Sunday Scribblings - "Earliest Memories"

My earliest memory of my childhood was of a little two-bedroom brick house surrounded by fields of dry grass. We had a front and back lawn, but for me the jungle of tall dry grass was my play ground. The dry grass was much taller than any 4yr old, with endless possibilities of play.

I would crawl on my hands and knees, plowing tunnels through the grass. Leaving a path of bent grass, creating a secret maze that only my imagination could tell you where it led. I would create bigger patches of grass, off my path, making rooms, secret places. I would play house with my dolls, totally hidden from moms watchful eyes. I felt like I was the only person who knew of this place, hidden in the fields. I can close my eyes and still smell that grass, remember my reddened hands and knees. I realize now mom was seeing my every move, knowing what direction to call my name and letting me keep my secret place, a secret.

I remember struggling with having to share my parents with a new sibling and finding solace in playing away from the house. When I was a teenager, my secret places were in books, where all my fantasies came true. Once I got married and had children, I had very little time for secret places. Now the kids are gone, I bask in my abundant alone time by doing whatever I please. My life is my secret place :)