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July 31, 2005
I've been hit!
Tagged again! This time by Kaitlyn!
5 things i miss from childhood.
If you want to participate the chain-letter part works like this: remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog’s name in the #5 spot; just check to make sure the links are still attached if you copy n’ paste.
1. Playing Being one of four sisters in a very ...ummm... "creative" house, I feel I have a different outlook on playing than a lot of people do.... Sure, we played a lot of the regular stuff kids did - school, library, yadda yadda yadda... But I have yet to meet others who played out the sagas that we did with our Barbies and Cabbage Patch kids. We once had a story that played out over the course of 4 years.... By the time that one story was wrapping up (just to change into another story of course), I was at the age that I shouldn't have been playing with dolls anymore. We had heroes, villains, tramps, power hungry monsters, and your good ol' sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. I shit you not. My sisters Mary and heather shared a room that was absolutely taken over by this. My poor Mom would try to clean and we would all FREAK out. You can't move that, Mom! That's Gilles' throne room! Don't you know anything??? I'm kind of giddy with the idea that my kids (and their cousins I would presume) will most likely be playing in the same, ridiculously elaborate way that we did..... I can't wait - despite the knowledge that their messy rooms will be the end of me.....
2. The Beach When we were kids ( M, H and I that is - sorry Caitlin - you missed the boat!) we would spend a couple of weeks in a tiny one room beachouse in Newport, RI. Our days were filled with sand castles and tidal pool trekking. We would go out during low tide and find starfish and snails - and mussels by the ton it seemed! We would bodysurf and take hikes up to the nearby lighthouse. On rainy days, we'd stay inside and color and pretend that the dolls we were able to bring were on a vacation of their own in a far off place.... We'd have a special day when we'd go down into town with our Mom and visit our favorite seashell shop, get some cookies and fudge at The Cookie Jar (they had EVERY flavor of Jelly Belly, I swear!) and make our annual stop at The Bear Necessities where we'd each get a teddy. I loooooove the beach. I can still go, but it's not the same. I'm just not a beach-goer in the traditional sense. I want to live in a tiny space right on the beach for a couple of weeks.... I want my sheets filled with sand and I want my hair to be in a constant french braid that smells like the ocean. A stop in Fairfield to sit on some sand in front of the Long Island Sound for 3 hours just doesn't do it for me, I guess.... Yet another thing that I am giddy to do with my kids. (Luckily, the Bune looks forward to this, too.... he hearts bonfires and surfing! The beach is a definite on our family vacation list.)
3. Sidewalks. For the 4 years that we lived in New York with my Great Grandfather, we lived on a dead end street. With sidewalks, no less! Having moved to Connecticut, where sidewalks can only be found in the downtown area of your town (if you are lucky!) I truly appreciate the memory of riding my bike down that sidewalk, playing hopscotch on that sidewalk, concentrating like crazy in every attempt to avoid stepping on the cracks of that sidewalk. (What? My Mother's back was in danger, people!) Now having a dog and wanting to go for long walks, with and without her, I would love to have a sidewalk again!
4. Camping. Along the same lines as #2. Same deal - a couple of weeks vacation for M, H and I but this time in a big old tent with our Mom and Dad and yellow lab on The Lake in Maine. The same exact spot, as a matter of fact, that my Uncle Andy and Aunt Missy built their beautiful home and we have continued to visit every summer! So, I do not miss the lake, as I have luckily had that as a constant in my life. What I do miss is that feeling of camping out in the wilderness with adventure lurking around every corner! That place is a serious playground for a child - let alone three with big imaginations. Our time spent in the woods - quite often with just our Mom (she's a tough broad) - really developed a real love of the outdoors in me. I can't get enough! I love to hike and to sleep in a tent and I don't get to do either one enough! (mental note: make some damn TIME to do these things.) We spent hours in the water and in the sailboat with our Pop. Water was definitely a theme for us growing up, huh?
5. My Paternal Grandmother. My Dad's Mom passed away when I was pretty young - almost 7. But, I guess there was just something about her that I clicked with. Being old enough now to do a little self examination, I can appreciate even more the connection I felt I had with her. Mary Jane French was a badass, a rebel, and one stylish lady. She was very young when she had my Dad - and he was her only child. My Dad, in turn, was pretty young when he had me, so she was a very young Grandmother! (Something I don't think she ever really got used to!) She loved fashion and would take me to Saks, Lord & Taylor and Bloomie's. She was an executive assistant at United Features Syndicate in the City and worked with Charles Schultz (Peantus) and Jim Davis (Garfield). I cannot begin to tell you how much cool stuff we got. I remember a blue snowsuit covered in Peanuts comic strips... Anyways, she had an air of sophistication and intelligence about her and I just about worshipped the ground she walked on. I was pretty devastated when she died. But - that was when our family moved form Maine to Yonkers to live with Poppy (my Great Grandfather) - all three of us (again - sorry Caitlin... why'd they wait so damn long to have you??) got to have a relationship with him that we otherwise might have missed out on due to distance. So, I guess everything happens for a reason, hm?
Okay - that was a nice trip down Memory Lane! And who should I tag? hmmm... Okay - The Other Christine, Mary (will yours be the same as mine?), and Karen!
Posted by Sarah at July 31, 2005 3:25 PM
Posted to 100 Things About Me that you Always Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask
Comments
Read with interest your note about spending your childhood vacations camping - You might be interested in reading The Last Child in the Woods - Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louw. It's and eye opener and will make you REALLY happy to have had those experiences. BTW - that lovely yarn is less an uneven first attempt, I think, and more a boutique handspun hank that would sell for a small fortune on one of the hot new hand spinning sites!
Posted by: Claudia at August 10, 2005 9:04 AM