Random Woods
chapter 5
Amazing Memories
While I had to squeeze into the structure of my family, there was always room for me outside and with my neighborhood friends!
In our yard, my dad had crafted what he called, “the green spot.” The green spot was a perfectly shaped oval of land in the middle of the woods about 50 yards outside our front door. It was covered with grass more perfect than the most perfect golf course. Lush green grass surrounded by trees that made noise as the wind blew through them. Cardinal flowers spotted around the outside of the green spot. Here we would play keep-away, tag, ride our big wheels and just about do anything you can think of in the summer. In the winter we would make snow angels and gather snow for snow cream with my mom. We would stand out and watch the sky as a storm approached and then run inside just before the storm hit and rain began. It was a most beautiful refuge from the world. I miss it to this day.
The only exception to this memory was the day that Kevin, the boy next door, told me there was a bomb in my bigwheel, and believing him, I rode my bigwheel out into the green spot and never touched it again fearing it would blow up. For the longest time I wondered why it did never blow up. That was the end of my bigwheel days.
My father was great at creating these worlds of play and dreaming up activities for me to do. I remember learning to fish in the yard beside our house. He gave me a fishing rod and taught me how to cast the line. I would cast it over and over into the grass and reel it back in. It was such a cool thing to do. I wonder if any other father in the world thought of doing that with their child and I kind of doubt so.
One day I was playing with our dog, Boy, a pointer and wonderful creature. We loved each other. I was on the swing set while Boy stood at my side. I swang higher and higher and higher. All of a sudden, I felt a sharp pain on my head.”Ouch!” I said to myself inside my head. Oh well, I thought and kept swinging higher and higher and higher. Then, another sharp pain, and another. I looked up and apparently I had swung too high and too close to a blue jay’s nest. That protective mother blue jay was warning me to stay away and was pecking at my head to back off. Of course I ran straight inside to my mom yelling all the way that I was getting attacked by a bird. Now it makes me laugh, but then, it was quite painful.
Then there was the day I was climbing a tree out in Melody’s yard. Melody was my friend from down the street. No one was home at the time at her house, so I just proceeded to climb up that tree. Next thing I knew I had fallen flat out on my back and literally gotten the wind knocked out of me. I truly thought, “This is it. I’m going to die,” because I couldn’t breathe. You can’t know what it feels like to get the wind knocked out of you unless it’s actually happened to you. I really thought I was a goner until moments later my lungs filled up with air and I took a deep breathe and knew I was going to be alright. I kind of slumped in defeat as I walked home, but I was fine.
Across the street was my friend Kathy. I spent the most time with her. She was a couple of years older than I, but we got along well and really enjoyed each others company. We spent the night together all the time and played in her basement where sometimes there was a warm fire burning. We played cards and spoons. I specifically remember playing dodgeball with Keith and Kevin. The outlines of the inbounds dodgeball area were formed by the cracks in Kathy’s driveway. I always won!
These are just some of the amazing memories of my childhood. They’re quite normal, yet very unique to me and I treasure them.