“My memories are like a shuffled deck of cards, each one coming up at random.”
A wintry morning but the day will get warmer. I woke up to the sound of sleet hitting my bedroom window, but it has since stopped. The sky is even getting lighter. How nice it will be to have a real spring day.
My sister and I were chatting this morning. We talked about the house where we grew up, and each of us has memories enough to fill drawer after drawer, mostly different memories, but we do share two memories so large and bold they stand out from all the others. One is of the man in the duplex next door. His wife was German. Kids used to run by their house and yell Nazi at her, but that isn’t even the big memory, the fist fight is. He and his neighbor shared a duplex. That neighbor used to start the tongues wagging when he’d tie his toddler in a harness outside from the step rail to the yard. Those duplex neighbors shared a house but didn’t get along. Maybe that started the fight, but I don’t know. I do know it was quite a fight. They rolled down the hill together punching each other the whole way. We all stood and watched. I don’t remember how long it lasted or why it stopped. I was just amazed that two adult men were fighting in the backyard.
The second memory was of a women burned because she got too close to the stove, and her robe was set on fire. The ambulance gathered a crowd including lots of kids. The woman lived in the first apartments built for the elderly, what my father used to call wrinkle city. I remember the woman on the stretcher. Her hair was gone. Her head was red. My sister remembers the woman’s arms.
Memories often just sit waiting to be unearthed. My two memories today go way back to my childhood. I hadn’t thought of them in years.
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March 10, 2019 at 1:43 pm
Hi Kat,
My memories are more like a card catalog in a library or a spreadsheet. (kids today have no idea what a card catalog is). In my mind they are filed under such titles as growing up, college, my career and my former lovers. The list of the later is not that long. 🙂 Unfortunately, I used to be able to sort through them faster than I can now. I can picture the person in the memory but sometimes the name of the person or even the place eludes me. I assume that the data lives in some obscure crevice of gray matter.
One thing that makes the brain different from the card catalog is that when a memory is recalled it then spurs other non related ones to come to mind. Neuroscience tells us that memories are not stored in any one particular section of the brain and parts of memories are stored in various places. I guess aging makes it more difficult to connect the various pieces of our memories together.
You are lucky that you and your siblings actually talk to each other. Since I discovered that my sister is a huge Trumpster I have not spoken with her in a long time. We really have nothing in common except the same parents. However, when we did speak to each other her recollections of our family memories are very different from mine. Of course mine are the correct perceptions. 🙂
Today the clouds are back and it’s not as warm as yesterday and the temperature will only top out at in the 60s. Tomorrow the rain will return with a chance of severe storms later in the week. Dallas is at the southern end of tornado alley and we get our fair share of heavy rain, wind, hail and tornados every spring.
March 10, 2019 at 4:47 pm
Hi Bob,
My memories are randomly stored. Sometimes they are triggered by a smell or a sound or meeting an old friend. I love when one pops up and takes me back in time.
As we get older, the memories do fade. Word retrieval skills are diminished. It takes me longer to bring something to mind but it still comes. For this I am grateful.
My brother does not speak to us either. Given his sour look on life, I am just fine with that. He has long been dour, and that makes being with him uncomfortable. We do agree on politics though.
It has poured all afternoon. It only got to 39˚today. I had a couple of errands and got drenched running to and from my car.
March 10, 2019 at 2:38 pm
Sunny and nice here today, mostly because it was wind free. It didn’t rise above 32F at all during the day. I didn’t even mind the snow we got yesterday, it looked pretty in the sunshine.
The only fights I remember well are the ones between two brothers in our apartment building, they were in their higher teens and every time they were fighting they started to throw out the other ones most precious things and all we kids who stood outside their windows were fast to take what we liked 🙂 🙂
We had this woman living close to us that were so bowlegged that one time when she forgot to put fire in the gas stove she managed to get out without getting burned. When the flames suddenly burst out from the oven it went between her legs and put the wall behind her on fire instead 🙂 🙂 She managed to put it out herself though 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
March 10, 2019 at 3:10 pm
I laughed out loud when I read your bowlegged woman story, Christer!! Too funny. And lucky! Puts me in mind of a song sung by Colonel Potter of MAS*H fame: ♪♪ I love to go swimmin with bow-legged women and swim between their legs, swim between their legs … ♪♪
March 10, 2019 at 5:03 pm
Christer,
We had pouring rain all day which made for a chilly day. It was 39˚when I went to the grocery store. I only needed a couple of things so I was quick. I miss the sun.
That was quite the fight. I’m surprised they didn’t go after you to get their stuff back. The fight was bad enough without throwing away their precious belongings.
I’m laughing at that bow-legged woman. I’m thinking that might be the one time she was glad for having bow legs. That is one moment she’ll never forget.
March 10, 2019 at 4:35 pm
Hi Kat,
I chuckled at the toddler tied to the step. My mother used to tie me to the old black walnut tree in the back yard. She didn’t use a harness, either. She just tied a rope around my waist and left enough length so I could get to the sandbox to play. I had been accustomed to roaming freely around the neighborhood as a not quite 3 year old. One day I wandered into the neighbor’s chicken house and got attacked by the chickens. My dog came in after me and killed all of them. After that I was tied to the tree and the dog and I went no more a-roving. Although he wasn’t tied to the tree and could have, if he chose.
The weather is awful up here. Graupel, snow, rain, rain and graupel together. Now it’s just rain. I had to shovel the 2 inches of snow and clear off my jeep anyway. I had an appointment.
Enjoy the day.
March 10, 2019 at 5:15 pm
Hi Caryn,
The neighbors were angry and thought that kid was being abused. It didn’t bother that neighbor. She just kept tying him outside. The neighbors would have had something to say about your being tied up.
Your dog was just defending you from the chickens, but I guess their execution by dog was a bit harsh. I’m surprised he didn’t keep roving, but I guess he needed his pal.
Thew weather is just as awful down here. I got quite wet when I went on my errand. I was going to do more but decided enough was enough. This new hour of sunshine is totally wasted.
Have a good night!