Me in 1978

I had to dig out an old photo of me for an upcoming activity and I found this one tucked in my photo box. This is me when I was about 2 or 3. On the back of the photo my mom wrote "Sarah wants to be beautiful". I remember sitting under this hair dryer a number of times when I was small. It seems so strange to think we didn't have just a small little hand held blow dryer like we do now. I had forgotten that those are a new convenience. My mom must have been very patient to go to all the trouble of putting all those curlers in my hair. At 6 years old I am lucky to get Sophie to even run a comb through her hair.

Here are 10 things that I remember from my early years.

1. Green carpet. - The house my family lived in must have had green carpet. I must have spent a lot of time on the that green carpet the first 2 years of life. It is the only thing I remember about the house we moved out of when I was 2. It does seem strange to remember carpet but when a shaggy green carpet is hard to forget I guess. The house that we moved in to that you can see in the picture is the same one my parents still live in. New furniture, flooring and drapes, thank goodness.

2. Popcorn in the house - When I was young we had horses. Our Neighbors also had horses and we would go riding together. One of my older sister's friends who lived up the street had a pony named Popcorn. A little black and white shetland pony. One day when Mom wasn't home we lead Popcorn right into the house and she ate dinner right off the table with us. Sophie loves to hear this story. She thinks it is so funny that a horse was in the house.

3. Sam chopped down the apple tree - My Dad has tried a number of times to plant fruit trees. When I was very small there were two new little seedlings that my dad planted in the front yard. My brother, who is just older than me decided one day cut one of them down. Nobody knows exactly how he did it. Or maybe I just don't remember.

4. Waiting for the bus - I was the 4th of 6 kids. We are all at least 3 years apart in age. My older siblings went to school and caught the bus right at the end of our long driveway. Before I was old enough to go to school I would go down and wait with them. I remember walking across this small board to cross the mud out in the pasture at the bottom of the hill so I could stand in the field and talk across the fence to the other kids from the neighborhood that were also waiting for the bus. Finally when I was 4 almost 5 I got to start Kindergarden. I rode the bus to school everyday for years after that.

5. Running to catch the school bus. - Having the bus come right at the end of the driveway was nice. We didn't have far to walk. Some mornings we would be running late and have to run down the hill to the bus. One morning I remember running across the lawn and jumping down the little rock wall to the drive way and falling right on my face. I picked myself up and ran the rest of the way to the bus and got on. Someone pointed out that I was bleeding. I had a big road rash on my face.

6. Skinned knees - I must have been really clumsy when I was small I always seemed to have skinned knees. My knees are scared up now. I remember tripping over a dog and reopening the scabs on my knees. Falling while roller skating was common too. We loved roller skating down the driveway except for all those acorns that always covered parts. But that just added to the fun.

7. Lois - We had a black dog which just showed up at our house one day and didn't leave. It was the best dog. We had such fun with that dog. She would follow along on our riding trips and patiently let us ride her at times. She could jump right over the 4 ft high fence. She was with us a long time. I was in High School, she was old by then, when she had to move on. I sure hope to see this dog up in heaven.

8. Karen drew on my dolls and animals - My younger sister, when she didn't like something that had happened or that I had done she would retaliate by getting a marker and drawing all over the faces of my dolls or all over my stuffed animals. My mom was a miracle worker and got the marker out of some of the animals. I have a killer whale that I remember Karen drew all over, that Sophie now plays it. Sophie loves to hear me tell this story as well. So far she hasn't taken after her auntie. I spent years playing with dolls that had black scribble all over their faces.

9. David ? - He was the older neighbor boy that would come and play at our house. He went riding and swimming and everything with us. He just had to climb over the fence and he was at our house so he was always around. He even has a hand print in cement in the back of house. I thought I was going to marry him. He must have been very patient with 4 year old me who had a crush on him.

10. Living in a swim suit - I don't remember exactly when or how I learned to swim. With a pool in the backyard you just swim. I do remember learning to jump off the diving board. That was quite a step in my life. Summers were spent in the pool. I don't remember taking my swim suit off most of the summer. We would go swimming off and on all day long all summer. I think we even slept in our suits some nights after a late night swim.

It sure sounds like we spent a lot of time out of doors when we were kids. We were always building tree houses and digging animal grave yards. I often feel like my kids are getting short changed. They don't have any real unsupervised outside play. This is something I struggle with. I know I loved it when I was a kid. I am sure my mom didn't love how dirty we were and how much mud and dirt we brought into the house. But it sure was fun!