Childhood memories
When I was a kid I never thought "I can't wait to grow up." I just never thought about it, period. I was too preoccupied with being a kid, like it would never end. My father owned an early 1970s Dodge Travco motorhome and instead of vacationing at a cottage or an amusement park my brothers and I spend the 1970s traveling in “the bus.” It was great. We crossed Canada from coast-to-coast and saw a lot of North America. In those years I was also occupied by bicycling with baseball or hockey cards stuck in my tires to make a motorcycle-like growl against the spokes when I rode fast (held in place with a clothes pin); collecting grasshoppers; woolen mittens; drinking Cream Soda and Root Beer (separately, not together); egg nog; spelling tests; watching the Flintstones; Mom’s station wagon; crabgrass; fireplace; PB and J; swimming lessons; marbles; pretzels; Speedo swimsuits; snow forts; Bazooka Joe; salt and vinegar potato chips; P.F. Flyers; more marbles; Elmer’s glue; Christmas, Halloween, birthdays; the Friday night late movie on TV; cardboard (a great resource for a boy’s imagination); Cracker Jack; playing soldier outside; playing soldier inside; bedtime while it was still light outside; climbing trees, or trying to climb them; jigsaw puzzles; ice cream; sleepovers; Christmas specials; the Tooth Fairy; dandelions; the Winter (Christmas) department store catalogue; haircuts by Dad; the Avon lady; May 24th fireworks; writing in the air with a sparkler; the paediatric dentist; trips to the shoe store; teeter-totter; crayfish; tropical fish; plastic, boxy lunchboxes; guinea pigs; playing dress-up (juvenile cross-dressing); homework; the teachers’ blue star, silver star and gold star stickers; wooden blocks; sibling fighting; Sunday School; collecting leaves for a school project; cursive handwriting; tobogganing; school pictures; the buzz of lawn mowers on Saturday morning and the smell of freshly-cut grass; licorice; bunk beds; clip-on neckties; briefs; Hot Wheels; allowance; garbage-picking; reversible rubber raincoat, yellow on one side, green on the other; British Bulldog; shoveling snow - lots and lots of snow; bell bottom pants; running through sprinklers; stitches; K-tel records; returning glass bottles to the convenience store for a 5-cent rebate; report cards; confusion and happiness; vomiting; the oddity of other people’s houses; and, lastly, marbles.