Thursday, August 2, 2007

Childhood Favorite(s)

So it was my turn to pick the blog topic. After putting it off for several days (Sorry Kianne) I finally made up my mind this morning. Here are a few of my childhood favorites.

Hasbro's Kid Sister
Sarah, my kid sister, and I did everything together. Her hard plastic head with blue eyes that always looked like a deer in the head lights, even slept in my bed. I'm surprised I don't have a permanent indent left by her nose in my back. Her perfectly positioned freckles, plastic shoes, blue overalls and hat had me at hello. Plus, I could drag her where ever I wanted to go. Let me back track. My biological sister is 7 1/2 years older and often found me annoying, although I don't know why, I was wonderful (please sense the sarcasm in my typing). Natalee could not be persuaded to do anything, however, Sarah, my kid sister, she had no choice. We took bike rides(I'm sure she loved her basket seat), climbed the neighbors weeping willow tree, played beauty salon, and hang out in the backyard. There was one thing she couldn't do well, swim. Her big plastic head was floatable, but her fabric body soaked up moisture like a sponge. I'm pretty sure I still have Sarah, I think she now lives in a Rubbermaid tote in my shed.

Sit and Spins
Ahh, the best way to spend a hot afternoon, making yourself so dizzy you puked in the neighbors backyard. Starring at the spiral shaped colors on the (handle), watching them go round and round as you go round and round till you can't see straight. Funny this is, I could spin myself silly every afternoon, yet the gravatron at the fair seemed so unnatural.

Jail Break
I was fortunate to grow up on a cul-de-sac where lots of other kids lived. Ours was the cul-de-sac to play on. Kids from the rest of the block would come and beg to play. Right at the end of the cul-de-sac (that's such a funny word) was a light pole. That was base. I remember that Leah once tried to hide in a raspberry bush. That was a rough night. Turns out that Benadryl makes her unbelievably hyper. Ryan used to scale the pole and play look out, shouting to his team where everyone was. I tended to be the jailer. I wasn't a fan of hiding in the dark, I was happy to guard the jail.

Kick Ball
When we weren't play jail break, there was kick ball. A crack in the straight portion of the cul-de-sac was 1st base. My mailbox was 2nd, the light pole was 3rd, and home was a crack in Beaty's drive way. We had to be careful. A poorly aimed "home run" often bounced off our front window, which did not please the father. I really miss those days. I'm tempted to send out invitations to all of those kids I used to play with to have a day of jail break and kick ball.

Willow Tree
My neighbors had the perfect willow tree. It was very climbable. Stuart and I would spend hours in that tree. We had to be quiet though because his dad worked third and the tree was right outside his parent's bedroom. We were pirates, royalty, family, thieves, animal rescuers, explorers, just about anything you could think of. That tree had magical powers. The new owner of that house is thinking of cutting it down. It has gotten out of control and it is dying a slow death, but it will still be sad to see it go.

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