Memories

Well, I needed a new look for my blog so I went out and searched. When I came across this one I knew I needed it for my own. Now, this particular background isn't the exact place I remember as a child but it brought those feelings back of my childhood, a childhood I remember fondly. The place I remember is on the Monterey Bay in California where I lived for a while in the early 1980's. My dad was in the Army and we lived in Ft. Ord, CA. For fun, we went to the beach, the forest, we camped a little, and we spent quite a bit of time together as a family. Some of my greatest memories were of living there. I remember my friends, our neighborhood, my babysitters, my school, my adventures (collecting critters was fun), vacations, holidays, the magnificent scenery. Outside of Idaho, The bay area in California was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I can still remember the smell of the ocean, the sound of the sea birds, and watching the otters at play. We fed ground squirrels, flew kites, and had picnics.


Just tonight I was talking with a friend about something that happened while we lived there. I was telling her of my friend and her brothers and how I used to go over there to watch the Mickey Mouse Club on the Disney channel because I didn’t get that channel at home and how they had a Pekingese dog and her mom had beads hanging from their doorway. This is just one example of how vivid my memory is of our stay in California. I'll never forget lizard hunting with my brother and being mad when he slammed its tail in the yellow Snoopy pencil box and watching it fall to the ground writhing. My friend Denny and I collected marbles and I buried mine in the woods in a coffee can so no one would take them. They are probably still there somewhere. The only time I was ever stung by a bee was at a company picnic where we were having a Pizza picnic and there were bees everywhere and I picked one up... it did not like that. We had a pet snake, bunny, tarantula, dogs, and cats. I always had spiders, or snails hidden somewhere. The snails liked the pointy ice plant. I have yet to see that plant again since we left.

I love this picture. It so looks like the famous Cypress tree that lies along the Carmel coast all alone. I sometimes feel like that tree, all alone, and yet strong enough to endure the ocean that stares back at me as if saying... "Ok, give me all you got, I can take it". Hearing the lowly foghorn as it roars across the coast- deafening. It makes me happy, makes me feel alive. I will always treasure all the time we spent there and hope my memories never fade.