Friday, April 13, 2012

Poem of the Day: Emily Dickinson

My Garden -- like the Beach by Emily Dickinson
My Garden -- like the Beach --
Denotes there be -- a Sea --
That's Summer --
Such as These -- the Pearls
She fetches -- such as Me

Thursday, April 5, 2012

10 Childhood Memories

1. I love the memories I have of my grandparents little house. It sat near the train tracks and would vibrate a little as the train went by. It had one bathroom, 3 bedrooms, window ac units, old fans, a slamming screen door, yellow kitchen cabinets, peach trees, a garden, pecan trees, a swing, and lots of love.

2. When I was about 12 or 13, my mom took us to visit my aunt and uncle in Rockport. When it came time to leave, I didn't want to go and they let me stay. One morning we got up early and went out on the boat and went crabbing. We caught ice chests full of crabs by just scooping them up in our nets. When we got home, an older teenage girl and I killed and cleaned most of them. My only regret- I was a picky eater at that time and I didn't even eat any of it! I love crab now!

3. In high school, in between classes or after school, I would sit under a tree in a little gully area. My friends would sometimes gather in this same spot.

4. Our street was a gathering place for my brother and sister and all of the other teenagers that lived on our street. I looked forward to the day that my friends would gather on my street but none of the kids my age lived on my street so this was not to be. But, we did have a lot of parties at my house when my mom would go out of town.

5. At lunch time recess one day in elementary school, our music teacher started a song (I wish I could remember what it) and we all formed a line holding hands. The line marched around and around while singing the song until we were wound tight into a ball. Recess ran long that day. I remember feeling happy.

6. My grandparents parked their camper on Goose Island every year and we would go visit them. My mom would buy the water color sets for me and I would paint the sea shells.

7. Every year we got a condo on the beach in Port Aransas. We would spend the day walking on the beach, swimming at the pool, tanning on the sundeck, riding the elevator up and down, running around the condo tower. We played cards, Scrabble and dominoes.

8. I used to be able to recite the whole Eddie Murphy Raw routine. I got some ice cream. I got some ice cream. Wanna lick? Psyche! We had recorded it off on VHS from HBO and we watched it over and over again. And then he kicked him in the ding-ding!


9. My best friend lived in an old Victorian home and I spent a lot of time over there. It was also next to the train track. Their mom drove one of those station wagons. They had a basset hound and I can't remember his name. We would make pallets on the floor in the front room where it was cool. In the winter the house would get cold and we would gather in the kitchen near the gas stove, surrounding the butcher block table laughing and talking.

10. I learned to ride my bike when I was about 9 years old after I got mad at my sister for something. We had ridden it together over somewhere and when I got mad, I walked it home. Some kind of determination was set in my that day. It was red and had a glittery banana seat.