IN ANSWER TO THE MANY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ADVOCATES I HAVE DECIDED TO DEMONSTRATE MY OPPOSITIONAL BEHAVIOR BY BEING MY USUAL WORDY SELF!
My cousin Larry will be 70 tomorrow and I have a lot of memories clustered around spending part of my childhood on his parents farm. A lot of these memories (although not all) centered around my cousins. Larry, who is one month younger than me, was an easy going kid, shy kid who often came under the spell of my ornery, older, cousin John (another story all together). This is the letter I enclosed in Larry's birthday card.
I REMEMBER WHEN:
Larry used to squeal like a little girl when he fell into a pit in the Great Larry/John Hay Bail Maze. It's a wonder we weren't all killed.
Larry helped sucker this female cousin into that very pit (and several dead ends). It's a wonder that I wasn't lost in there forever.
Larry got into trouble with the Great Larry/Karen Excavation at the corner of the farmhouse. It's a wonder that the corner of the house didn't fall into the hole we dug.
Larry made me mad with the Larry/John Great Dirt Clod Fest that kept this female cousin treading water in the stock pond. It's a wonder that I didn't drown. I treaded water for what seemed like hours.
Larry helped perpetrate the Great Larry/John Canasta Fraud played out against same above-mentioned cousin (for pennies). It's a wonder it took me so long to determine that they were cheating.
Larry joined in the Larry/John Great Cherry Bomb Fiasco aimed at …guess who! It's NO wonder that I never came out of my room that fateful day.
Larry when he co-conspired in the Larry/John Great Picture Caper that started with an early morning glass of water thrown into the sleeping face of said teenage cousin (with curlers falling out of hair), picture taking, and the posting of said picture in town. It's a wonder that I didn't kill them both!
Larry made a pact with the same teenage cousin to co-author a science fiction novel. It's a wonder that both of us were science fiction nuts at the same time.
Larry thought that somehow there was a father mix up because John was built like Larry's dad and Larry was built like John's dad. It's a wonder
that we never considered the genetic distribution made so clear by the punnett squares in science class (huh!)
Larry was the sweetest, most thoughtful, kid/young man who was often caught under the magnetic personality of his scheming cousin John. It's a wonder that John's personality didn't rub off on Larry (thank God.)
And it's a wonder that I love my cousin Larry, BUT I DO!
Now, how many kids today have GREAT memories like that? There is nothing like a farm to offer all kinds of interesting things to do (not to mention all kinds of trouble to get into - or is it all kinds of trouble in which to get - nawh...I like it better the other way!).
SEE NUMBER 171 COMING UP ABOUT AN EXPERIENCE ON THIS FARM.
SEE NUMBER 171 COMING UP ABOUT AN EXPERIENCE ON THIS FARM.
kt 3/2011
