Random Memorial for Monday 10/17/16

Gone but not forgotten:  playing with my Matchbox cars on the roots
of THIS VERY TREE.

There's a good chance you might have heard me mention this most favored childhood past time of mine.  And that's why, when I was home earlier this month, I trespassed on the lot where the house I grew up in once stood, and why I paused to reflect on my youth as I snapped this photo.  I also used the power of the google search on this very blog and found the following references:

MON 2/8/10:  "I could use a little retro therapy and 'getting back to basics' mojo if anyone wants to point me in that direction. And then I can play with my matchbox cars on the roots of the old tree out back.  Toys from my youth that fostered creativity ... you will be missed."

WED 11/2/11:  "And, what a home run concept to put things in perspective by having teams make toy trucks out of cartons and bottle caps and wooden dowels for Madonna's future adoptees in Malawi -- it kind of reminds me of when I happily played with my Matchbox cars of my youth using the roots of the back yard tree as my only accessories."

MON 8/17/15:  "so tonight I want to talk about some of the *good* things ... the big tree in the back yard where I used to play with my matchbox cars, using the roots and the space between them as my community ... the immediate neighbors -- Mr. Bradley in the green home (whom I rarely saw but I knew he lived there ... and so, in my young creative mind, Mr. Bradley quickly became my version of Boo Radley, for all of you Mockingbird fans) and the Meileys in the other home (with the patriarch with the dutchified accent whom I've frequently mentioned every Fourth of July for his pronouncements made whilst watching the Hills fireworks each year [ohhhh ... dat vas a purrrrdy von!])"

SAT 11/7/15:  "Back when I was little, my matchbox vehicles were lucky to be in a tiny plastic carrying case, with trays that fit a dozen or so at a time ... and that was perfectly fine.  Furthermore, those matchbox cars had to drive around the tree roots in my back yard because that was all that was available and that required imagination in play ... and *that* was also perfectly fine.  And one other thing ... my matchbox cars were made of METAL and not plastic ... and they were covered in lead based paint ... and *THAT* was perfectly fine (maybe ... lead based paint can warp a mind I hear)."

Tree that clearly had such an impact on me because I clearly can't stop talking about it .. you have been missed.

THE ORIGINAL REFERENCE:
http://capcognition.blogspot.com/2010/02/random-memorial-for-monday-2810.html

WHEN THE HOUSE BURNED DOWN:
http://capcognition.blogspot.com/2015/08/random-memorial-for-monday-81715.html

WHEN I DECLARED THAT TODAY'S KIDDIES ARE TOO DAMN SPOILED:
http://capcognition.blogspot.com/2015/11/random-soapbox-for-saturday-11715.html