If you see a whole thing - it seems that it's always beautiful. Planets, lives... But up close a world's all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life's a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. - Ursula K. LeGuin

Friday, June 27, 2008

Home

This meme was started over at a quatre pattes who tagged blue milk who sent out an open tag. I really liked both of their lists. Here are the instructions:

Write 5 memories from places you have called home. If you are uncomfortable about revealing the location just use House #1, House #2, etc. Tag 5 bloggers from around the world and send them a link letting them know they've been tagged.

Here's mine:

Grandma's House
  • Roses and tomatoes every summer in Grandma's garden
  • Watching Grandma scrub the floor on her knees
  • Riding my tricycle in the basement while my mother hung clothes
  • My father suffering from a "hang nail"
  • My grandfather's face through the bars of his hospital bed
Dingy Apt #1 - Big City
  • Starting a garden on the fire escape with avocado pits
  • Really big cockroaches in the kitchen
  • Picking through the abandoned lot for "buried treasure"
  • Sleeping in closets
  • Waiting for my turn to visit Grandma for the weekend
Aunt's House-Suburban Town
  • Hotdog dinners with my aunt, uncle, 6 cousins and 1 sister
  • Sleeping in the (mostly)finished basement with my sister
  • Riding my bike to school everyday
  • Hiking through the abandoned parkway with my oldest cousin
  • Joining 4H
Dingy Apt #2 - Big City
  • Missing my dog
  • A man pulling a knife on me in the lobby and forcing me into the elevator which went up instead of down because my sister and her boyfriend were waiting on the top floor.
  • My mother coming home to find my sister's boyfriend in her wedding dress as we hosted a mock wedding
  • My mother telling us my father had died and feeling like I wanted to laugh
  • The man who became my ex-husband moving in with us after he left his wife
Tiny Apt Across the River from Big City
  • Living on $3 a day
  • Teaching myself to cook in a huge old fashioned kitchen
  • Typing college papers with an old manual typewriter on a fold-away table
  • My sister moving in after my mother got evicted from Dingy Apt #2
  • Walking 11 blocks to the train station on crutches every day with a broken ankle
Not-So-Tiny Apt Back in Big City
  • Moving in and discovering Sensei lived across the street and had a wife and child
  • Singing songs to Boy while he was still on the inside
  • The neighborhood children shouting "Baldy" everytime I walked by with Boy in his stroller
  • Boy throwing back his arms and crowing with joy as we played in the park beneath the bridge.
  • Boy laughing after he played his first practical joke by making me get off the couch and then stealing my seat.
Beautiful Apt on the River in Big City
  • Sitting in the window with Boy and watching thunderstorms on summer nights
  • Boy running laps around the living room and the irate man who lived below ringing the doorbell
  • Long walks with Boy in the park and stopping by the cafe that looked like a castle to share some cheesecake
  • Studying for a statistics exam and forgetting I was supposed to pick Boy up from a birthday party
  • Sitting in the window while Etta James played on the stereo and Boy played in the other room wondering why it had to hurt so bad.
Big Apt In Yucky Neighborhood in Big City
  • Boy on the phone with his Dad crying on our first night and then his Dad telling me it was all my fault.
  • Me crying on my friend's shoulder the next day when I saw she had scrubbed the disgusting bathtub until it looked like new.
  • Finally having space to breathe
  • Talking to b on the phone and convincing him it was worthwhile to meet me
  • b hanging a heavy bag in the living room for me.
House on 3 Acres - 1 Hour North of Big City
  • Drinking champagne with b and Boy on the floor of the empty living room the night we closed
  • Growing roses and tomatoes
  • Getting married one afternoon in front of a judge with Boy standing besides us and then going out for lunch and bowling
  • Shoveling snow
  • Baking cinnamon buns for Christmas breakfast
Tiny House in Small City
  • Hanging out in the backyard with b and Boy in January and realizing we're all wearing t-shirts
  • Seeing The Brute stroll up to the door after being lost for 3 days
  • Walking to work
  • Going camping for Thanksgiving
  • Breathing
I'm not going to tag anyone in particular but invite you all to play along. But do drop a line and let me know.

5 comments:

Miss Feisty said...

I love this meme!!! You have lived in some pretty interesting places & I love how vivid your memories are. :)

Have a great weekend :)

trish said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I enjoyed reading your answers to this meme...made me remember things about places I've lived!

Tash said...

What a great idea and what a great post!

I decided to do this have a look at my rather lengthy post!!

blue milk said...

What interesting memories!

JaneB said...

I'm going to have a shot at this meme too - love your answers, a really interesting snapshot of a life.