Monday, April 11, 2005

Dipping My Fingers into The Journal Jar

Slowly but surely I'm catching up to the current question.  I still have a long way to go but here are some more answers to hasten my journey.

Question 11 ~  Baby you can drive my car!

Who taught you to drive a car?

My father taught me to drive an automatic shift. He took me to empty parking lots on the weekend to practice. It used to be so easy to learn how to drive then. All one had to do was take a brief written test to secure a learner’s permit and practice with a licensed driver in the seat beside you until you felt confident enough to take the actual driving test, written and on the road. My, how things have changed. I practically keeled over when my 16-year old son informed me how much it cost to get a license today.

My oldest sister taught me how to drive a standard transmission several years after I got my license. She was so patient and kind and the things I did to the clutch of her car were next to unholy. Oh, those horrible grinding sounds! When the light dawned one day and I was finally able to shift smoothly, I felt I had achieved a major accomplishment in my life.

Question 12 ~ Attention sports fans!   What kind of sports did you play when you were young?  What was your favorite sport?  What IS your favorite sport now?  (playing or watching).

I never participated in a sport and have no interest in any sport whatsoever. I have never been athletically gifted in my entire life. I know it’s "the American way" to be gung-ho about some kind of sport but I can’t manufacture or fake an interest in that which doesn’t matter to me. If I had to watch something, I don’t mind boxing but I have to be interested in who’s in the ring.

Question 13 ~ 911!   Do you remember any special events that took place in your Neighborhood while you were growing up?  (deaths, fires, accidents etc)?  

For the first eleven years of my life I grew up in a small town. Several housing developments were built around our house during those years. One night there was a great deal of commotion and a mighty wail of sirens. One of the almost completed houses caught fire and we could see it through my parent’s bedroom window. No one was hurt but the flames engulfed the house and burned it completely. It looked like something out of a movie. I’d never witnessed a fire before or seen another one since that night.



 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sports...  That was one of the many paradoxes about me.  I was a hippie in high school, but also a "sporto."  I love to be active and am really quite competitive for a hermit.  I belonged to "GAA" (the Girls Athletic Association) all four years of high school, and participated in sports like bowling, archery, volleyball, and badminton.  It was all intramural stuff, and it wasn't anything you had to try out for.  You just stayed after school and played, no matter whether you were really any good at it or not.

As an adult, I still enjoy sports.  I used to be a great baseball fan, but after I was married, I got turned on to football.  Unfortunately, the players have become such spoiled, rich crybabies, that following any professional sports is losing its appeal  Lisa :-]  

Anonymous said...

wow, a childhood hangout question makes me feel so happy I am 'blogging' for the first time in my LIFE!  We had a public woods in back of our house, and I remember almost every square foot of this approx. 12 acres.   In particular, my (our) hangout was called "the dirt hill", which is what it was.  It was where we would meet, fight, test our strength and speed and climbing ability, hide, rest, and it was also the remains of an early 1900's city DUMP.   I wish I had the artifacts that I dug up there, which at the time seemed really cool but not historically significant (not to a child of 9!)  One time I found the head of an old china antique doll in perfect condition.   I hid it to retrieve later, as I wanted to run and play some more, and when I went back, I couldn't find the spot.   I looked for a long time, and as I have a very good memory, I have since realized one of my trusted girlfriends and her sister, connived to steal it and run it to their home before trusting little me realized what was going on!  I see these girls every now and then and am almost tempted to ask about it but I am not that kind of person!  One of them is now a locally well known collector of everything antique and Early American.  ha ha!  Kids.  PEOPLE!    what can you do , but remember the good times!

Anonymous said...

Did I miss something?  When were you an editors pick?  I never keep up with those but CONGRATS!!!

The only organized sport I follow at all is horseracing. I am a Kentuckina, after all...