It's a Meme: Snakes and Other Good Things

Yes, it's another meme, and this time I've been tagged by Catez of Allthings2all. The idea is to list 5 things from your childhood that you miss as an adult.

1. I miss fireworks displays on the 4th of July. Sitting on the grass by the lake in the dark with thousands of other people watching the fireworks explode out over the lake is a perfect end to a summer holiday. If I happen to be in Minnesota on the 4th, we see fireworks, but there are none in the Yukon. Yes, they've tried having them for Canada Day. They started at midnight so it would be as dark as possible, but since it never really gets dark, the show was less than spectacular. So this will be a firework-free Canada Day for us, and I'll miss them.

2. Related to this, I suppose, is that I miss dark but hot summer nights. That just doesn't happen in the Yukon, where darkness means chilliness. My kids, having grown up here, think dark heat is a strange phenomenom and just a little spooky.

3. When I was a child, we had a lot of garter snakes around and I used to like to watch them. Once I walked out on the front steps, and what seemed like hundreds of garter snakes--huge ones and tiny ones all together in a squirmy mass--went slithering off in all directions. Instead of finding that repulsive, I found it fascinating. I liked to pick snakes up once in a while to play with them, too. Unfortunately, the Yukon is similar to Alaska in snake population, so I can go years without ever seeing a snake, and I'd like to see one every once in a while.

4. I miss tromping through the northwoods making up adventures with Barry Aasen and my younger sister. Remember when you could get lost in your pretending - playing house (or for us, it was usually playing wedding), pretend hunting with bows and arrows, making forts? I remember specifically the last time I enjoyed pretending something with a group of kids. I was 12, and while I played I was thinking how much fun it was, but that I could feel that I was getting too old for it. It never happened again. Good pretending is one of those lost things that can't be recovered.

5. I used to be able to park myself in a chair and read clear through a day except for bathroom trips and meals, if that's what it took to finish what I was reading. A stack of books from the library would last me a day or two, and then I'd be ready for more. I can't read like that anymore. Even if I didn't have other demands being made on my time, I don't think I could actually sit still that long. Either I grow restless after reading for half an hour and need a break to do something active, or I fall asleep. I'd like to be able to read steadily like that again, but I can't.

So there you go--my list of five things I miss from childhood. (I always feel so self-absorbed when I do one of these!)

Now, here's how this meme works. I'm supposed to pick four people to write on "Five things I miss from my childhood". Rather than doing that, I'm just picking two, and that'll leave two spots open. If you'd like to participate, leave a comment and I'll use one of those extra spots to tag you.

Here are my tagees: Terry of Pruitt Communications and his red haired wife, whose blog is bigred5. [Update: Terry gives his five things here. Update 2: Bigred responds here.]

This'll give you an idea how this meme has travelled:

1. justaskjudy: I've Been Tagged
2. Loose Leaf: Meme: 5 Things I Miss.
3. Black Currant Jam: Meme: 5 Things I Miss.
4. Allthings2all: I Wanted Green Hair.
5. Rebecca Writes: It's a Meme: Snakes and Other Good Things.

If you participate, then remove the blog at No.1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog's name in the No.5 spot.