'True Story' Artwork by Sister Singleton
Working with what we have...
Six bare feet padded out the side door and over the splintery porch. Virginia toted a jar, Shania had one plastic cup and I carried a yellow bag.
That left one free hand to harness ourselves up with.
One foot at a time, one girl at a time...we climbed up onto the railing that was more wood than paint.
Up on tippity-toes, we stretched, hoisted and pulled... until all three of us were up there.
Armed with our peasant-girl smock-dress gowns, our bare feet, one jar, one cup, a yellow bag & the rising sun...we thought we were ready.
'Shit' flew from Shanias' seven year-old mouth.
'What?'
'We need a spoon.'
'A Spoon?!'
'Yeah, we gotta have a spoon!'
'Yeah, I guess we do.'
'Skinny, you got the longest legs. You get it.'
'Ok, be right back.'
Sun still rising, toes stretching, grasping, reaching, feeling for that rail, I climb back off the roof... much more difficult than the other way around.
Finally down, I look through the sliding glass doors.
Hmmmm... adults... making coffee, better not go there.
So I scurry back to my house & quietly slip through side entry & then through the swinging kitchen door.
The house is dark, except one lonesome light in the front room.
I could smell the coffee & hear the flipping of the newspaper.
Ut-oh... he's up. I swore that man awoke with the wee hour thud of that paper hitting dewey grass without fail!
I slid open our silverware drawer....why can't we be like other people who have all their spoons and forks neatly separated and stacked in their designated slots? Why must they be in a heap, scattered & cock-eyed like a pixie tornado had occurred in the drawer?
Ugh...'Pick-up-sticks experience,' I commanded myself, 'Come Into Play!'
Slivering, sliding...I stole one kitchen spoon and quickly exited the same way I came.
I ran three doors down to the base of the splintery porch steps & looked, again, through the sliding glass door.
Coast was clear.
Toes wrapped, yet again, around and over that rough old railing, I caught a glimpse of the TV screen inside.
I bent and peered....the back side of two adult heads. Perfect.
Armed with the coveted spoon, I hauled my skinny butt back up on that roof.
We climbed to the peak of that split level house & perched ourselves like birds on a wire.
We opened the yellow bag and poured into the cup.
We used the spoon to scoop out of the jar and mix it all together.
We started with loving spoonfuls, but the Florida sun soon baked down upon us
From birds on a wire, to eggs in the skillet.
We thought better that we peeled ourselves out of our smock dress gowns, which proved to serve best as seat pads and napkins anyway...
and we dug our dirty little fingers into the little plastic cup....
smiling deliciously.
You see, before Reese's Peanut Butter Cup were of my world, this was it....
Virgina, Shania & me...
Nestle tollhouse chips & globs of peanut butter, melting & all mixed up in a cup.
Silently following my sisters footprints...
In sands, splinters & rails we'd never crossed before
a little Hippie Parade underway...
The roof became our stage...
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35 comments:
Awwwhhhh... you have such sweet memories... such an awesome memory, really, for detail. I'm always amazed. And what little geniouses! Thanks for sharing :)
Beautifully told.
I can so relate to the 'finding cutlery experience' ;)
Sending you soft light and peace on the arms of this evening,
Maithri
Oh, Lord, Skinny, I can see you girls now....exactly as it was....sunkissed faces to the sky, barefeet lined up like little ballerinas, pointing down the slope...gooey smiles growing! and LOL! Silverware tray! We never ever had one! And pixies were always tossing little surprises like toast crumbs and stray speghetti noodles into the mix so that no matter what you pulled from the pile.....It had to be washed again! ILYSVVM and I can see the sun today.....
Shimmerings...for five years I lived in child's paradise & it is amazing the things I can recall... the morning dew on the watermelons, the spanish moss in the oaks, the tadpoles in the shallow waters...but most valuable are the little lessons learned. Like when we work with what we have, it usually turns out better than anything they could ever be made or done for us.
Thank you Maithri...I can feel the sun on light on my face even now as the sun is rising above the tree-line and reaching into me through the window. BTW, to this day, the sound of someone rummaging through a silverware drawer makes my shoulders tense up. Can't stand the sound. I keep mine neatly stacked & separated, pots and pans similar...but allowed the pixie-tornadoes anywhere else.
Sister Sing Peace...Lol, the silverware tray! The pots & pans cupboard! It's funny because my house, my yard, my car are all so unkept...but my pots hang neatly, never to clank & my silverware lay stacked. But actually I wrote this post while thinking about us...the women in our world, mothers, daughters, sisters, friends & family. .. working with what we have, sometimes sneaking things, sometimes climbing dangerous new heights, sometimes running, sometimes getting very dirty, sometimes staying up too, too late or getting up extra early...knowing that if not at the end of day, then perhaps at the beginning of another, we will be on top. ILYSVFM...PLS
What a lovely adventure to remember! Thanks for sharing with your reminiscence.
Put that mix on vanilla ice cream and then you'd have somethin' there skinny...
Sometimes Saintly...Thanks for coming by. Yeah, I have lots of little childhood memories ...thanks for taking some of them in, for what they are worth ;)
Scott...Lol, Yummm,yummm...that, in fact, is one of my mother's favorite concoctions. I'm afraid I would never made it to the roof with ice cream & if I had, our smock top seat cushion napkins would have never been big enough!
I'm laffin,,,and wondering. Just what was it about the silverware drawer? Ours was always the same. I think at our house it might have had to do with 4 girls being responsible for doing the dishes,,,and just shlepping stuff here & there.
Your rooftop treat wouldn't have been half so good had you been allowed to be up there, and those chocolate chips not nearly as tasty in a baked, legal cookie!
Love this story!
Wilson Babs...so true and none of it would have been worth had any adult known what we were doing. We ventured back down, 1/2 dressed and covered in chocolate, when we could small the bacon from the cracked sliding glass door. We confessed our sins to Virginia & Shania's parents, who were true hippies, and only laughed at us. I don't know what was up with those silverware drawers...but my dad loved to pilfer through them like a lunatic when he was drunk & I forever cringe at the sound of someone rummaging like that. p&l!
I could do everything but the goopy melted peanutbutter and chocolate.....
Which would be why no one would ask me to retrieve the spoon--(cuz I'd tell 'em to get it their own darn selves.....LOL).
But oh how I remember crawling out windows to sit on rooftops, staring at the world below.
You have such a gift for recalling detail. I have to remind myself to do this better.
(((Mel))) Lol, believe it or not, at that point and time in life I had never seen a bag of chocolate chips before & I was blown away by the mini-kisses that they were (my grandmother always had kisses stashed at her house)& as you can only imagine, our concoction looked disgusting. Had you been with us, I can only imagine the trouble we would have gotten into ... and it probably wouldn't have involved food! ;)
justrun...lol, we have to remember that it's just as I recall it, not necessarily as it truly was. If someone were to have camcorded my childhood, I would probably be shocked at the disparity between my memory & reality. Lol, example with the Lake Sylvan story... the lake, in reality,is much larger than I imagineded...yet I remember it being huge... if that makes sense.
I love reading about your childhood memories. :)
I hate the sound of silverware too, and don't like the way it feels in my mouth. In fact, I don't even own silverware. I use plastic picnic-type forks, spoons and knives. And the occasional spork when I can find one, because sporks are cool. Don't worry, I'm not cluttering up the landfills. I wash them like regular silverware.
LMAO. When you write I can actually see your sneaking self slithering around and creating yum yums for everyone!
Oh wow, such an awesome story! I can so see you doing that as I'm reading it. You have the most amazing voice, girl! :)
JSYK....ILY
SLB, you are still the poet,the Philosopher Queen, and my personal hero. I do love your writing.
Monty
Anne, my dear, you'd blend right in with me and my sisters. We don't do drinking glasses...only plastic! I have the insulated one and a stack of Solo's. Lol, I think the girls simply have the stack of solos...and yep they get used until the fall apart. Sporks are rare these days...they used to a staple at KFC, but I guess when they stopped adding the freshly ground black pepper to their dressing, they also gave up on the sports ;(
Karma...Be careful what you say about my voice, the music may not be loud enough Friday night to drown out my singing ;) I am sooooooooo looking forward to meeting you in person & a wonderful night out. I took Saturday off...just in case it's a late one ;)
Singleton....without a word, I know it, and I am ever so very grateful, on so many levels. IL&AYSVM xoxoxox
Monty... Awww, thank you! Looking back over the events of the past year or two, there have been many changes in my world...some of which have been chronicled here. I have found myself quite blown away by all the truly wonderful & diverse personalities in this world & I love learning about all of them, as it gives me better insight...even unto myself. P&L
Spongeman... don't think I'd miss you!
Although I don't believe you were even alive when this was going on, us girls would have surely booted you back down had you tried to venture up onto our stage to dabble your dirty little pads into our good-morning gut buster ;)
slb: love every word.. write there with you, tip-toe'in my way with partners in crime toward my first real sin: chocolate (and peanut butter)
delicious read! love to you! ~s.
She... Lol, funny the memories that can come to the fore-front when daydreaming and dunking nutter-butters into a rich cup of Ghiradelli chocolate coffee ;)
Okay, so I wrote a comment and blogger decided to eat it.
It was just the usually hugs and kisses and how I thought 'Skinny, you got the longest legs. You get it.' was too cute.
Much <3~
Orhan...Lol, blogger does sometimes get the munchies!
You know, that same thing always seems to dictate that when someone has locked themselves out of their house...I am the one to climb up & in through the window!
We were reading each other's page at the same time! But I had things going on and couldn't comment. I'll post one soon, I promise.
We had the extremely disheveled silverware drawer, as well. Brings back memories. I was also the longest legged of the crew, only it doesn't have the same effect hearing that from me. Heck, we also had a roof that was easy to clim on! Every one should one of those! My favorite thing to raid??? Cake frosting. It was never safe for mom to have a thing of cake frosting sitting in a cabinet for too long.
Thanks for the ecstatic words and greetings, sweet friend.
I feel terrible for worrying you all so much. I guess I didn't really know how much I would be missed.
And it was a lot.
Peace and love to you and all your sisters. I missed you all so much. I should have told you I was OK, but it was hard to log on and look people up. I couldn't think of a thing to write, yada yada. I felt drained. Singleton's imagination wears me out! By the way, her artwork is stunning as always. I love that top drawing. The frame around the angel wings is such a trip. Not to mention the lithe form of the angel herself.
Missed y'all!
Great memory, great post, great entertainment.
``Pixie tornado'' - now that is brilliant!
I hear say that 'trouble' is my middle name.
:-)
LOL I think I'm proud of that one.
(((((((((( SLB ))))))))))))
Waterballoons, methinks....
Lol, Eric. Who knew disheveled silverware drawers were so damn common?! ;) Seems a good bit of us had them! My mother never kept stuff like that in the house...oranges and bananas from the yard were our sweets.
Hey David...little did I know that soon after writing this Mother Nature would send real tornadoes down upon Atlanta. I guess she's the most powerful Pixie of all!
(((Mel))) You crack me up so funny. When I thought about you up on that roof with us...water balloons were the first things I thought of! Lol, I love it!
I was yours with scattered & cock-eyed like a pixie tornado had occurred in the drawer. Marvelous imagery! Brought back to mind oranges from neighbor's tree overhanging our garage, with peels scattered all round my 'secret' place of escape as I lay in the sunshine on the roof. I look forward to my return visits here.
YUM...
David sent me . I even brought my own spoon!
David sent me, too! I loved the post. You painted a lovely picture!
What fun! You would have been a welcome and wonderful addition to my childhood. Another pair of eyes able to spy the adults and a brain able to think up ways of avoiding them -- priceless!
David sent me. I am grateful.
What a beautiful picture you paint with words...
pixie tornado...
more wood than paint...
like birds on a wire...
That is a wonderfully told memory. Thank you for sharing this.
Over from David's btw.
John Michael...it is rather ironic that you mentioned the oranges. I almost wrote about our neighborhood 'war'... fought with the fruit fallen about our yards! Childhood...what a great place to revisit!
Daryl e...I am flattered...come anytime & dig on in. I blog when I can & regret that sometimes that means I am out of the loop/
Sandy...pleasure to have you. David is the butterfly! TY.
Quilly...lol, Yes...the good kids never get caught ;)
crazy cath~ Thanks for coming by & I appreciate your comments.
peace & love all...
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