Tuesday, December 20, 2005 I remember I remember jumping out of the giant walnut tree into our huge red hammock. I remember curling up between my horse Copper’s legs when he was taking a nap and having a nap with him. I remember my mom giving our pony Candy an enema and cod liver oil because we fed her pancakes and made her dangerously constipated. I remember building tunnels in the snowdrifts behind Number 2 chicken barn. I remember making snowflake designs using candle wax dripping onto cold water. I remember the sweet smell of fresh shavings that would waft into our bedroom when the barns had been cleaned out. I remember holding an armful of little baby chicks and thinking they were the softest things I had ever touched. I remember breaking the necks of the crippled chickens and not crying about it. I remember feeding our ducks and the wild ones joining in the feast. I remember that the neighbour’s dog killed my two pet bantee chickens and being really angry about it. I remember thinking how cool it was to gut a chicken on killing day. I remember when my brother and I found my dad’s Marvel Comic collection and thinking we had won the lottery. I remember when my brother, sister and I had to crawl under the house to move our dog’s 14 puppies that she had just given birth to. I remember that one of the puppies turned out to be the strangest stupidest dog ever imaginable. I remember having a fight with my dad because I thought I was old enough to help with the 2am chicken catching. I remember running away from home but only making it as far as the roof of barn number two. I remember hearing my father calling for me after I had run away and shimmying around the roof so that he could not find me. I remember helping birth lambs in the back barn. I remember when our dog Toby brought a scared dog home. I walked into the house and thought I had seen a wolf so ran out of the house screaming ‘wolf’ at the top of my lungs. It freaked me out so much I locked myself in side the truck until dad checked it out. I remember Toby apologizing for scaring me for days after. I remember waking up from a deep sleep and my father was standing there with Craig Hill who was waiting for me to go play something or other. I remember diving under my pillow and not playing with Craig for days after. I remember Craig crying on the school bus on our last day of elementary school life. I remember clear as a bell the first time I said ‘shit’ in front of my father. I remember sneaking lipstick onto the school bus and putting it on then, because my mom wouldn’t let me wear it. I remember swimming in the river with my horse Copper by holding onto his tail and him pulling me along. I remember turning my expensive leather saddle to a giant ball of green mold because of swimming in the river with Copper. I remember my parents finally killing the mold by pouring an entire bottle of baby oil over that saddle. (Still have this saddle.) I remember when the power failed on Christmas Day and we returned home to 18thousand chickens that had suffocated to death due to the fans having stopped. I remember holding my sisters hand. I remember the beehive my mom had in the field. I remember the day a parachuter landed on our lawn and my sister and I just stood there staring at him like he was an alien that had just landed on earth. I remember playing pac-man at our neighbours place. I remember running at breakneck speed from my grandfather’s crazy bull cow. I remember my grandmother giving me a birthday present and saying ‘now open your colouring book, dear’. I remember watching my first three-day event on cross-country day and being hooked for life. Posted by (Top)Andrea::12/20/2005 :: 9 Comments: |