Becky’s Big 50 meme PART II:
26. Write about getting fired or quitting.
Pass on this one.
27. What was it like to spend your first night away from home?
Honestly, I don’t remember. It probably was a sleep over at one of the neighbours, when I was a kid.
28. What was it like to come back home after a long holiday?
I never had a long holiday in my life—but, I had a working vacation (with a big emphasis on that “work” word), at 19. After a summer in the Rocky Mountain wilderness, where people were very open, friendly and courteous, coming back to New York’s capital city of Albany was literally like culture shock—I’d never realized how rude, grasping, impatient and obnoxious upstate New Yorkers could be! It was a genuine eye-opener.
29. Write about a disappointment.
Which one?
30. Something that made you sad when you were a child.
My friend, Harry the gardener (a lovely old gent, who tended the bishop’s estate, and other estate land behind our home) lost his cat when the Episcopal bishop’s mansion burnt down. That upset me quite a lot, even tho’ I’d only seen his wee ginger cat a few times. I remember crying, when I found out.
31. Write about something that flopped.
My education/future. After five years of hard work, having to drop out (thanks Bush’s financial aid cuts) hurt more than I could say. Well I know that I’ll never get back in to school now, my finances are kaput, no way I’ll ever get that BA…I’m going to be fifty in nearly two years, much too old to start over…bollocks.
32. Write about a time you had to communicate with someone you couldn't understand.
Ah. I was trying to get into a closed exhibit at the Egyptian museum, with the rest of my tour, and the stinking guard let everyone else through…but not me, ‘cos he claimed that my student ID wasn’t any good. Caused me just a wee bit of anxiety, that.
33. Did you ever win or lose a contest?
Both.
34. Something you desperately wanted as a kid.
A horse.
35. Did you ever see a ghost?
Yup.
36. Did you ever run away from home? How far did you get?
Yeah, when I was around 8 years old. Only got to the pine grove in our back yard (mum caught me, darn it. I was going to run away and work on a ranch)
37. Write about the best attic or basement you've ever been in.
Ey? My bedroom as a teen was in the attic. It had no heat, and in winter I slept with 12 blankets, an electric fire and my half-collie dog to keep warm. But…I had my stereo/radio, a television set and my books—and, it was totally private and I could even open the window and sit out on the garage roof, on nice days, and take in the view.
38. Did you ever know someone who had "everything"?
Yeah, we had some wealthy neighbours where I grew up. I had two “everything’ friends…one was my best friend Tommy—his dad was president of a local steel mill, and they weren’t exactly wanting for anything…yet, they were very lovely, kind, down-to-earth people, very involved with their kids and neighbourhood and community---heck, you’d have never known they were wealthy, they were just like everyone else. Then, there were the Smiths. They were my first encounter with “yuppies.” They were very much nouveau riche, they neglected their son, flaunted their wealth—while at the same time being cheap as hell, they had no involvement with their son—often leaving him alone with no one but the housekeeper for days or even weeks on end. They ran out of money when their restaurant (which they named after themselves) went belly up, and their son grew up to become a local drug dealer.
39. Write about a time as a child when you played in one or all of the following: a treehouse, a farm field, a construction site, a junkyard, an abandoned house or barn, a stream, a cemetery, a pasture, railroad tracks.
Whew, that’s quite a list! I already talked about the tree fort. We didn’t have a farm field, but we had an abandoned pasture that we often played in—especially in winter when we’d go sledding down it’s gentle slope. When the catholic cemetery expanded—and we lost a main blackberry patch, they piled up this huge mountain of dirt that was just there for about a half-dozen years, and we loved it. We used to “shoot” each other and then “die,” rolling down the hill, we’d also ride our bikes down the hill, which was great fun…and caused a few scrapes and bruises. Yes, we had a “dump,” often the cemetery and local landowners would dump things down the big ravine next to the abandoned pasture—over the years, our “discoveries” down their yielded: a child’s little red wagon, a barber’s chair, a pig trough, marble gravestones and…wait for it….a coffin. No, really. A metal coffin was just summarily dumped down the ravine…we never did get it open though…we tried…not sure what we would have done if there was a body in there…screamed and ran away, I suspect---this story kind of covers both the cemetery and junkyard theme, there was the foundation walls of an old house near our street, with a cellar hole, and we used to use it as the “U.N.C.L.E.” headquarters—that was a 1960’s spy show on American television that was quite popular with us kids at the time. There was a stream off of Cemetery Avenue, near the rail tracks, and mum used to walk us there, and take us fishing. I remember the fish were black and kind of runty…no idea what they were. As it happens, we did grow up right near some rail tracks—which ran smack through the middle of our village…the old Delaware and Hudson line. We did stuff most kids did, living near a rail track…walked on the rails, put pennies on the line, waved at the engineer, that sort of thing.
40. What did you do to amuse yourself as a child when you had to wait for a long time? (for instance, at the doctor's or dentist's office)
I don’t know…read a popular children’s magazine that was found in most doctor’s and dentist’s offices, talk to mum, colour in a colouring book, very probably.
41. Did your mom or dad ever make you wear something you hated?
Oh heck yes. My 8th grade graduation dress…also the dress I wore to my sister’s wedding. Dad didn’t want to shell out for a posh dress, so mum found me a long, seafoam green (the colour I HATE the most!) sleeveless gown in the Montgomery Ward’s department store’s “bargain room.” Bleh, I swear to heaven, I was so glad when that stinking dress didn’t fit me anymore.
42. What was the earliest you ever got up in the morning? And, the latest you ever stayed up?
I’ve had to get up for work at 3am, in the past. When I was a college student a few years back, especially around mid-term project time, and final exams, it wasn’t unheard of for me to stay all night, maybe get 2 hours sleep, if that…and drive to school, sit in classes all day, and drive home again.
43. Write about a time you were talked into something and regretted it.
Cooking for a living. Everyone wanted me to be a cook, but me. So, in my early adult years—and again briefly in my early 30’s, I was a cook. Never again. I’m retired—permanently!
44. Were you ever in a helicopter, limousine, race car, hot-air balloon, submarine, or horse-drawn carriage?
Everything but the helicopter and the race car.
45. Did you ever forget something extremely important?
Hell yes.
46. Write about an experience in a hospital.
Do I have to? Okay. Being alone in hospital sucks. The end.
47. Were you ever accused of something you didn't do?
Sure. Once in the stable where I worked as a the weekday stable hand, the stable manager accused me of stealing her wrist watch…when I had a perfectly lovely antique pocket watch which I, at the time, treasured. I was a bit unhappy over that…the boss found her watch in her horse’s stall, two days later…where it’d fallen off her wrist. (I never was allowed in her horse’s stall…no one took care of her horse but her). Also, a few years ago, I wrote an essay and printed out two copies on the college’s computer. Well apparently a student in my class took a copy of the essay from the computer, and turned it in as her own—two days later, head of the English department at the state college I was attending, very gravely called me into his office. Essentially, the man accused ME of stealing this young student’s work. I was completely nonplussed! That is the one thing I would never-ever-ever-ever, do! I work hard at nearly everything I write: good, bad or indifferent! I was not a happy little camper—and what gets me, is that my “voice,”…my writing style, is extremely distinctive…or so I’ve been told by nearly every English professor I’ve ever had. I’m told they can just pick up my paper, without my name on it, and know it’s mine. Mind you, I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. To have one of my own professors…head of the blinking English department, not recognize my work, and then accuse me of stealing some 19 year old’s paper, well, I was just…stunned.
48. Write about a disastrous trip or vacation.
Egypt 2004. It would take too long to write about. Short version: Stuck for two weeks with the deaf (who refused to acknowledge that) elderly room mate from hell, sick as a dog for two weeks—lost 20 pounds, mum was hospitalized, dad was hospitalized (while I was on a cruise on the Nile), it was 40 below zero at home and my water pipes burst, the cats went two days without food or water, I got accused—publicly dressed down by someone I’d deeply respected-- of “being mean” to the roommate..who was also ill and who I’d been bending over backwards to do things for…long, long story, as I said, room mate from hell, and, my dad died and I never got to see him or say good bye to him.
49. Were you ever give a responsibility you couldn't handle?
Not really. Taking care of mum was a bit of a challenge sometimes..she could be very petulant about taking her meds, eating, etc, and being sick of course sometimes she could get a bit tetchy with me. That, combined with being in college full-time and also owning the big old caravan—which seemed to always be needing repairs those last few years—nearly did overwhelm me, at times.
50. Were you ever in a fire, flood, tornado, blizzard, earthquake or hurricane?
Been in a category 1 hurricane, two small earthquakes, my stove has caught fire twice, but I’ve put it out… no tornado but a “microburst” twice, which is tornado force straight line winds—very scary.
