Thursday

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"Any idea, person, or object can be a mirror." - Hyemeyohsts Storm
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Today is a day I chose to write down things I can remember. Funny though, it is about the things I remember from my childhood.

I remember when I was little I was spending the weekend at my Aunt Dorothy's house. My Dad and my Uncles Bo and Scribby had gone smelting. Smelts run the creeks in the spring. When finished, the boys came back to Aunt Dorothy's house. The cleaned the fish by cutting the heads off and gutting the insides. Aunt Dorothy dredged the little fish in seasoned cornmeal and fried them up in a cast iron skillet on her wood burning stove.

The smelts were young ones, not very large, that I could eat the whole fish. The bones were soft so the smelts did not need to be deboned. I especially loved the tails because they were crunchy. Smelts like this were one of my favorite breakfast foods.

I remember another time I was able to go with "the boys" smelting. I think mother came along too but I am not sure. I remember them drinking beer and having a good time. Not many smelts were netted this night and we came home with very few fish.

Aunt Dorothy had an upstairs room that she kept all of her furniture she wasn't using but didn't want to get rid of, her seasonal clothing, and a lot of other stuff. It was a treasure trove of a room. On day we went up there and she found me some of her old dresses for me to dress up in. Aunt D's imagination was as good as mine and she always found me something to add to my playtime.

The funny thing though was this room scared me at night. I don't remember why but at certain times, she would have me sleep in the bedroom at the top of the stairs across from the catch-all room. I made sure my door was shut tight because I just knew something would come out of there and would come into my room and get me if I left the door open.

Another aspect of this room I did like was the grating in the floor. The grating was over the grating from the furnace in the basement. This is what kept the bedroom warm in the fall and wintertime. After I was put to bed, I would climb out of bed and lie on the floor because I could see the television from where I was and I would watch the Lawrence Welk show. I don't know if Aunt D and Uncle Bo ever knew I did that.

Another room that scared me was in the Bolsters Mills (Maine) house. It was the back bedroom which had a stairway down to the summer kitchen. I cannot remember if I chose to sleep in that room or if it was an arbitrary decision on my mother's part that I sleep there. Anyway, I was afraid because I knew monsters were under my bed. I would not let either an arm or a leg hang over the edge of the bed because I could be pulled out of bed and underneath it and never be seen again. I also slept under the covers with only my nose exposed for air. Although nothing ever happened to me, I was still afraid.

This house also had an organ. It was an upright with peddles and all kinds of knobs to pull out to make the sound different. I attempted playing but I think I only made noise. I don't remember what happened to that organ.

We also had a pyramid planting box for strawberries and I think we had a garden but I don't remember where it was on the property. We also had some sheep and a horse.

In the summer kitchen is where Dad made maple syrup from the maple trees we had on the grounds. I may have written about this before but I used to drink the sap from the maple tree by where I waited for the school bus. Dad could never figure out why this tree never produced as much sap as the other trees. It was years later that I finally told him what I had been doing. We had a good laugh on that one.

It was at this house we had Traveler, a short-haired pointer dog. Traveler was a hunting dog which Dad took with him when he went hunting. Hmm, that sentence sounds redundant but I am too tired to make it right. Traveler used to drive my Dad nuts because as a puppy, Traveler chewed up everything. I hated it when Dad would punish the dog and I'm not sure it ever made a dent with Traveler. At some point, the dog was either sold or given away and I never saw him again.
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Today is supposed to be a walk day but for some reason I am tuckered out. I slept in. Michael prepared me breakfast as soon as I was out of bed. I read some of my book and then we all took a nap. Lunch was sushi and a spring roll from TJs from the food bank, yum. We watched an episode of Six Feet Under, Season Four. Michael went off to the library, I chose to stay home, and a stop at the post office. Me, I'm writing and reading and responding to e-mail. I guess a day of staying at home is good for one and all.

mz. em

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Currently reading:
-- "The Chalice of Blood: A Mystery of Ancient Ireland" - Peter Tremayne
-- "The Daily Book of Art: 365 readings that teach, inspire & entertain" - day 153
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