The Damn Dam spans the Big Sioux River just outside the small town of Flandreau, South Dakota where my dad spent his boyhood. He and his brothers and another friend all went in together and bought a canoe and lived what sounded like the Tom Sawyer life on the lake behind the dam. Fishing, camping, canoeing, and “hanging out.” It still looks like a good place to hang out.
It was called the Damn Dam by my mother and my Aunt who were very tired of visiting the dam every year and never missed an opportunity to not go. It was all in good fun though. My Dad and his brother still like to go and I like to go because they like to go and they have great stories. The stories get better ever year. I’m much to polite to say anything about that though.
Cousin Robert, Dad, and his brother at the Damn Dam.
Looks like a peaceful spot to hang out in!
MY father was born and raised in South Dakota too….in Columbia.
Pretty scene you shared Yogi.
Great photos and that’s a lovely photo of your Dad with his brother and cousin. Your title made me smile. My mother had a few of those, but I think it was directed towards my dad’s cricket matches.
Funny about it being the “damn dam.” You are a very good boy to not mention that the stories are getting better as time goes by.
The beauty of being a part of a family is the sayings that only the family know the full meaning of. I’m almost 80 and my middle aged “children” and I can use an expression and only the three of us know the full story. Wonderful.
I loved your story of the damned dam. Thank you for sharing.
What good are memories if they don’t get better every year ! May the stories and the story-tellers all just continue to improve with age. My mother used to have a little routine in her stock of stories about the dam man and his dam wife living together in their dam little house …… etc. Shocking ;>)