I moved to the next bed, pulling the heavy hose behind me. My thoughts poured through the hose and out into the garden.
Cucumbers soaked the moisture into their roots.
I need to mail the birthday party invitations. Don't forget the checklist for our trip.
Water beaded on spinach leaves.
I have emails waiting for a reply. How many cupcakes should I make for Joseph's school? What's for dinner?
Onion stalks bent under the light pressure of the spray.
Elizabeth's outgrowing her clothes. Joseph needs new shoes. I need to make an appointment for his five year check-up.
Peas clung to their trellis under the onslaught.
I need to file our taxes. I wonder if the chicks are ready to go outside.
As I reached the last bed, my mind blissfully emptied. My thoughts turned to memories of hot summer days chasing my sisters with the hose. I closed my eyes and felt the sweat and dirt on my forehead, the flushed cheeks, the small body running across the grass. I smelled dinner cooking, heard mom yelling at my sister for tracking dirt into the house. I felt the sun, the heat, the humidity, the innocence. I remembered the taste of clear, cool, rubbery water.
I opened my eyes and sighed. The list of to-do's flooded back.
Walking to the side of the house, I reached for the spigot and then paused.
I unscrewed the nozzle. Water poured out soaking my shirt and pants. I leaned down, ignoring the neon signs flashing "lead" and "PVC". Water pour over my lips.
I took a gulp of childhood.
This was a post inspired by The Red Dress Club prompt of a picture of a garden hose. I haven't posted a RemembRED post in a while, but that picture stuck in my head, niggling away. As always, concrit is welcomed.
Also, I'm reviewing the Baby Bjorn Potty Chair at Makes Fun today. Go check it out.
44 comments:
This sounds like heaven. :) I need to come water your garden, cuz watering my stuff is boring. LOL
Fantastic! Why is it that the act of watering the garden brings a flood of childhood memories. There is something hypnotic about it. Thank you for sharing your words. I truly enjoyed this.
"...a gulp of childhood"
LOVED this piece!
~d
The coldest water comes right from the hose outside. Love.
Rubbery water is so perfect. That one taste memory brought back more than the photo did.
Damn the warnings, drink from the hose once in a while!
Love.
Loved it! Sometimes you just have to do things like that and to heck with what "they" (whoever "they" are) say!
I love that last line! The taste comes back to me, so clearly. I think drinking from the hose is something every kid has done at least once. This is a fabulous piece - well done!
I can so relate to this. Never have a moment to relax. Even when we're watering. Our minds are constantly going.
Love the last line too. Nothing better than water out of the hose on a hot summer day. Well, I'm sure there are better things. But when you're hot and sweaty it's the best.
This past weekend my son came running in the house, his shirt and shorts wet. He had that metallic smell about him that smells like water fresh out of a hose. I asked him what happened and he responded, "I was drinkin' from duh hose." It instantly flipped me back about 35 years when I used to drink from "duh hose" too.
That last line is PERFECTION!!! You described it so well, I could taste it too. The metallic and the childhood. :)
Oh that last line....perfection. The to-do list never far from our consciousness and yet the simplest task can help us escape, even for a moment.
Gorgeous writing as always, my friend.
I love that you let yourself escape for a few moments. Sometimes that can be so hard to do!
A gulp of childhood is my favorite line of the day- I need to take a big one too.
I love the taste of childhood. And that is exactly what it tastes like. Or maybe cotton candy and coke.
The back and forth worked very well.
I can see you in your garden. love the inner voice and the action of the moment... good reading!
I love that last line. I think a lot of us did that with this prompt. It was definitely a different day in age, when we worried about nothing.
So much more fun to take in childhood than to worry about that to do list! (And I can't believe you have so many veggies, we just planted our garden, but hope to get lots of goodness, and I still wish I could have a chick!)
i love how you alternated between past and present, and showed exactly how your memory got kicked up. and then how you savored the memory by taking a drink out of the hose. I can taste that metallic and feel the cold shock on the front of my body.. great job!
I really liked the way you wrote this Mandy...:"Gulping your childhood" is exactly how I felt looking at that picture too. There were so many memories, so many GOOD times and endless fun filled days, how can you sip that??? You can't...you GULP!
Wonderful!
I really loved this Mandy! I could so relate to the full mind and you expressed that perfectly with the italics against the plain text.
My favorite line was "gulp of summer." because I could so taste it, too!
I love the "gulp of childhood", before we knew it wasn't "safe" to drink from the hose. I wonder how we all survived.
The mindless watering of the gardens, your mind filled with todo's. Then the bliss of memories.
I could find nothing to concrit, I was too busy tasting the water.
The water is delicious. As are the memories. :)
Thank you so much! Coming from you - with your amazing way with words - that means a lot.
Thank you!!
Thank you so much!
My veggies are already starting to pop up. I've got some radishes, garlic, carrots, peas, tomatoes, lettuce, green beans, cucumbers, bell peppers, blueberries, squash and herbs. Oh and grapes, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries...wow. Now that I think of it. That's kind of a lot.
Thanks, Chris! I swear it's my only real Zen time. So relaxing.
To me, it's the taste of summer. That and watermelon.
Sometimes I wish I had a time machine to enjoy the energy of childhood!
Part of the reason I garden is because the watering is so Zen. Until the kids run outside screaming.
Thank you, friend.
Thank you. There's just something about that taste memory.
I LOVE it. One of my greatest joys is seeing my babes run around soaking wet and half naked from playing with the hose.
Of course, half the time our area is on water restrictions so that makes it even more special occassion. :P
YES! It seems like my mind goes 100 mph all day. It's funny how many things are in there that don't belong to me but are things I need to remember for the kids. And the husband.
After drinking, I checked and my hose is PVC-free so I'm letting the kids drink from it too. They need that memory.
"They" can be so annoying.
Thanks, friend.
And always on a hot summer day.
Thank you!
Hypnotic is a great word. It's very medative and repetative. Water, walk, water, walk, water, walk. It's one of my favorite parts of gardening.
Oh shush. I'm sure watering your stuff is as fun as watering my stuff.
Wait. That sounds weird.
What an awesome trip down memory lane! And how vividly I relate.
You are amazing at writing in layers about multiples things at once. What a beautiful piece. And so thick with imagery that I could totally feel. Love this.
Thank you!
Thank you, hon. I have to say the inspiration came that night while watering my garden. I hadn't even thought to participate until then. :)
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