Thursday, September 30, 2010

Tap-Tap No Erasies


I remember….
The simple pleasure of catching a raindrop on my tongue
The wonderful salty smell of play-doh
The excitement of a new 64-pack of freshly sharpened Crayolas in colors I’d never heard of before
The enthusiasm for trying anything new
Not being able to sleep on Christmas Eve
Turning cartwheels for no apparent reason
The breathless wonder beholding the two story Barbie house
The thrill of wearing sparkly costumes
Eating snow for the first time
The torture of sitting five minutes to do math, yet sitting for hours meticulously sorting and counting my Halloween candy
Thrifty double scoop ice cream cones
The calm of lying on the floor coloring
Being eye level to the candy counter at Farrells
Growing tall enough to ride the “E-ticket” rides at Disneyland
Stopping to make wishes on dandelions, stars, pennies thrown into fountains
Playing outside until it was dark every single day
Climbing trees, rocks, anything that stood still long enough to be climbed
Games of tag, hide and seek and kickball that lasted until the sound of the ice cream truck sent every kid scrambling for his mother’s purse
Counting the days until my birthday
Turning six, six and a quarter, six and a half, six and three quarters
Screaming Tap-tap no erasies, Ollie Ollie Oxen-free, and Marco Polo more times than I could count
The drama of losing a tooth, then trying to stay awake to catch the tooth fairy
Mastering new skills: a two-wheeler bike, a skateboard, a cannonball jump into the pool
Never stepping on a crack or else you’d break your momma’s back
Cat’s cradle, thumb wrestling, pinky swears, and Indian burns
Running through sprinklers in my underwear (that was yesterday)
I remember being totally present for every moment of my childhood, never reflecting on the past, never worrying about tomorrow. The question is, when, and how, did I forget? And is it possible to get it back? It’s certainly worth a try.
Step one: buy myself a brand new 64-pack of Crayolas.
Yep, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.
What are the moments you remember?

8 comments:

  1. I remember:

    Pinning a whole deck of playing cards onto the spokes of my bicycle wheels with clothes pins just to hear the cool clap-clap sound it made as I rode.

    Sitting on my grandma's old wooden floor and building amazing architectural structures with the Lincoln Logs she kept in her entry closet.

    Building tree houses with scrap lumber with my brother in the old cottonwood trees in the field behind our house.

    Catching pollywogs and keeping them in a Mason jar until they lost their tails and sprouted legs turning into frogs. I was in awe.

    Riding my friend Karen's horses bareback in an all out race across the pasture just to have my horse stop dead in its tracks as we reached the stream only to send me flying over its head and into the water. Boy did we laugh...

    Running as fast as I could to hurl myself head and belly first onto the slip-n-slide on a scorching hot summer day.

    Playing Capture the Flag with the neighborhood kids during summer break and being able to stay outside well after dark.

    Throwing socks stuffed with rocks high up into the air with the hope that one of dozen's of the black bats would latch onto the sock and plummet down to earth so we could get a closer look...it never happened but we kept trying.

    Laying on my back on the grass on a lazy day just to make out all the animals shapes in the clouds that passed overhead.

    Thanks for helping me to remember the good things ;-)...

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  2. Playing in the rain.

    Playing carrems at the park.

    Riding my flexy flyer down the street with a sheet on it.

    Playing with my surrey with the fringe on the top with my sister and neighbors.

    Being happy with my patty playpal doll when I took it to the Kinney shoe store for real shoes.

    Hanging out at Paul J Howards Nursery.

    Riding my bike to the park.

    My birthday is Halloween so every Halloween was a big deal. We handed out goldfish and cameleons to the kids.

    Swinging on the rings at the park.

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  3. Riding my bike up the street to my girlfriends house without a worry in the world, just excited to pretend we were married to David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman.

    Going to my Grandparents house and they always had Reeses peanut butter cups in the fridge and took me to the pony rides formerly in the place where the Beverly Center now resides.

    Going thru my Grandmothers costume jewelry for hours.

    Watching the stars come out

    Walking up to Boys Market to get a giant sprinkle cookie with my best friend.

    Learning to swim at my best friends house and being the first one to dive from the deep end. Swimming til my skin was pruned but never caring.

    Riding my horse all alone and feeling on top of the world.

    First crush

    The excitement of graduating from 6th grade and going into "high school"

    Hanging out at "Golf Land" and meeting all the friends there - did we ever play golf?

    Riding the bus to the beach to lay out all day.

    Hanging out in my best friends back yard and catching full jars of lady bugs, then letting them all go...

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  4. Dear Tracy, Madge and Dani-
    What wonderful memories you've all shared! My readers are so lucky to get this triple whammy of beautiful, happy memories from all of you!
    Wasn't it fun to reminisce about these things?
    I did buy new crayons, and Evan and I lied on the floor coloring. I intend to do it a lot more. : )

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  5. Sorting through my grandma's button box, stringing them into necklaces of pearly discs.

    Kick the can until dark

    Waiting an hour after we ate to get back in the pool (what is with that rule, anyway?)

    Creating a restaurant with my lil sis, complete with menus, spool table, and hardened mud pie food. My parent were frequent guests!

    Eating pomegranets (spelling?) in the summer, sucking each ruby pearl dry and spitting out the seeds

    Counting the days until the 4th of July and going to the firework stand to purchase our box of fun!

    Playing in the sandbox.

    Playing in the playhouse.

    Traipsing through the juniper bushes until our legs were thrashed and raw (guess we didn't know THAT would happen) and then soaking in a cool tub.

    Walking barefoot from Grandma's to the K&S in the middle of the street in the heat of summer (not the smartest memory).

    Watching "Combat" with my dad.
    Watching "Lassie" with my dad, and running to his lap when it seemed Lassie was in trouble.
    Building planes, boats, and other toys out of wood scraps in the garage with my dad.

    The incredible smell of a new box of Crayolas. I'm with you Hollye...time for a new box.
    thanks friend.

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  6. I love it, Lori!
    Sounds like you had such a warm relationship with your dad. And yes- Pomegranites in the Summer!!! We used to ride our bikes to what all the kids called Pomegranite Lane, pick as much as we could carry in our shirts, and ride back home with our booty. I remember sitting on the curb eating those messy things....such a treat!
    You write beautifully Lori- keep going!

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  7. Oh, I miss this ALL the time -- when I was little, I could just lie and lie in the grass and stare at the sky and dream. It was heavenly.

    Must do it again!

    B

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I love hearing your point of view- thank you for taking the time to comment and be part of the conversation!
love,
Hollye