Autobiography Shorts
My eclectic past contains many stories. Here are a few that I wish to share:
The Kite
You need a little background for this story to make sense.
In my formative years, I lived in Greensprings, a suburb of Louisville, Kentucky.
The suburb was supurb. We had huge backyard, a veritable sports arena, that could be combined with our neighbors for lengthy football field. In fact, we could've had a mile long field since fences were illegal in the neighborhood, but we had a problem. Our football field had to end at the Pawlak's house.
Although they had three children, including a son four years older than me and a daughter my age, they were very cantankerous about our sports. If we played baseball and our ball made it into their lawn, he would find it necessary throw the ball as far as he could. I never got the inkling that he did it for our health. In fact, Jeff entertained the thought of faking an asthma attack enroute to retrieving one of Mr. Pawlak's throws.
The backyard was more than a sports stadium. It was a beach, a farm, and a multi-purpose recreational area. It included a sand box, a garden, a swing set, and a basketball court.
It was on this oasis covered with bermuda grass that my sister chose to fly her new kite, a red and black bird with a long tail. It was one of those kites that came in a plastic bag. It required some assembly, including snapping the crossbar into place, and tying on the string. The string was extra-long, wrapped around the plastic spool.
I held the kite why my sister backed up. The string became taut, and then I tossed it up into a gust of wind. It rose quickly. My sister spinning the spool, releasing the string.
Yosemite Trip
I stand alone, atop of Half-dome, gazing down upon the glory of Yosemite valley, spotting my rental car over 6000 feet below.
My younger brothers accompanied me along this valiant hike to the top of this mountain. Both lie behind me, hidden wherever they could find shade. Jeremy suffers from dehydration. I have no water to offer him, because we drank our entire supply during the climb (Nathan consuming most of Jeremy's bottle).
Nathan's intelligence for being hydrated (by caring the bottles) and courage of climbing the mountain (with his shoes untied) were not rewarded. He hides underneath a jutting rock trying to alleviate his altitude sickness.
This was the high point of the trip, if your judgement is based purely on altitude. If your judging based on excitement or novelty, many events could be number one:
- The bear's face as I growled at him. The bear looked at me, then non-chalantly, turned around, grabbed the bag of our food and ambled off for a quieter spot to eat his dinner of 20 Clif bars, dehydrated black bean soup and lasagna, pineapples, cashews, and citrus bug repellant. The bear enjoyed the buffet thanks to some campers, who opened our food locker, thinking our campsite was vacant, and then failed to close it properly.
- My car alarm echoing throughout the campground. I set it off when I tried to open the trunk with my car remote, effectively annoying the plethora of campers in the North Pines campground and beyond.
- Bluebird and squirrel digging. Jeremy's dehydration resulted in his throwing up. He managed to expurge it outside the tent, albeit inside our campground. We covered it with dirt, but the smell lured a bluebird, a squirrel, and a deer. The quintessential image was the bluebird and squirrel, side by side, digging. The bluebird using his beak, moving his back and forth, and the squirrel using his hands. Both trying for the same goal.
- Swimming in the creek. The entire family, including Ashley and Julie, had a swim in the mountain stream. The water was refreshing while the rocks were hard on the feet.
- Conversation with the Park Ranger. We learned of a wiley bear who used different techniques to steal food from the campers. One technique, the bear would use, was sending her cubs up the tree. When the campers gathered around to view the cubs, the bear would forage through their campgrounds. Unfortunately, the bear had to killed the day before we arrived.
See Jeremy's photos from the trip
London Trip
London history includes Chaucer, Dickens, and Victoria. Sabrina and I traipsed around the British capitol for two weeks on holiday.
From our first ride in the tube to our final train ride to Heathrow, we did a plethora of activities:
- We viewed the Elgin Marbles and the winged bulls of Assyrian King Sargon II in the British Musuem.
- We drank pints of ale at the Spanish Inn, where Keats wrote Ode to a Nightingale.
- We watched Holly Hunter writhe and dance through "The Bog of Cats."
- We walked across the graves of Dickens and TS Eliot in Westminster Abbey.
- We acted the tourist by riding the double decker buses and watching the changing of the guard.
- We walked through Sherlock Holmes's house at 221B Baker street. I sat in his chair waiting for him to return from his current assignment (see picture).