after many hours spent in the kinder playhouse
art, memories, stories, and a beautiful view of the world
are what still remain.
—
“this was something sure to be crammed full of warm secrets,
like an antique clock built when peace filled the world.”
-haruki murakami
these were one of the greatest food creations of my childhood
with the introduction of the mini-box variety packs
came great excitement
along with
new reasons to battle with siblings
how to divide the number of boxes evenly
who gets to pick first
did i open it correctly on the perforated lines
kellogs, general mills, or post packs
who gets stuck with
the ‘old boring people’s cereal boxes’
such unparalleled joy
sprung from eating it right out of the side of the box
pouring your milk on this sugary delight
turning it into a personal bowl
i thought i could never be happier.
—
“do you know what breakfast cereal is made of?
it’s made of all those little curly wooden shavings you find in pencil sharpeners!”
-roald dahl
ted’s
where i spent many hours of my childhood
famous to many as a woodward drive-in restaurant and hot rod cruising spot back in the day
famous to me as the scene of many family dinners and celebration spot
and that one suumer day
when my older sisters and i walked up to ted’s
all on our own
the hostess seated us in a booth
feeling very grown up
pooling all of our change
looking at the menus
ordering 2 plates of french fries and lots of ketchup to share
when we finished, so proud of ourselves
the waitress dropped off our bill
my older sisters knew math
realizing that we didn’t have enough money to pay the bill
my sisters somehow negotiated with the waitress
to leave me in the booth while they ran home to get more money
i sat in the booth quietly waiting for their return
feeling what it meant to be a hostage
without ever having heard the word in my young life
i’d still like to know
how they got the waitress to agree to this
how they talked my mom into letting us go up there alone in the first place
perhaps we snuck up there
and what they told my mom when they returned home without me to get more money?
i’ll ask my sister the next time we meet.
not at ted’s.
—
“every happiness is a hostage to fortune.”
-arthur helps
who remembers this?
sitting backwards
making faces
rolling around on turns
cigarette smoke-filled air
fighting over who could sit there
the door that swung open
back window down
best seat ever.
—
“like all great travelers, i have seen more than i remember, and remember more than i have seen.”
-benjamin disraeli
—
image credit: doyouremember.com
the pinto wagon
pea-soupy green
wood-ish sides
bare bones edition
shared with sibs
junk food
single shoes
lost school papers
hand crank windows
no air
sometimes heat
as many friends as we could jam in
rockin’ our fm-converter
a drag-racing ticket
but it had wheels
took us places
this was our flivver.
had a number of flivvers
over the years
but none
carried the memories
like this one.
—
do you remember your flivver?
—
FLIVVER:
Part of Speech- Noun
Origin – Unknown, early 20th century
Definition – A cheap car or aircraft, especially one in bad condition.
—
“a car for every purse and purpose.”
-alfred p. sloan
—
credits: google image, wordgenius.com
The New York Times recently published an article in which they discuss the power of scents to transport us. “Scents and memory are inextricably tied together – the smell of a grandmother’s house, a childhood pet, or a particular brew of morning tea.” NYT restaurant critic, Tejal Rao, has even has created a “Smell Museum” of her life in LA, cataloging the aromas she encountered in her home and office. The paper asked readers to send them their scent memories. This got me thinking about my own scent memories:
Freshly cut grass – brings me back to my childhood Saturday mornings, waking up to my dad mowing the lawn, windows open, curtains blowing
Jergen’s Lotion (Original Scent) – Almond and Cherry – the lotion my mother bought and we all used
Coffee brewing – When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I was drawn to this amazing aroma and I never have stopped loving it
Baby’s Heads – Always takes me instantly back to when my babies were little
Herbal Essense Shampoo – (Original Scent )- My teen years, and trying to figure out life, I felt beautiful when using this shampoo on my hair
What are some of your scent memories? Good or bad –
—
“nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it.”
—
credits: NYT – Jaspal Rivait, Melissa Kirch, Tejal Rao
in the tree tunnel
—
‘it is difficult to realize how great a part of all that is cheerful and delightful
in the recollections of our own life is associated with trees.”
~wilson flag
—
traverse city, michigan, usa, pathfinder school
old and rusted
i wonder about the day
when the child
left the bike here one last time
never to enter that tiny house again. .
—
“what do we leave behind when cross each frontier?
each moment seems split in two:
melancholy for what was left behind
and the excitement of entering a new land.”
-che guevara
my middle sister and i hatched a plan to get on the radio
when we heard about a fund raising radio-thon.
anyone who called in with a year-long pledge
would hear their names on the radio as a thank you.
as soon as our mom went upstairs
we dialed up the station on our kitchen phone
excitedly pledging to send 2 dollars a month for a whole year.
within the hour, we heard our names announced
we were so proud and cheering for ourselves
until all the noise caused our mom to come downstairs
asking what we were celebrating
as she quickly reminded us once again
that we were young kids with no income
(other than what we made from our other schemes)
and there was no way we could actually pay them a cent.
how quickly our fame turned to shame
how fearful we were
thinking the radio station
would send someone right over to our door to collect.
though they might not have found us
as we were soon busy doing hard time in our room.
—
‘fame is a fickle food upon a shifting plate.’
-emily dickinson
—
image credit: eBay
my daughter was given a small box
filled with items
from her great grandfather/great grandmother
on her father’s side.
it contained such an interesting mix
with no one to explain
the meaning
the importance
the story
of the items inside.
some of them were:
a pocket knife,
a key to a city in louisiana,
one heart-shaped earring,
and a piece of paper with
‘hamlet, act 1, scene 3’
handwritten on it.
i wish we knew the story of
why each was significant in their lives.
why was each item worth saving in a special box?
—
‘we all belong to an ancient identity.
stories are the rivers that take us there.’
-frank delaney
