Window Screens
Rhode Island right now reminds me of Washington at the beginning of fall. Cloudy, some sun, and then the rain comes. It was supposed to be nice in Newport in June... but whatever, I'm in the States.
So one night when I couldn't sleep because the time difference is thirteen hours between EST and Japan time. I watched the rain between 2-4 in the morning. I opened up the window to hear it because I haven't been able to do this in a while and I figured, I can't sleep anyways maybe it will help. The rain sounds awesome when no cars are on the road. You also hear more because everyone else is sleeping at this time. I don't know why, but I was drawn to the window screen. I put my nose real close to it and inhaled. I all of a sudden remembered when I was back in Bremerton. All through elementary school, junior high school, and high school I was up real late when no one else was. It wasn't because I couldn't sleep, I just liked how it sounded at night when all you could hear was the light hum of the electricity running through the street lamps or the crickets in the pond behind my house. I had a lot of time to think about lots of things... girls, grades, work, family business, and where I was going to be later in life. Summers were the best for obvious reasons (weather, no school, etc.) The smell of the different window screens in my house were all the same. I don't know why I liked the smell of window screens, but I did.
In high school, I used to deliver papers for the Kitsap County Reporter when I was 15. For all you Bremerton folks, that was a free paper delivered to your front door every Wednesday and Saturday morning. When I was 16, I took over one of my dad's 4 jobs to deliver these huge bundles of papers to the paper delivering people, which included myself. Sometimes my dad would come with me to hang out and just keep me company, but most nights I did it myself. We'd get the papers after 11 pm and begin deliveries. After a couple of hours, I'd turn into the paperboy and delivered papers to each door of the three routes I was given. I think the number of papers I had to deliver those nights were was like 250 something. I forget, but it was usually a long night. I had my Sheffield Place neighborhood as well as the Rolling Hills apts. When I was finally done with this route, it would usually be around 3 or 4 am. When my dad wasn't with me, I would sneak over to Nikki's house between deliveries or after, depending on whether we had planned to meet up that night or if I was planning on surprising her. I came up to her window one night and she was listening to one of my tapes that I made, because back then, you made slow jams for your girl. We talked for a little bit because I still had to finish my deliveries. I distinctly remember kissing her through a window screen (I know you all probably think that it's pretty gross because you think about all the things that could have been on a window screen... whatever). I still remember how that screen smells.
In college, Marco, Ben, Justin, and I lived in a house on 75th St and 25th Ave (I think?). Me and Marco's room had a window and I remember the smell of that one from when I moved in before everyone else did because I had gone to ROTC orientation a week before classes started. My dad stayed with me at the house to drop me off in the morning. He also did some gardening in the jungle we had in the back yard of that house. I was prepping all of my paper work for ROTC and I remembered going to smell the window screen and the sliding door screen.
At SKEEET!!! we had a sliding door screen, but I had no window screen. I remember going to make one for my window. I got all the materials from Lowe's. It was pretty easy, I messed up the measurements a little, but it worked out pretty good. I noticed that after I put up the screen, the smell of the screen was totally different from that of the screen door. Maybe it was apparent to a screen connoisseur like myself, but the smell was different. I remembered this on my sleepless night in Newport.
I then realized why the smells were different.... history. The screen door in SKEEET!!! had probably been there since the beginning of the house. My screen for the window was brand new and had no history in it. Window screens contain the little bits of each day that everyone seems to forget about. You may think it's just a dirt smell, but not me.
When Aron and Posey's wedding came around, I had come back to the house to finish moving. When I did my last walk around to see if I forgot anything, I smelled the screen door and my window screen. It was the last thing I did in that house.
I remembered all of this while I remained awake on the 5th of June. I also remembered that I never smelled a screen in Japan. I'm sure the smell is different, but I noticed that all my time there I never smelled a screen. After all the crap I've been through at work, I'm not sure if I want to associate the smell of the window screens with the miserable time I've had at work because that's what I'd probably do... or maybe I won't. Yokosuka was part of the beginning of my marriage to the best part of me, my buddie. We had purchased our first TV, couches, DVD's, computer, and home in Yokosuka. My work hasn't been good to me, but my buddie has, and I love her so much for it. Life has been good to me, it brought me Nikki.
I don't know about all of you, but my goals have changed since elementary, junior high, and high school. I've got the girl of my dreams, I'm done with college for now, but I still have other things I hope to do. And I'm going to do it all, and I hope Nikki will be there every step of the way.
So at the Newport BOQ, I take myself to the window, open it, and inhale...
So one night when I couldn't sleep because the time difference is thirteen hours between EST and Japan time. I watched the rain between 2-4 in the morning. I opened up the window to hear it because I haven't been able to do this in a while and I figured, I can't sleep anyways maybe it will help. The rain sounds awesome when no cars are on the road. You also hear more because everyone else is sleeping at this time. I don't know why, but I was drawn to the window screen. I put my nose real close to it and inhaled. I all of a sudden remembered when I was back in Bremerton. All through elementary school, junior high school, and high school I was up real late when no one else was. It wasn't because I couldn't sleep, I just liked how it sounded at night when all you could hear was the light hum of the electricity running through the street lamps or the crickets in the pond behind my house. I had a lot of time to think about lots of things... girls, grades, work, family business, and where I was going to be later in life. Summers were the best for obvious reasons (weather, no school, etc.) The smell of the different window screens in my house were all the same. I don't know why I liked the smell of window screens, but I did.
In high school, I used to deliver papers for the Kitsap County Reporter when I was 15. For all you Bremerton folks, that was a free paper delivered to your front door every Wednesday and Saturday morning. When I was 16, I took over one of my dad's 4 jobs to deliver these huge bundles of papers to the paper delivering people, which included myself. Sometimes my dad would come with me to hang out and just keep me company, but most nights I did it myself. We'd get the papers after 11 pm and begin deliveries. After a couple of hours, I'd turn into the paperboy and delivered papers to each door of the three routes I was given. I think the number of papers I had to deliver those nights were was like 250 something. I forget, but it was usually a long night. I had my Sheffield Place neighborhood as well as the Rolling Hills apts. When I was finally done with this route, it would usually be around 3 or 4 am. When my dad wasn't with me, I would sneak over to Nikki's house between deliveries or after, depending on whether we had planned to meet up that night or if I was planning on surprising her. I came up to her window one night and she was listening to one of my tapes that I made, because back then, you made slow jams for your girl. We talked for a little bit because I still had to finish my deliveries. I distinctly remember kissing her through a window screen (I know you all probably think that it's pretty gross because you think about all the things that could have been on a window screen... whatever). I still remember how that screen smells.
In college, Marco, Ben, Justin, and I lived in a house on 75th St and 25th Ave (I think?). Me and Marco's room had a window and I remember the smell of that one from when I moved in before everyone else did because I had gone to ROTC orientation a week before classes started. My dad stayed with me at the house to drop me off in the morning. He also did some gardening in the jungle we had in the back yard of that house. I was prepping all of my paper work for ROTC and I remembered going to smell the window screen and the sliding door screen.
At SKEEET!!! we had a sliding door screen, but I had no window screen. I remember going to make one for my window. I got all the materials from Lowe's. It was pretty easy, I messed up the measurements a little, but it worked out pretty good. I noticed that after I put up the screen, the smell of the screen was totally different from that of the screen door. Maybe it was apparent to a screen connoisseur like myself, but the smell was different. I remembered this on my sleepless night in Newport.
I then realized why the smells were different.... history. The screen door in SKEEET!!! had probably been there since the beginning of the house. My screen for the window was brand new and had no history in it. Window screens contain the little bits of each day that everyone seems to forget about. You may think it's just a dirt smell, but not me.
When Aron and Posey's wedding came around, I had come back to the house to finish moving. When I did my last walk around to see if I forgot anything, I smelled the screen door and my window screen. It was the last thing I did in that house.
I remembered all of this while I remained awake on the 5th of June. I also remembered that I never smelled a screen in Japan. I'm sure the smell is different, but I noticed that all my time there I never smelled a screen. After all the crap I've been through at work, I'm not sure if I want to associate the smell of the window screens with the miserable time I've had at work because that's what I'd probably do... or maybe I won't. Yokosuka was part of the beginning of my marriage to the best part of me, my buddie. We had purchased our first TV, couches, DVD's, computer, and home in Yokosuka. My work hasn't been good to me, but my buddie has, and I love her so much for it. Life has been good to me, it brought me Nikki.
I don't know about all of you, but my goals have changed since elementary, junior high, and high school. I've got the girl of my dreams, I'm done with college for now, but I still have other things I hope to do. And I'm going to do it all, and I hope Nikki will be there every step of the way.
So at the Newport BOQ, I take myself to the window, open it, and inhale...