Random Memories
I grew up on a five acre property. Half of it was swamp, and we couldn't go back there, unless Dad cleared it in a canoe and took us out in it. I can only remember that he did this once, and it was very beautiful back there. Lots of lilypads. But we still had a lot of room to play. The terrain was flat, mostly, with palmetto bushes that were very thick so you couldn't just go anywhere. Every so often Dad had to go hack the palmettos back in the trails he had made with his machete.
We had a little pond and a little tiny stream, just about big enough to walk in single file, and very shallow. In summer, when it rained a lot, the whole area would flood and we could slosh around in our highest shoes. (The water got in them, anyway.) We never got leeches or anything although occasionally the fear was expressed that they might be out there. We also caught minnows, lots and lots of them, and had leaf races.
But I wasn't a very athletic child. My best friends when I was a kid were Nathaniel and Gabriel, two brothers. Nathaniel was my age and Gabriel was my sister's age. Nathaniel was aggressive and athletic and he always wanted to do things outside. I mostly just wanted to talk and play pretend games.
Nathaniel used to tell me stories to scare me, like that there were cobras in the bushes. I was about six at the time, and I believed him, because I knew we had snakes. I was also obsessed with baby bunnies at this time and thought that I could catch one and make it my pet. Nathaniel was always telling me how his uncle had caught a wild bunny, and things like that.
I didn't go to school until I was seven. Prior to that, I was homeschooled, but then my Mom decided to go to massage school, so for a year, I was in public school. I was very anxious there and homesick all the time. I had to do the same textbooks that I had done the prior year because we had been working a year ahead. I remember finding reading unbearable. We'd read in a circle and I just waited for my sentence or two. I could read fast, but a lot of the other kids were very slow, and it seemed endless. I would have read the story four times over by the time we were finished.
I really liked the people there, but I would do anything to get out of it. At first my Mom had to shove me on the bus. But I got along well with all the teachers and classmates. I think everyone liked me. We had a themed day called "Elegant Day" and there was this one boy named Matthew. No one really treated him well because he was chubby and he looked like a nerd, and had a nerdy voice, too. Kind of nasal. I didn't like him either, but I made a special effort to say, "You look very nice today, Matthew", because I thought he needed to hear it. I still remember that so clearly, I guess because it was the first time I thought of lying out of the blue with good intentions. I don't really do that, now. It was an unusual thing for me to do.
I read a lot, as a kid. Much more than I do, now. Nowadays I always end up getting sleepy when I read. But back then I could sit down with a stack of books and a few apples and that was all I needed for the whole day to be in a state of bliss. I could never get enough books at the library. I would fill a backpack and then carry a pile in my arms, struggling up to the checkout. The librarians would laugh at me, in a friendly sort of way. I envied literary characters who were always "reading the entire children's section and then moving on to the adult section." I could never even get CLOSE to reading the entire children's section at my library, and it wasn't even a very large library. And try as I might, some books just sucked, or bored me. So I never got close, but I did read a lot.
Books inspired me quite often. There was one book about a girl who tried to start her own library in her bedroom. So I tried to do that. I spent all day cutting out little labels that said "jFic" and then the first three letters of the author's name and alphabetizing all my fiction. Across the top of the pages I wrote "Bianca Dolamore Library System." Bianca was my hamster. I guess I named the library after her in bizarre tribute. And, of course, I made little pockets to go inside the books. The main problem was that no one would check out my books. They were mine, after all. And how was I supposed to enforce my fines even if someone did borrow my books and fail to return them? Still, to this day, I have some books from the Bianca Dolamore Library System.
We had a little pond and a little tiny stream, just about big enough to walk in single file, and very shallow. In summer, when it rained a lot, the whole area would flood and we could slosh around in our highest shoes. (The water got in them, anyway.) We never got leeches or anything although occasionally the fear was expressed that they might be out there. We also caught minnows, lots and lots of them, and had leaf races.
But I wasn't a very athletic child. My best friends when I was a kid were Nathaniel and Gabriel, two brothers. Nathaniel was my age and Gabriel was my sister's age. Nathaniel was aggressive and athletic and he always wanted to do things outside. I mostly just wanted to talk and play pretend games.
Nathaniel used to tell me stories to scare me, like that there were cobras in the bushes. I was about six at the time, and I believed him, because I knew we had snakes. I was also obsessed with baby bunnies at this time and thought that I could catch one and make it my pet. Nathaniel was always telling me how his uncle had caught a wild bunny, and things like that.
I didn't go to school until I was seven. Prior to that, I was homeschooled, but then my Mom decided to go to massage school, so for a year, I was in public school. I was very anxious there and homesick all the time. I had to do the same textbooks that I had done the prior year because we had been working a year ahead. I remember finding reading unbearable. We'd read in a circle and I just waited for my sentence or two. I could read fast, but a lot of the other kids were very slow, and it seemed endless. I would have read the story four times over by the time we were finished.
I really liked the people there, but I would do anything to get out of it. At first my Mom had to shove me on the bus. But I got along well with all the teachers and classmates. I think everyone liked me. We had a themed day called "Elegant Day" and there was this one boy named Matthew. No one really treated him well because he was chubby and he looked like a nerd, and had a nerdy voice, too. Kind of nasal. I didn't like him either, but I made a special effort to say, "You look very nice today, Matthew", because I thought he needed to hear it. I still remember that so clearly, I guess because it was the first time I thought of lying out of the blue with good intentions. I don't really do that, now. It was an unusual thing for me to do.
I read a lot, as a kid. Much more than I do, now. Nowadays I always end up getting sleepy when I read. But back then I could sit down with a stack of books and a few apples and that was all I needed for the whole day to be in a state of bliss. I could never get enough books at the library. I would fill a backpack and then carry a pile in my arms, struggling up to the checkout. The librarians would laugh at me, in a friendly sort of way. I envied literary characters who were always "reading the entire children's section and then moving on to the adult section." I could never even get CLOSE to reading the entire children's section at my library, and it wasn't even a very large library. And try as I might, some books just sucked, or bored me. So I never got close, but I did read a lot.
Books inspired me quite often. There was one book about a girl who tried to start her own library in her bedroom. So I tried to do that. I spent all day cutting out little labels that said "jFic" and then the first three letters of the author's name and alphabetizing all my fiction. Across the top of the pages I wrote "Bianca Dolamore Library System." Bianca was my hamster. I guess I named the library after her in bizarre tribute. And, of course, I made little pockets to go inside the books. The main problem was that no one would check out my books. They were mine, after all. And how was I supposed to enforce my fines even if someone did borrow my books and fail to return them? Still, to this day, I have some books from the Bianca Dolamore Library System.