I've Been Tagged!

Baron has tagged me with the latest germ being passed around the blogosphere--the Childhood Meme.

My life as a child (under 15) in 50 words or less: I was an only, late-in-life child and spent much of my time reading under the weeping willow tree, practicing the piano, doing schoolwork, and roaming forty open acres originally belonging to my grandfather. But I never felt lonely and learned the difference between loneliness and solitude.

Where were you a kid? Fairfax County, Virginia. We never moved! In fact, my father lived in sight of his birthplace until he and my mother sold the property in 1983.

Given the choice, were you barefoot or shoed [sic]? Barefoot, but my mother made and enforced the rule that shoes stayed on Labor Day through April 30.

Were you a city kid or a country kid? More a country kid than a city kid. We raised and slaughtered chickens. We also had an acre-large vegetable garden, as did my father's brother next door.

Stupidest thing you did before the age of 15: While my father was busy working in the pit of our automotive garage, I found the gallon bucket of white paint--lead-based, no doubt. Being a mischievous four-year-old, I dipped both of my hands into the bucket and put my hand prints all over the black tarpaper on the inside of the garage doors. Lots of scrubbing with gasoline was required to remove that paint from my hands, and for several days I had white paint under my fingernails.

Do you know how to play Kick the Can? Yes, but we were more likely to kick play Kick A Rock.

What else did you play in groups? Baseball, basketball, dodgeball, and tag (Prisoners' Darebase), all on the schoolyard. Because of where I grew up, there was only one neighbor with a child my age; my cousins next door were six to ten years older than I and weren't at all interested in playing any games with their baby cousin.

Worst injury? A stray dog bit me on the forearm all the way to the bone. I still get questions about the hideous scar.

Do you agree with Bob Seger’s line in Against the Wind, “I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then”? Yes, since 9/11. But knowledge is power.

Even if you don't care to play, I've tagged you anyway: Mustang, Esther, and Mr. Beamish.