Now that my car is back in our driveway (still not fixed), I can divulge the contents of my scrapbook page (refer to a couple of posts ago for the story behind it). This is an undated, handwritten remembrance of childhood, which would have been lost forever in a landfill if not for the dumpster diving of Chicken John.

California and Lake Stevens

The earliest memories of my life are so vague that I sometimes think they have been imagined after I'd been told about it. One is being very very sick and being carried off the train by Daddy. Another, playing with a little boy in a wagon "Logo" & a little girl in California. There was an orange tree too that I remember.

Then Lake Stevens. Robert and Betty. I used to go early & get breakfast over at Betty's with her sometimes. We used to catch grasshoppers in the long grass in front of her house and name them. We rowed in the boat and swam. We used to play games but they would run away and make me "it" because I was littlest & would cry.

There was little William Stack Bridge & Mr. Hally's dogs. And the cabin in the woods of Jasper & Bob that was the delight of our soul. On the way to the cabin there was a huge burnt stump grown over with "twin flowers." There was our mail box hidden in the rafters of the wood shed & in Larson's big wood pile. There was Anna Drew and paper dolls "Dolly Dingle" paper dolls & our throne in the woods & raspberry stalks to chew, and old Captain Larson's and the Allens. My first bycicle (sic) and the fall when Jasper & I were riding in the freshness of the early morning. School - going to school when dew covered (illegible) were along the fence - beautiful.
There were excursions to Big 4 or "Camp Glacier". There were visits to the big house in Everett elaborate meals prepared by the (illegible) & games with Uncle Jasper and ice cream at the store. Occasionally snow - the deep snow. Jumping out of the wood shed window. Snowshoes made of planer ends. Mother's pink satin dress and my chopped finger. Miss Copps. Admiring little boys. flowers on my desk. Daddy away. Ice on the lake - the mill burned down. Mr. Ecklund petting me - taking me home in his car. Little Clare Groger. Bertha and William. Fab old "Dimples". The swing - "Isn't she cute" and my anger. Rides with Dr. Allen. Dr. Harris in Arlington. The episode of the fruit from Allen's Aunt Margaret. The Stock Bridge farm - the Stockbridges & Round-a Roadles!

There you have it. I love reading about childhood, especially when video games and TV are not mentioned. I like the stream of consciousness feel to this as well. Back in those days, kids played outside and were no doubt more actively engaged in the world around them than many kids are today. It's sad to think that many of the current generation will grow up to find that they don't really remember much of their childhoods because of the time they spent having virtual experiences rather than real ones. The video games and TV shows just don't stick in our heads like actual life does.

Of course, as I type, I can hear the kids watching a movie in the other room. Guilty! Bee leaving bonnet now...

Speaking of kids, Willow is having an "opposite" day today. She stood on the toilet and later peed on the walkway.