“The cowgirl faces life head on, lives by her own lights and makes no excuses.”
Both Fern and Gracie huddled beside me in bed this morning, one on the left, one on the right. From the opened window I could feel a cool breeze blowing. I nestled deeper, got warmer and slept a little longer. It will be sunny and in the high 60’s for the next few days going down to the low 50’s at night. I love this sort of weather though I could do without the chilly breeze.
I remember being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. When I was really young, I toyed with cowgirl for a while impressed as I was with Dale Evans, her horse Buttercup and her great wardrobe. I think that was my fringe stage. Later, when I was older, I wanted to be Nellie Bly and travel the world writing as I went. A library book was what inspired that choice, but Nelly Bly went the way of Dale Evans. I was a candy striper for a while and that turned me off nursing. Luckily, though, as I got older, people stopped asking, and I was off the hook for needing to plan my future. I finally figured out the growing up question was merely a way for adults to make conversation with a kid, and nobody really cared though cowgirl did get a few laughs at my expense.
I did wonder what I was going to be. I never gave president a thought because I was a girl, but I figured just about everything else, except a priest, was an option. I decided to be a teacher and planned college around that choice, but I changed my mind. I decided to be Perry Mason, the female version, so I took the lsat, did well and applied to law school. I got in, but I didn’t go.
It seems a bit of Nelly Bly and even some Dale Evans and Happy Trails had stayed around. I went to travel the world. I went to Africa. I rode a camel though I didn’t wear any fringe. I would have liked to though. Fringe would have been just about perfect.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: Dale Evans, Nellie Bly, Perry Mason, what are you going to be when you grow up?
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June 3, 2011 at 12:14 pm
I wanted to be a farmer when I was very little. I guess I thought they only walked around the farm, patted the animals on their heads and had a jolly nice day 🙂
Later on I wanted to become a baker. That stayed rather long but then I wanted to become a vet. After High school I just wanted to work some to get money of my own and never stopped to continue with my dream 🙂
I don´t think I had worked more than a year when I realized that it was a gardener I wanted to be, but it took almost twenty more years until I actually became that. Didn´t last long though, for some reason one must make money to survive 🙂 🙂 🙂
My thermometer showed that we reached 84 today! I did think it was a bit warm to be honest but not that hot 🙂 Tomorrow will be much the same they say, but warmer 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
June 3, 2011 at 11:02 pm
Christer,
I think I might have given baker a whirl if it were as popular then as now. I;d love to learn to ice cakes with figures and flowers.
It was teaching in Ghana which made me realize I wanted to be a teacher.
June 3, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Write a book, how adults should talk to kids. I remember that’s all the conversation they had and most wanted us boys to join the military. When it came time to plan for college I wanted to be a disc jockey and managed to land a job at WEAM for the summer. But it was the station manager who led me down the path at news writing. He set the tone for my college studies and I spend half my life writing until the money was not enough, then turned to Real Estate going on 31 years.
June 3, 2011 at 11:09 pm
Z&Me,
I think we made older adults, the aunt and uncle sort, nervous. We had nothing in common so … When we visited my aunt the nun in her habit days, she always asked how we were doing in school and then gave us a tour of her school: every time!
June 3, 2011 at 8:38 pm
Somebody once said to me as a kid, “You could grow up to be president!” I just sort of stared, as if she had suggested I might be a flamingo or a garbage truck. It never would’ve occurred to me in a hundred years that that was something you might be one day. When I was a little older, I turned the incident over in my mind again and it sounded like an awful job.
June 3, 2011 at 11:11 pm
Rowen,
Every president leaves office looking far older than when he took office-the stress of the job.
With Hillary having been so close, a woman is no longer out of the question.
June 4, 2011 at 6:35 am
when i was very young, i wore white boots and my patent answer was always a go go dancer! having grown a bit that changed to a folk singer like Joni or Carole King. i dreamed of moving out to the west coast and saving teenage girls from life on the streets but that was more than i could handle at 18. strange how life turns out, having three girls of my own and being a scout leader,a sunday school teacher and substitute teacher on occasion i have kinda done all of that!!!
June 4, 2011 at 10:25 am
splendid,
I remember those white boots so well though I never had a pair. Because I can’t carry a tune, I knew I’d never be a singer but I wished I could be.
You have chosen a life that fits your warmth and caring perfectly.
June 4, 2011 at 8:35 am
When I was very young I wanted to be a train Engineer. I soon realized that trains were a relic of the 19th century and I decided to become a pilot because I loved watching the ‘Sky King’ TV show. It didn’t exactly turn out how I envisioned when I was a kid. However, I have had a great career in aviation despite airline deregulation, airline bankruptcies/mergers, the whims of the federal regulators and the ups and downs of the economy.
June 4, 2011 at 10:29 am
Bob,
It’s funny how TV influenced us in so many ways. Annie Oakley did everything so well she made little girls like me think there was no ceiling.
I think giving up being an engineer was a wise choice. The Songbird made me want to fly too, but I never became Penny. You did become Sky King, and I think it’s wonderful that you fulfilled your childhood dream.