Weekend Freewrite ~ The Twenty Eight Minute, 5-Minute Freewrite ~ Prompt: "Plaid" ~ Original Story and Original Everything Else ~
~ Sometimes, You Just Gotta Finish The Story ~
Weekend Freewrite Prompt: Plaid
“You kids are under my feet and driving me nuts. Go outside! Get some fresh air and exercise. You've plaid around in the house long enough.”
Ah, the advent of summer. Warm weather, no rain, and no school! Every season it was the same. Year after year, grade after grade, summer after summer. My Mother, glad to have us home again after a long school year, and all too soon, glad to get us out of the house for a short break from our exuberant, wearying fun.
And of course, we went for it. With gusto! After all, it was sunny, it was warm, we could wear shorts, and the school house was closed for the next three months. Paradise found, at 82° Fahrenheit. Basically, we had nothing to do for the entire summer, except a whole lot of really profound nothing. And we were darn good at it.
Riding bikes down the railroad tracks on the ties till our teeth chattered, playing hoops on the driveway at all hours, games of Hide The Flag and Ditch-'Em at dusk. Then over to build log forts and tree houses in the woods, often accompanied by large-scale crab apple wars with the kids down the block. The tough ones we didn't really know all that well, but were good at throwing things at from a distance.
And of course, my brother and I, bugging my little sister to no end. Much to my Mother's summer-long chagrin. We were pretty good at that one too. I'm not sure why big brother annoyance toward little sisters is such a large part of growing up, but it must be in the manual SOMEWHERE. An off-kilter way of showing true love I suppose, and I'm pretty sure it's planet-arily universal. At least in the polls I've taken.
We started right off, once the school bell quit ringing. Irksome things, like telling her during dinner we were going to ship her somewhere overseas in a giant cardboard box, if she didn't eat all her peas and carrots. Or sneaking noisily into her room, when she told us not to, just to make her scream and carry on. And of course, using her Barbie Doll® car for other things, besides Barbie's big date with Ken.
That one was really a hoot, and took up hours of the day. Putting my funky, rubbery, troll-like monkey guy with a hand held club in the driver's seat, then sending the oddly colored convertible careening down the driveway at full speed, where it inevitably crashed in a heap in the street, after jumping the curb at the bottom of the drive. Ah, such fine, highbrow entertainment. Over and over and over again. What is it about this creative gamesmanship of the absurd that is SO enjoyable? (Truth be told, I wasn't THAT bad of a big brother. As long as Barbie was invited to go on the doomed ride with my squat little guy, my sister got quite a kick out of this whole thing.)
Yes, summer was really something back then. And with it, all the joys we could cram into three months of warm, not-so-quiet paradise. Today? I don't have easy access to a Barbie car anymore, my crash dummy troll-guy finally split in two, and my sister lives far, far away. I can only harass her by telephone or at Christmas now. And any time I throw apples over the fence at my neighbor, he gets rather annoyed. So maybe things have changed a bit. But I still love this time of year. So much of nothing at all to do, and I'm still very very good at it!
Oh dear, I just glanced at the calendar on the wall. It's already June 23rd! Only ninety two more days until Fall is officially here.
I guess I better get busy.
~ Finto ~ (almost)
Slight Alphabetetic Misnomer:
I just looked up the Freewrite prompt used above in the dictionary. I guess my Mother was a better speller than I will ever be.
So...nevermind.
Five Minute Freewrite Post by @mariannewest
Post: Five Minute Weekend Freewrite 6/22/2019 - Single Prompt Option - Prompt: Plaid
Thanks for stopping in and viewing another Twenty Eight Minute, 5-Minute Freewrite about summer and a misplaced prompt. If you have any thoughts about being 'out' for the summer, harassing family members when out, Mothers and children and the joys of vacation, not really being able to spell real good, or anything else this post reminds you of, please feel free to comment away in the spaces below. I'd love to hear from you.
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And go to @ddschteinn -- There's a whole lot more...
Posted: 06/23/2019 @ 10:26 ~ Post No. 317
Excerpts From Late-Night Conversations With A Mechanical Cat
Fact Number 152
~ § ~
Freewrite Disclaim-iere
What and engaging and charming tell, DD:) You had me smiling and giggling throughout. Ah, sibling conflict. I think we all traumatized to the nth degree and yet we managed to survive and even forgive each other. There must be something that aids our survival there. But Barbie hair cuts were going too far. Too far, I say. You never did that, right?
Thanks for the nice thoughts, I'm glad you enjoyed the romp down summer lane. Such a grand time as a youth (and youth in older body). I'm not sure what it is about that whole sibling thing. I've always couched it as brother and sister, but my friends with all girls en' familia were hard on each other too. Maybe MORE so. So it must be universal AND gender nonspecific. I'm sure you are right, it must be good for us in some plane...since we don't have to run from Saber toothed cats anymore, we have to substitute sib's for exercise and survival practice. I think I like this way better, smaller teeth and a chance for more "do-over's". Whatever it is, there seems to be a lot of it in families.
My brother and I never cut Barbies hair. Might have done other things, but not that. I think that is the difference, even though harassing was 'in', we were never mean or destructive. At least in my memory. Maybe that's why my sister still likes me. That and my incredible wit and charm....BTW: Got some GREAT oceanside property for sale. Interested? It's in Tucson.
Hope your Tuesday is a nice one. Thanks for popping in, Cheers.
Tuscon has the best coast line.
I KNOW. Can you believe it, I tell people, and they look at me a bit wonky. Go figure...
I loved the lazy, hazy daze of summer. OMG! I have been singing that song for weeks now, waiting for its arrival!
I can see you loved summer too. What is not to love??? Right? We lived in Connecticut and the back 40 of us was left wooded/farmish/fun We had maples trees that we played tree tag with - it is exactly what it sounds like and apple trees, except we ate ours, then my brothers threw them at the neighborhood boys, who were slightly more upscale with the pears they threw.
There were pollywogs and skunk cabbage and wading through the swamp going turtle hunting, taking my dad's dingy to keep the booty in. Oh, yes! Summer was fun. We lived on the shores of the Long Island Sound, chasing the Atlantic just beyond. We spent more days with sand between out toes and building sand castles. We didn't even realize how good we had it. Oh, life. Wouldn't I kill for the sand littering my yard, mixing with the blades of grass?
I read your post and you had the same kind of wonderful childhood as I did and well, I had six of you for brothers. Egads! One would have been quite enough. But, you know what? We are all still as thick as thieves. We spend hours on the phone and get together whenever. If I need one or all of them, they jump on a plane and they are here.
I think these kinds of childhoods foster that kind of love. I can read and feel the love of your words. You brat. Leave Barbie alone. Or I'm telling mommy. :)
Upped and Steemed
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Ahhh, summer is something, isn't it? And nothing quite like it when in school. When teacher let's the monkeys out. Miss that song. Don't miss being in school though. But I'm sure my BRAIN would like to be there, still getting exercise. Then again, that's what Steemit is for, the old C.C.C. Continuational Cranial Calisthenics.
You are so right, I did have a wonderful childhood, and think of myself as very fortunate in that. Many folks cannot claim the same. I'm glad yours was a hoot as well. And it sure sounds like it was. What a phenomenally fun place to grow up. Messing about in nature. I am glad I was young before all the techno stuff. We just played with sticks and dirt and crawdads and dead things and such. I suppose everything has an advantage, once way or the other. Naah. Give me 12 hours, a fort near a creek any day of the childhood week ( :
Your family does sound very special. So nice you are still all so close. That is so cool. Mine was always close, through we've gone our own way a bit more than I would like, but I still see them now and then. Harder being far far apart. And they have family of their own, and that takes a huge amount of time.
For sure there are fewer of us than your 'bunch'. Were you the only girl, in the gang of 7? I may have asked you that before, but then, remember, I'm doing my graymatter exercises here...
I can only imagine the harassment you got (all lovingly, of course) from a whole, almost volleyball team of brothers. It is an amazing thing, that brother/sister love/annoyance thing. But I was and am still very close to my sister, even though she is far away, and I don't see her as much as I'd like. But as you say, when together, you just fall right back into the old ways. It's one of the many wonders of life I greatly appreciate.
Thanks for stopping in, the tip, and always being the you that is you. Always enjoy your comments to the Nth. Have a bonny grand Tuesday, and stay cool. Cheers
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Oh yes those were the days! Wish I could go back to my little aluminum boat and small motor. Less worries.
I always said doing nothing is an art! I like the Joe Walsh lyric "They say I'm lazy but it takes all my time" :)
Life does get a bit more complicated as time moves on, that's for sure. Was that an old, open aluminum boat? My dad made a ski boat out of ours. Little aluminum with three boxy seats. Built a 2x6 'dashboard' with steering wheel across the middle front, added a 25 hp (lake maximum) on the back, and it let me tell you, that thing FLEW.
Planed at about a 70 degree angle. At least you could see the skier in back, if not where you were going. Those pesky details.
Love that Joe Walsh lyric. I just heard 'New Kid In Town' at the grocery. Guess that was about him coming to the Eagles. Classic stuff. And I'm glad you are versed in the 'do nothing' world of doing. It is a fine art, and underated. Cheers my friend, keep on smiling.
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I always hated barbies. I used to play with my cousin's cars and boy toys they were more fun!
Barbie is a real lightning rod for controversy, that's for sure. Though as a youngster, we didn't give that much thought. Just ran the poor car ragged. I wonder what my sister's opinion is today, about her. I'll have to ask. But many women I know loved the guy toys a lot more growing up, which I can understand. Then again, I loved them too, and they were way cool. I still have my Matchbox cars, and model railroad stuff. Fond memories and something to play with when I'm bored. (When in the world does THAT happen?!!) Cheers on a Sunday
I used my cousin tonka as skate ahahaha
The Tonka truck, what a classic. And leave it to a kid to find a new way to use it.