Joyful Memories

On a parenting board I participate on, someone asked what our favorite happy childhood memories are.  I started writing and quickly figured out that this was a blog post in the making.  I also have been extremely serious lately, so here we go.

I was a reader.  I learned early on and with my extremely impressive vocabulary, tackled just about any book that came my way.  From my recent tales of growing up with Scott, I'm sure you understand the challenge of finding a quiet spot to relax and just soak in a book.  I managed.

We lived in town, literally on Main Street with a small house for our family of six with a postage sized yard that struggled to produce grass.  However we did have a sugar maple in the back yard.  The sugar maple is a beautiful tree, it's slow growing, so the monster in the back yard was decades old.  The foliage is second to none, turning a scarlet hue that generously peppers the landscape in the fall. 

Our tree was beautiful. 

It also had all these incredible branches, just perfect for climbing.  You really couldn't swing up the first split in the trunk by yourself, it was a good four feet in the air but we had wood stacked next to the tree and using the woodpile, you could shimmy up to that first split and after that, the climbing was easy.  There was one spot in particular where several branches fanned out forming the perfect seat.  It was this spot that I claimed as my own.

I always climbed with a jacket on, even in the hottest days.  You see, I stashed books in my pockets and carried them up in the tree.  Once in my special spot, a good twelve feet in the air, I could take off my coat, drape it over the branch next to me and relax, read, think, watch, enjoy myself in the most decadent manner.  See, I  didn't worry up there, didn't think beyond where the stories took me.

Sometimes I would hear my brothers calling and I ignored them.  You see, if it sounded urgent, I waited until they disappeared to climb down.  I didn't want to give my spot away.

I could see into the neighbors yard.  I could watch my brothers run through the neighborhood.  I could shut my eyes and soak in the gentle swaying of the branches.  Even in the hottest days, nestled in the leafy branches, I found relief from the heat. 

And of course, I read for hours.  That time was precious.  Especially in the fall, when I was surrounded by scarlet leaves, sitting above the world.