parkway, and get one of the floor mats to pick up a grey cat in flat condition, put newspaper under his head where blood is oozing out.  "Dr.Bernard is just around the corner, and he can help."  He was the doctor for the zoo, for some of our pets and we thought  he would do the right thing.  We dropped off the cat.  "We rescued this cat from the street.  We didn't want him to suffer." 

Cricket

Tyll and I still lived at home, took this road together to drive to UC to go to classes.   We were a family with Oma and Mom; our home a house with an immense Ballet Studio, a huge appendage affixed to the basement garage in Hyde Park.  The first floor had been a  small ballet studio while the new addition was being built;  we lived on the second floor, and Mom rented out the front house.  I ended up with a third floor bedroom, which was four floors up(the back was on a hill) and I put my bed by the windows, enjoying looking at the stars at night(a la Heidi style) and watching the moon rise and set.  I decided on an oriental theme, painting walls gold and furniture black with red trim to match some Japanese dolls and fans I collected.  On the second floor lived Tyll and Stinkus, the skunk,  Oma  and Cricket, our dog.  
 Oma would  ask us for certain favors, and we would always grumble.  I recall going to the post office with exactly $2.45 for example, and a list of what she wanted us to bring her.  She would begin, reading the list as if we were not able to read her perfect writing:  "Ask for 7 five cent stamps; 10 one cent stamps; and 4 international answer coupons at .50 cents each. She would have us count the letters we were mailing, and make sure we HAD put them into the mail slot.  It was painful. 

Mom, Tyll, Oma and I as a baby

I would grumble when Oma would ask me to wash her back.  She had taken care of me as a baby in Germany.  I was very ill, and when babies were supposed to go to the hospital she nursed me at home.  She grated apples, made special soup so that after a year I survived, and the hospital babies never did.  I can wash her back, and pay her back a little for her love.  I love my Oma, and I wash her back.  I rub soap into the washrag and scrub her sides.  I study her pale wrinkled skin, and wonder how I will look at 60.  I think about being old, and I understand that what I am doing is learning to love myself as I get older.  The cycle also includes ourselves.  It does not begin with us, but it includes us.
 We always spoke German at home.  "Telefon!"
"Was ist das!  Deine Katze wartet?"
There must be some mistake...We were not sure what she was talking about.   Tyll called back.  We had no cat.  Yes, the cat we dropped off had survivied, and needed a home.  Come get her. Tyll brought her home.  He wanted nothing to do with a tame cat, so she was mine.  I named her Victoria Smogovitch, Smoggy for short. 
Oma and Mom and I went to ballets together.  Oma provided lifesavers.  Usually peppermint, sometimes different flavors.  She also had hayfever and kleenex, and opera glasses.  Oma would make comments that annoyed my Mom.  It was always fun being with them.  Never a dull moment. 

Oma and Mom in California in Bathing Dress

When we were getting ready to travel to Eagle Bay with Oma, we discussed swimming.  She needed the proper attire.  We went shopping, but she wanted, a "bathing dress".  We finally found a store with the style she might wear in public.  Maybe one or two items would pass her inspection, and she settled on a thick satin style material, such as ball gowns are made of, which would sop up water and weigh you down.  The dress hung to her knees, covered her chest in a V, with four inch shoulders, covered her back entirely, and belted with a large sash.  It was horrid and need I say it?  Black.
She loved it.  However, she insisted she would NOT go into any body of water "Ohne Shuhe!"  We needed to go to a swimwear store and search for watershoes.  We found some she could put on, thick and white, and she was prepared with "Badekappe und Bademantel" she could go to the beach.  She was so thoroughly covered the sun nor human eyes would ever peek at any of her white skin!
At the Beach she walked a bit unsteadily, and since she did not swim, we always walked with her.  The Lake bottom is sandy and uneven.  She  gave little yelps when she lost her balance and the waves pushed her back and forth.  She would wade a bit, and even wanted to sit in the water, enjoying the feel of the waves bouncing her up and down.  It is not very deep at Little Beach, and you can walk quite far without ever getting to the drop off.  The only problem we ever had was when the bathing dress filled with water, and the waves were big so she could not get up.  It was as if the folds and billows were anchors that pulled her down and it took all of us to strain and retrieve her from the sand bottom, let the water flow out and then guide her back to shore. We laughed with her, but never let her "swim" alone.

Me, Oma, Peggy walking in the ocean in California

  

Victoria Smogovitch 1962

Smoggy was a wonderful cat, not only recovering from that accident, but shortly upon coming to the house surprised us with a litter of kittens.