Return of Memoryfest - Days 27-29 of 31
I felt happy and otherwise emotionally sturdy enough today to look through some photo albums from when I was a baby up through about age 11. I remembered most of the pictures, but they still sparked fresh recollections. Even the smell of the plastic pages brought back memories.
27. Pre-school
My maternal grandmother died when I was four. Our family went down to Florida, where they'd retired, for the funeral. What I remember of the trip is:
- Driving by a field lined with orange trees. I'd never seen orange trees before.
- Walking down a refrigerated aisle at an A&P with dim, yellowy lighting.
- Horsing around with the other kids in the carpeted living room, and someone (possibly me) bumping his/her head on the TV table.
28. Elementary School
My dad's friend's daughter, L., and later, his son R. too, used to baby-sit us sometimes. I was a fan of hurt/comfort even as a child, and I remember two nights when I asked one of them to do something to or for me so I could try to physically enter the fantasy. Once, at bedtime, I asked L. to carry me up the stairs in the position of all the best Mary Sues, with my arms around L.'s neck, one of her arms under my knees and the other supporting my back. It was probably not the safest thing for us to do, but we made it to the landing and into my room without incident. The other time, also before bed, I asked her or R. (can't remember which, though I suspect it was R.) to hold my arms behind my back as they led me into my room. S/he obliged, possibly after some convincing. I remember being surprised when it hurt.
Heh. Our time together was really very normal otherwise. We'd watch TV and play board games; L. used to read to me or play Pachelbel's Canon on the piano while I fell asleep, and R. used to entertain us with wildly funny made-up stories and shadowboxing.
29. Middle School
Two domesticated rodent-related memories. Consider it penance for skipping a few days here.
We had a guinea pig-well, technically, I had a guinea pig, although she was really a family pet-for six or eight years. My sister's friend J. had one, too, and because we had experience, when J.'s family went on vacation one time, they asked us to watch it. The thing was pregnant, so when they dropped it off at our house they gave us the basics of what to do if it gave birth, even though they didn't expect that anything would happen while we had it. Of course, it gave birth to three little guinea pigs whilst in our care, and our parents, being nervous about any of them dying or becoming injured before the family got back, told my sister and me not to touch any of them. Well, she and I decided one afternoon to take one of them out and play with it. We let the little guy run around on the carpet within an enclosure of our legs or some boxes or something. Again, of course, it escaped, ran behind her dresser, and would not be coaxed out. So I had to go tell our parents what we'd done and what had happened. I was banished to the living room while they got a flashlight and food and moved furniture to rescue the traumatized animal.
Another time, we were hamster-sitting for our neighbors. We'd put the cage on the coffee table in our living room. I don't think we took it out to play much, if at all. One afternoon I went in there to feed it some carrots or something, and I reached out a finger to pet it on the head. It bit me, right on the tip of my index finger. It hurt like hell. I jerked it away, and a drop of blood splashed onto the table. It was welling up and dripping fast; probably nicked an artery. I had to go into the bathroom and apply pressure over a series of tissues to get it to stop bleeding, and then I put on some Bacitracin and a Band-Aid. By the time I went back in to wipe up the drop of blood, it had congealed on the wood and needed to be scraped off.
27. Pre-school
My maternal grandmother died when I was four. Our family went down to Florida, where they'd retired, for the funeral. What I remember of the trip is:
- Driving by a field lined with orange trees. I'd never seen orange trees before.
- Walking down a refrigerated aisle at an A&P with dim, yellowy lighting.
- Horsing around with the other kids in the carpeted living room, and someone (possibly me) bumping his/her head on the TV table.
28. Elementary School
My dad's friend's daughter, L., and later, his son R. too, used to baby-sit us sometimes. I was a fan of hurt/comfort even as a child, and I remember two nights when I asked one of them to do something to or for me so I could try to physically enter the fantasy. Once, at bedtime, I asked L. to carry me up the stairs in the position of all the best Mary Sues, with my arms around L.'s neck, one of her arms under my knees and the other supporting my back. It was probably not the safest thing for us to do, but we made it to the landing and into my room without incident. The other time, also before bed, I asked her or R. (can't remember which, though I suspect it was R.) to hold my arms behind my back as they led me into my room. S/he obliged, possibly after some convincing. I remember being surprised when it hurt.
Heh. Our time together was really very normal otherwise. We'd watch TV and play board games; L. used to read to me or play Pachelbel's Canon on the piano while I fell asleep, and R. used to entertain us with wildly funny made-up stories and shadowboxing.
29. Middle School
Two domesticated rodent-related memories. Consider it penance for skipping a few days here.
We had a guinea pig-well, technically, I had a guinea pig, although she was really a family pet-for six or eight years. My sister's friend J. had one, too, and because we had experience, when J.'s family went on vacation one time, they asked us to watch it. The thing was pregnant, so when they dropped it off at our house they gave us the basics of what to do if it gave birth, even though they didn't expect that anything would happen while we had it. Of course, it gave birth to three little guinea pigs whilst in our care, and our parents, being nervous about any of them dying or becoming injured before the family got back, told my sister and me not to touch any of them. Well, she and I decided one afternoon to take one of them out and play with it. We let the little guy run around on the carpet within an enclosure of our legs or some boxes or something. Again, of course, it escaped, ran behind her dresser, and would not be coaxed out. So I had to go tell our parents what we'd done and what had happened. I was banished to the living room while they got a flashlight and food and moved furniture to rescue the traumatized animal.
Another time, we were hamster-sitting for our neighbors. We'd put the cage on the coffee table in our living room. I don't think we took it out to play much, if at all. One afternoon I went in there to feed it some carrots or something, and I reached out a finger to pet it on the head. It bit me, right on the tip of my index finger. It hurt like hell. I jerked it away, and a drop of blood splashed onto the table. It was welling up and dripping fast; probably nicked an artery. I had to go into the bathroom and apply pressure over a series of tissues to get it to stop bleeding, and then I put on some Bacitracin and a Band-Aid. By the time I went back in to wipe up the drop of blood, it had congealed on the wood and needed to be scraped off.