contemplative- being obsessed with making jewelry from colored, coated wire
- a big German Shepherd dog tied up outside a store scaring me to death by suddenly lunging and barking when I went to pet it, causing me to have great respect for all strange animals forever after
- exploring the "creek" for miles and playing in a sort of subterranean fort with friends
- "make out" sessions with an older boy named Roman that consisted solely of lying on top of each other in total stillness
- my sister getting a full page spread in the local paper with 3 photos of her walking her rabbit on a leash
- reading The Witches of Worm which scared the hell out of me, and House of Stairs which filled my head with images I've never been able to shake.
- jumping off a high wall onto a huge trampoline and then into a swimming pool
- playing catch 'em kiss 'em with the neighborhood kids
- reading Jaws and The Exorcist because I wasn't allowed to go see the movies and discovering that the books were much more graphic than a movie could probably ever be
- raising a flashlight "rope" in front of an oncoming car with a friend and then scrambling like hell when the driver stopped, jumped out and starting chasing us
- seeing giant black cockroach palmetto bugs for the first time in my life *shudder*
- my brother and sister and I forming the "Red Bird Club" because of some book I'd read, and transforming our closet into our clubhouse with drawings and paintings of cardinals covering the walls
- a stray Siamese cat who joined our family and was baptized Woodstock
- being completely grossed out when Jackie ate dog food on a dare
Happy dance: My colleague Niklas brought me back a big bag of 3 Musketeer bite-sized candy bars and a bag of 3 Musketeers Popables from the States. Woo hoo!
