The Meat of the Matter

The Childhood Meme

What 5 Things Do You Miss About Your Childhood? This meme requires you to do the following things: Remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place. Add your blog’s name in the #5 spot. Link to each of the other blogs for the desired cross pollination effect. News to Hughes Fluxion Our Obligatory Blog There’s Pie in the Lunchroom The Meat of the Matter Next, inflict this meme on five new people. I shall inflict it upon Pero <--- this meme was meant for him. His childhood stories are very cool. Brian Mojo Turbo <--- He's in my blogging neighborhood. Todd Carol Finally, list the five things you miss most from childhood. 1. Fishing When I was a boy, I used to go every Summer to my father’s house in Portland, Oregon. Dad was an avid fisherman, something my mom and step-dad did not do. It wasn’t so much the fishing that I liked, but it was spending time with a Father figure who actually approved of me and liked me. I never felt that from my step-dad. (I do now, btw. All is forgiven.) But as a boy, sitting out on that dock on the Willamette River, and feeling the dock undulate in the wake of a big cargo ship that had passed minutes before … I miss that. 2. Discovery My family moved a lot. I don’t miss moving at all, and having to make new friends. But each time we did, I did get the thrill of discovery. Like when we moved to Glendale, I climbed up into the attic one day and found an empty old can of coffee called “Chock Full O’ Nuts.” I couldn’t fathom how long that can had been up there, or why it was there, who put it there, etc. I gave the can to my sister. I miss that feeling. 3. Being a Class Clown Now and then I used to make the class laugh. I never did it at someone else’s expense (that I remember). I took special pride in that. 4. Jacques and Pierre My cousin and I used to pretend to be in a knife duel. I was Pierre and he was Jacques. We’d throw knives (sticks) at each other to try and make the mortal wound. In between we would pepper each other with French-style insults. Good clean fun. 5. My third season of Little League. I was finally good at the game. The little kids looked up to me, and I was respected. Unlike the big kids whom I looked up to, I treated them nicely, like a benevolent dictator. It was good to be king.