Miss Susie Had A Steamboat Because Of A Newborn Baby

For most of us, summer camp experiences are long gone, but their imprints remain: the long tables for meals in the mess hall, bunk beds in cabins with inch thick mattresses, bugs everywhere, and songs around the campfire. While I have carried these songs with me since childhood, it took the sleepless nights of having a newborn to really think about them. Being up late night after night, trying to soothe a crying baby, you go through a lot of nursery rhymes and songs, and after sleep deprivation really starts to kick in, you start to wonder and think about a lot of bizarre things. Mine revolved around camp songs, with the focus on Miss Susie. Miss Susie had a steamboat. Was it really a steamboat, or could it be something else? A nickname? A dreamboat? Could the bell be his phone? What if Heaven was the name of a night club? And so it went until a story based on childhood songs but meant for adults was born.   

After a few nights, I had the sense to start writing some of these ideas down, and much like the funny notes drunk people leave for themselves, most of what I thought during those late night rocking sessions made no sense, but the idea was there. It would take four years and another baby, but, “The Tale of Miss Susie and her Steamboat: And Other Songs from your Childhood Explained,” was written, proofread by many thoughtful friends and family members, and self-published on Amazon.

If you have fond memories of camp songs, enjoy reading, or just want to support a Lakewood alumnus, please check out Miss Susie, available in book or Kindle format.

Sonja Kreps is a graduate of Madison Elementary, Harding Middle, and Lakewood High School, she has moved out of Lakewood, but now teaches in the wonderful city where she grew up.

Sonja Kreps

A graduate of Madison Elementary, Harding Middle, and Lakewood High School, I have moved out of Lakewood, but now teach in the wonderful city where I grew up.

Read More on Arts
Volume 11, Issue 2, Posted 1:08 PM, 01.20.2015