Thursday Thirteen #5 - Random Childhood Memories

Originally, I was going to do another "new year" type of list, but it is already a little tired - like me. So instead I am going to list memories I had when I was kid. These just popped in my head and have no order or are necessarily important. I just happen to remember these things.

1. I remember sitting in my winter coat on the step of my neighbor and playing with her dog. It was a white chiwauwa. I can't remember the dog's name, but I know I wanted one. I was two years old.

2. When I was 11, I was at little league practice and was hitting fly balls to the outfielders. I reached down to pick up a ball and another ball came from nowhere and hit the ground below me, bounced up and hit me in the mouth. It knocked out a tooth, busted my lip, and there is still a dark spot on my lip from it. I was yelling at everyone to find my tooth because I can get money for it.

3. My neighbor across the street, who volunteered to walk me to kindergarten, took me under her apple tree and kissed me several times. It was my first experience with an older woman (I think she was 8).

4. Again, in little league, I was an eleven year old pitcher pitching the last inning of night game under the lights. We were playing our rival. We had a small lead and I had to get their best hitters out for us to win the game. The thing was that I was sick as a dog (why does this phrase exist?). I struck the first two guys out and the third guy hit one back to me. I fielded it and tossed it to first to win the game. The whole team went to Pizza Hut to celebrate on the coach's dime, except me. I went home to bed.

5. I remember when I was three or four, I found these little balloons in the sliding compartment of my parent's bed. I asked my mom what they were, but I don't remember her answer. I think she avoided the question.

6. When I was in sixth and seventh grade, a bunch of the neighborhood kids and I started our own sandlot baseball league in the school yard. We lined the base paths with flour and used our bikes as the home run wall. My team was the Red Sox.

7. One time I spent the night at a friend's. It was kind of a male slumber party although we never called it that. Someone made prank calls to a girl's house down the street and we all got in trouble. To determine who did it, the kids decided that we all had to pull our pants down in front of the girl. To this day, I don't know how that would prove anything. I told them I had to use the bathroom and lit out for home on my bike to escape. I was too bashful. All the kids chased me home but they didn't catch me before I got in. I was blamed for the dirty deed although I had nothing to do with it. I was about ten.

8. The same neighborhood kids formed a sandlot tackle football league. We even played other kids in other neighborhoods.

9. I traveled to Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, KY (an amusement park) with my best friend and his two brothers. His father took us in a little Volkswagon Beetle. I was stuck in the middle in the back seat - packed in like sardines. The dad got mad at one of the brothers and turned around to hit him on the leg. He got me instead. He apologized, but told me that I got in the way. I remember thinking, "Where could I have gone?" I was about ten.

10. I remember playing junior league football. It was my first year and I was small so I didn't play much. One day after practice as I was waiting for someone to pick me up, I played catch with the coach's son. He threw me long bombs (passes) and I caught all of them over my shoulder on a dead run. After that, I played more in games.

11. I was in a group of kids that decided we were going to hunt at the levee. Two of us carried BB guns and the rest of us made spears out of large dining utencils, broomsticks, and duct tape. We speared fish(very large carp) in the stream that ran along the levee.

12. Again at the levee, in the winter we used to sled on those plastic boat-looking sleds down the levee. My best friend and I were the only ones brave enough to aim towards the woods and risk hitting trees at full speed (which we did) - not to mention sliding over frozen water. We were idiots and it was great!

13. One of the most fun memories was of bumper riding. This happened in the winter when snow and ice were over the roads. As cars drove down the road, we would grab the rear bumper and slide along the snow until the car arrived at a busy intersection. Sometimes we had permission. Sometimes we didn't.

Those are what comes to mind. No wonder I am a warped individual. ;)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great start on a Thursday Thirteen Jeff. My Grandmother had a chihuahua for many years. I never wanted one ever since her husband told me that the dog was family and I was visiting. Ah memories.
Thanks for visiting my Thursday Thirteen #25 The Favorite TV Shows Edition. Have a great Thursday.

Anonymous said...

Warped? Hardly. The stuff I could tell you would make you look like the guy in charge of the asylum instead of like me, the person for whom the asylum was built!

DesLily said...

wow you did good in the memory department.. especially the very young ones.. I can remember a few things from 3 or 5 yrs old..but they weren't very nice to remember lol.. you could have made a post out of each memory!

Anonymous said...

this is very sweet. i enjoy the earliest memories you shared.
thanks for visiting my tt.

kimber said...

Little balloons..... *giggle*

Nikki said...

I really loved these. Thanks for sharing Jeff.

Again, great read.

Bon & Mal Mott said...

This is an intriguing notion. Perhaps ...