Fascinations

The last storyworth that my mom wrote was about her fascinations as a child. As I read about her fascination at a young age for foreign countries, and how she would play with her paper dolls, dressing them in the outfits of a country --- or of her love of reading and how it took her places --- I kept trying to think of things I was fascinated with as a child. NOTHING came to mind!!!

So I began searching my earliest memories in California as a young girl. Not sure I would categorize my curiosities as FASCINATION, per se, but maybe???

I remember loving dinosaurs as a little girl. I had a book about them. I didn't really like to read, but I loved reading about dinosaurs. I think I was fascinated with all things outdoors and with sporty things as well. I remember all my adventures down at the creek...with the maze of it all down there, with salamanders, and just exploring to see what we could find. I remember the little skateboard course we made in our cul de sac. I suppose I had a healthy dose of a competitive spirit. Maybe it wasn't so healthy at times ;)

I don't really remember being fascinated with too much, but I was curious about a lot of things. I wondered about hermit crabs and how they lived in a shell. I was curious about the underground water pipes....not sure you would call them pipes, they were HUGE! When we moved into the new subdivision another nearby subdivision was being built also -- only that one was not as far along as ours. They were still putting the "pipes" for water under where the houses and roads would go. They were big enough to ride our bikes through. Not sure how SAFE that was...sorry mom! I loved where our subdivision ended at the top of the hill. It kept going, only it was a typical "golden rolling hill" in California. A lone tree stood. And a lone cow....what we presumed was a bull....occupied the terrain. I have NO idea how far away the tree really was, but it seemed at least 100 yards or more as a kid. We would ride out bikes up there and best ourselves against the bull. It was a bit nerve racking, to be true. We wanted to be able to run all the way to the tree and climb into its large branches before the bull got us. I'm sure it was just a cow, and she would lazily look at us and keep eating. But it was an adventure. We'd carve our names in the tree and thought we were so sneaky, brave, stealthy, fast, and adventurous. I went back a couple years ago and it was still the same.....one lone tree; one lone cow.

I wish I could remember laying in bed thinking of things that fascinated me, but I can't. I would lay in bed and listen to a record about Rollie Fingers and the Oakland A's. I don't really remember thinking about too much .... life was pretty good to me. I had a lot of fun .... swimming, playing with friends and family. Lucky me!