ShellyThe problem with having a blog is that throughout the day, as things happen, I think, “I am SO going to blog about this.” Inevitably I either forget that I wanted to blog about whatever the flavor of the moment was or, in the clear light of day, I realize that no one other than myself is going to be interested in whatever it was that made me think, “OMG!”
So, instead, I want to take some time to remember my youth.
I’m a Floridian – second generation. My grandparents moved to Miami from New York before my mother was born and I was also born in Miami. (If you’re keeping score, this means that my kids are third generation Floridians and, believe me, this is a rare thing.) My grandparents had a great little house in Hialeah.
There were ficus trees all around the house that were just perfect for climbing. I remember laying in a wading pool underneath the tree in the front yard and watching the iguanas up in the branches. And they were gigantic! Grandpa used to warn me about trying to catch them (I was an avid lizard catcher – a skill I still possess today) because they could bite off my thumb, their jaws were so strong. (I believed him, at the time, but now wonder if I wasn’t told that partly because he was afraid that I would actually succeed at catching one and try to bring it into the house.)
I used to catch the baby Lubber Grasshoppers when they’d hatch, too. They were cute when they were first born – black with bright red or orange stripes down their backs. They hatch in swarms and were easily found because they formed black puddles on the grass. They grew up into monstrously ugly things, though, and I think that Grandma was pleased that I ended up killing a lot of the babies while collecting them for play. There was also an overabundance of Liguus Tree Snails who made their home in the croton bushes which surrounded the house and I collected them, too, in jars with holes punched in the lids.
My grandparents didn’t have air conditioning but it wasn’t unbearably hot. Perhaps, because they were close enough to the coast, there was a breeze most of the time. There were oscillating fans in the living room and the bedrooms and sometimes, if the humidity was high, the nights could be stifling. Overall, though, I don’t recall being miserable from the heat. I think air conditioning has spoiled me and I wonder if my kids would have had as much fun playing in the trees and bushes around my grandparent’s corner lot as I did.
My grandfather convinced me that I could catch a bird by sprinkling salt on its tail in that yard. My grandmother taught me how to play badminton in that yard. I hid for hours up in the trees in that yard.
I miss that yard – and I really miss them.
Tags: remembering