Kicks and Giggles

Apparently, from a young age I aspired to keep a hand-written journal and have always had trouble with it. My old green treasure box (actually a diaper wipe box) was brought in from the truck a few days ago and I'm going through it. Inside, I found this green book with gold lettering diagonally across the front proclaiming: Memoranda.

I've been laughing til I cried looking at the entries. My handwriting was awful (I think I may have written a hunk of it in a vehicle, so that didn't help) but my spelling was atrocious!! All original spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

The very first entry was written in by my mother for me:

1 March 99    2PM
saw an Eastern Bluebird and a Robin

It appears from that, and many of the subsequent scrawls that this was not only my first attempt at journaling, but also my very first bird-book. Apparently, I was a bird-watcher before we moved to Louisiana and began attending birding club...

I kind of like this entry...it's clear I was somewhat agitated, for my lettering is a little big and bolder than most of the other entries:

I Saw a Cotton mouth!
​1999 April 12

I even spelled everything correctly!

Looking at this thing, I find that at age 7, I spelled "saw" correctly part of the time and the other part of the time I spelled it "saol". 

*Nods head wisely*
See, I spelled with a Southern accent!

How about the spelling and capitalization in these? See if you don't laugh. ;)

January 18, 2001
rabins, Bilu Brid, Commen GracKlE

Jan 25, 2001
we're having camanee [company] to night. the cat hisst at me.

Fed 9, 2001
It is a pritty Day. I saw a lot of rodens. 
{Anyone else think I was having problems minding my "b" s and "d"s that day??}

Fed 12, 2001
I scerd the colee awey. I saw a roben, I saw mmommy carenals, and Daddy Cardunals, Swainson's thrush, I saw six rodins.

This next one I actually remember! It was really kinda cool...

APRIL 23, 2001
​I saw a spitr rap up a nat.

I'll NEVER forget this day:

Sep 11 and Sep 12, 01, In New York City & Pentagon the World Trade center was crashed into by tow Hijacked air planes.

Take a minute and let that one sink in. A month shy of ten, I had an inarticulated fear--of the unknown--but more than that, that my Daddy would be going to War. I didn't write it down, but I remember.

Probably my first attempt at poetry here is next:

April 6, 02
I Came up With a pome: M, I, J, A

My aim was sher
I never missed.
Just like,
​Annie Okely!

Right. I never could write poetry. That poor little thing doesn't even rhyme! (And 'never missed'? I must have had a successful day at the range. Other than that, it was just wishful thinking! :D)

By this point, I was writing some of my entries in cursive...but my spelling was still terrible:

April 7, 02
It is Sunday and we did home Cherch, had a ymmy lunch and we are haveing Psizze! Oh, and of cors we are haveing psizza to the glory of God!

Well, I guess I was on the right track there! I'm going to guess we probably had started catechising by this point...

Alright, I just about couldn't talk laughing over this one:

MAY 6, 02
​WE ARE GOING TO SIRT TO FILL UP THE POOL!!

Too bad you can't see the decoration of the exclamation points...(we had a four foot deep above ground pool in Louisiana. I'll bet this is when we first got it. :D)

Look, more nature observations!

June 27, 02
I Saw a black catupiler eating a leaf!

June 28, 02
I saw a spider that Looked like a scoreine! [scorpion]

June/July 2002 we visited Grandma and Grandpa in Indiana, taking the Natchez trace up. I have several rather illegible entries from the trip...I'll spare you those. However, this one shows what even grown men will do when faced with a bunch of insects with stingers....

Sep 6, 02
Daddy ran around the houes because of a huge wasp nest, it was HUGE! It had abuat 20 wasps in it.

This is varied...

Oct 30, 02
I worte Missy and We got a Dish washer and a campurter

Missy, I feel for you. Your handwriting and spelling was always better than mine. I wonder that you could read those old letters!

Skipping along, this next one is from after we moved to Arizona...

Sept' 14, 03
It is time to go to chaple. I miss my church. I spit tea on my sirt. [shirt]

Jimney! I always had a knack for spitting my beverages all over the place!

Anyway, back to birding--my grandparent's came out to see us in early 2004 and that's why Grandpa is mentioned.

March 13, 04
Grandpa and I saw a catus  wren. He know House sparows, as Einglesh Sparrows. Morning Doves as turtle Doves. We saw 3 Mexican Jays.

I can't remember what the Mexican Jay looked like--but I do remember the Scrub Jays. Bigger, duller, and nosier than our eastern Blue Jay.

In between the previous entry and the following one, my grandmother passed away and we made one trip to Florida in April for her funeral--which we missed. This is several months later...

Sept. 3, 04
...Coming back from Fl. Hurricane Charlie went through. Not to much damage.

Looking back, I can see there was actually a LOT of damage in our little town, but our places were blessed to not have any serious structural damage--just a lot of trees down. In fact, you can still see Hurricane Charlie damage 12 years later.

​The next one cracked me up...

Nov. 27, 04
We are going back to Fort Bowie today. We're also going to get nuts.

Oh really? Anyway...I think this was probably the day that Daddy fell and sprained his ankle really bad and Mom and Savannah hiked back up the trail at top speed to go get the truck--and Katherine and I wandered in the ruins by ourselves pretending and talking about the Apaches...(I don't know about you, but I kinda made my own hair stand on end a little bit).

There are only two more entries: One in 2007 and one in 2009. Neither are amusing, so I won't share them. 

I wonder, should I start carrying this little green book about again in one of the vehicles to scribble in, or should I just put it back?

Either way, I think I had better finish this job I started (cleaning my desk again)...

      Racheal