Entry 129 - Five Nuggets from My Youth

Five Nuggets from My Youth

Well, being that I’ve been asked by the benignant Mr. Gone to do so, I shall put forth a few things about my childhood that I miss, now that I’m (temporally at least) all growed up.

» 1. The Creek. I spent the better part of my childhood in North Carolina, in an area of the state that is considered sub-piedmont delta—only about 20 miles (as the crow flies) from the open Atlantic. The creeks and streams I played in with my friends were, in some sense, sacred places where we spent entire days knee deep in mud, playing war, building dams, and generally harassing the minnows. In retrospect, and owing to no other frame of reference to temper bias, it was the best possible place for a kid to spend a long hot summer.

» 2. Fireworks. Man, we loved to blow stuff up. My dad, working often in this area (Washington, DC), would travel back and forth from NC traversing Virginia, where fireworks were legal. My brothers and I would each have those purple and yellow velvet bags that came with Crown Royal bottles just waiting for my dad to come back home. We then filled them up with all manner of black cats, moon travelers, the big pink ground blossoms, and smoke bombs. I remember clutching my purple bag as if my life depended on it. The smell of raw sulfur sticks in my mind – as well as the frequent rebukes received for leaving circular black burns on the driveway. I also vividly remember trying to use these fireworks in concert with the dam building activities from #1.

Yep. At age eleven I was experienced with the BiC lighter, and carried one on my person. This is the sort of thing most touchyfeely parents these days would flip about; It’s worth noting, however, that we only set the lawn on fire once.

» 3. Legos! I never played with GI Joe or He-Man stuff that much, though I had tons of it… I was a devout Lego kid. Man, I had so many damned Legos. I had two big red plastic lego suitcases full. I used to build planes a lot – not many fighters, but often huge bombers. I remember spending hours trying to perfect a system of retractable landing gear for my blocky rendition of a B-52, never quite getting the desired functionality. I also ran a whole series of semi-scientific parachute tests, trying to build the perfect landing craft that would, theoretically at least, spare the tiny yellow-headed test pilot (poor bastard!) any serious harm. The results were often catastrophically disappointing.

» 4. Cherry Fig Newtons, Frankenberry, Nestlé Cherry Yogurt, and Chicken Tikka.

Cherry Newtons were awesome, but they didn’t stay on the market very long. They were instead replaced with Raspberry Newtons, which will do in a pinch.

Frankenberry—well, you can still come by that in the occasional store, but last time I had it, it wasn’t nearly as good as it was when I was 10.

Nestlé cherry yogurt was something I used to eat in Egypt. The commissary supplied to we gubment types was bare bones, and they imported a lot of stuff from Germany, like milk and bread and such. The yogurt was absolutely the best when had with a handful of Ritz crackers. None of the yogurt you get here in the states could even touch this stuff.

Chicken Tikka was an indian fast food joint in Egypt that absolutely kicked ass. Pouri bread, french fries, and half a chicken, tikka style for less than 5 bucks. Other kids went nuts when Pizza Hut came to Egypt, but I was a die hard Tikka Fanatic.

» 5. The Breadth of the World. Moving from an idyllic if sheltered place to a country thousands of miles and many cultures removed was a shock to the system, with most of the damage done to my simple notion of the size of the world in which I lived. It’s not that I miss living in such a culturally sequestered place–actually, I don’t really like the south that much–but I suppose everything seemed easier, and answers more tangible when I had no idea what the words global or politics or global politics meant. The hard thing to figure out is this: Was it me leaving the states, or perhaps just the change of scope that comes with age that makes me reminisce about a simpler time? The only thing that is certain, it seems, is that I can never go back—but I suppose that’s the linchpin to any nostalgic bleat. ◊

Note: I think the other demand of this "Meme" (euugh!) was to inflict it on someone else. I think I'll beg off of that, TYVM. ;)