Early morning memory
This morning I came across a memory. I hadn't forgotten it, but I'd definitely misplaced it, or not looked in that particular corner of my memories-repository, for quite some time. The memory was thus:
An early morning, mid-summer. I was ten or eleven, and the four of us - Mum and Dad and Al and me - were holidaying in Northland. We were staying in a holiday park adjacent to 90 Mile Beach, with paddocks and horses and trees out back, a tiny black and white tv in our room, and a spit-roast restuarant/bar that was also on the premises. My Dad, who was a runner, got up early to do his usual morning jog. A morning person, just like Dad, I was awake and asked if I could run with him. So the two of us, in our shorts and singlets and sneakers - and both wearing our glasses so that we could see - walked across the road to the beach, down the dunes, and jogged along on the firm sand just above the water-line.
I have a lot of memories of my Dad, but not many of them are of just-me-and-him. But that morning, the two of us were out there as the sun was burning off the morning coolness, smelling the salt blowing off the water, listening to the swoosh of the surf and the melodies of the local birds. We jogged and walked, talking sporadically. Being father and daughter and creating a memory.
It was just the start of another day on holiday, during a long summer break. It wasn't a special day, or particularly memorable. Water, sand, sunrise, jogging. Dad. Me.
It's special now. And I will remember.
ETA: A conversation with my brother:
Taz: thats a lovely entry. i even posted a comment
DebXena: Really? *beams*
DebXena: I hadn't thought about it for years. And, in the process of writing it down ,I remembered more stuff. Glasses, for instance, mean I was 10 or 11, not 9 or 10. And the horse out in the paddock behind - I stood on a bucket to slither onto its bare back
DebXena: And it stood on my foot...
DebXena: *sniff* That's such a nice comment!
Taz: yes i remember it standing on your foot. one of my few memories from that holiday
Taz: yay :)
DebXena: :) Was godzilla or something on the telly? That was in 3D? Which didn't work for us, because it was b&w?
Taz: i must have been about arias age
DebXena: Really? Wow
Taz: dont remember sorry
DebXena: That's OK!
DebXena: I do know we were there because mum was working for Fullers
Taz: dont remember much from that age
DebXena: Whether that meant it was cheap or free, or we only paid accommodation or something, I can't remember
Taz: yeah i remember we were there because of fullers
DebXena: I do remember doing the bus ride on 90 Mile beach
DebXena: and I think we did the catamaran that went through the hole in the rock
DebXena: and up to Cape Reinga
DebXena: But I don't remember those as well
Taz: wowo you remember a lot
DebXena: Apparently I do!
DebXena: But it's like ... outlines. The run on the beach with dad is in colour
Taz: i remember the bus almost going off a cliff on the way to the beach
DebXena: I remember it breaking down. Aussies in thongs getting out and fixing the engine about three times
DebXena: I don't remember the cliff!
Taz: loooooooooooong time ago
DebXena: Nearly 20 years. Good god
Taz: indeed
DebXena: You know, in 20 years I'm going to stumble across little events from our holiday on the Gold Coast
DebXena: I'll suddenly remember walking along the boulevard with you, or sipping milkshakes
DebXena: the little things
DebXena: Sitting on the balcony eating fruit salad
DebXena: squirting sunblock behind our ears!
Taz: life fades into memories very quickly
DebXena: Dammit. I have a big lump in my throat now...
Taz: no need for that
Taz: memories are all we have
DebXena: That's _very_ true
Taz: and photos
DebXena: The absolute now, the potential future, and memories
An early morning, mid-summer. I was ten or eleven, and the four of us - Mum and Dad and Al and me - were holidaying in Northland. We were staying in a holiday park adjacent to 90 Mile Beach, with paddocks and horses and trees out back, a tiny black and white tv in our room, and a spit-roast restuarant/bar that was also on the premises. My Dad, who was a runner, got up early to do his usual morning jog. A morning person, just like Dad, I was awake and asked if I could run with him. So the two of us, in our shorts and singlets and sneakers - and both wearing our glasses so that we could see - walked across the road to the beach, down the dunes, and jogged along on the firm sand just above the water-line.
I have a lot of memories of my Dad, but not many of them are of just-me-and-him. But that morning, the two of us were out there as the sun was burning off the morning coolness, smelling the salt blowing off the water, listening to the swoosh of the surf and the melodies of the local birds. We jogged and walked, talking sporadically. Being father and daughter and creating a memory.
It was just the start of another day on holiday, during a long summer break. It wasn't a special day, or particularly memorable. Water, sand, sunrise, jogging. Dad. Me.
It's special now. And I will remember.
ETA: A conversation with my brother:
Taz: thats a lovely entry. i even posted a comment
DebXena: Really? *beams*
DebXena: I hadn't thought about it for years. And, in the process of writing it down ,I remembered more stuff. Glasses, for instance, mean I was 10 or 11, not 9 or 10. And the horse out in the paddock behind - I stood on a bucket to slither onto its bare back
DebXena: And it stood on my foot...
DebXena: *sniff* That's such a nice comment!
Taz: yes i remember it standing on your foot. one of my few memories from that holiday
Taz: yay :)
DebXena: :) Was godzilla or something on the telly? That was in 3D? Which didn't work for us, because it was b&w?
Taz: i must have been about arias age
DebXena: Really? Wow
Taz: dont remember sorry
DebXena: That's OK!
DebXena: I do know we were there because mum was working for Fullers
Taz: dont remember much from that age
DebXena: Whether that meant it was cheap or free, or we only paid accommodation or something, I can't remember
Taz: yeah i remember we were there because of fullers
DebXena: I do remember doing the bus ride on 90 Mile beach
DebXena: and I think we did the catamaran that went through the hole in the rock
DebXena: and up to Cape Reinga
DebXena: But I don't remember those as well
Taz: wowo you remember a lot
DebXena: Apparently I do!
DebXena: But it's like ... outlines. The run on the beach with dad is in colour
Taz: i remember the bus almost going off a cliff on the way to the beach
DebXena: I remember it breaking down. Aussies in thongs getting out and fixing the engine about three times
DebXena: I don't remember the cliff!
Taz: loooooooooooong time ago
DebXena: Nearly 20 years. Good god
Taz: indeed
DebXena: You know, in 20 years I'm going to stumble across little events from our holiday on the Gold Coast
DebXena: I'll suddenly remember walking along the boulevard with you, or sipping milkshakes
DebXena: the little things
DebXena: Sitting on the balcony eating fruit salad
DebXena: squirting sunblock behind our ears!
Taz: life fades into memories very quickly
DebXena: Dammit. I have a big lump in my throat now...
Taz: no need for that
Taz: memories are all we have
DebXena: That's _very_ true
Taz: and photos
DebXena: The absolute now, the potential future, and memories