As I wrote the date for the first time today I was taken back to certain memory fragments from my childhood, and one repeated phrase that once used to hold special meaning.
As school children living on farm in Western Kansas about 15 miles from our grade school it was necessary for us to get a ride into town and then get on a school bus to venture one town over to our grade school. When we first started school it was my fathers job to get us up and around and then drive us into town to meet the bus. Why I remembered this today is that we had to leave by 8:08 am in order to catch the bus. So each morning when time had finally ran out at home and we had to go get into the jeep to drive into town Dad would yell out, "Eight oh eight oh Eight!", and we'd all go. I don't know why he added the extra Oh eight, I guess it had a better ring.
Dad was always making things fun for us on the way. The sunlight in western Kansas at that time in the morning is particularly stunning, and perhaps because there are so few things out there to cast a shadow, the things that do cast a shadow are all the more inpressive. My dads brown and orange jeep was one such particular shadow casting object. As it rolled down Highway K-18 the sun would be shining and casting a perfect shadow of the vehicle in the grass ditch just next to us, sometimes slightly behind us. As shadows do it would go with us the entire drive to school. The effect was made all the more personal for us kids during certain months of the year when the top was off the jeep and each passanger could wave their arms above their head and locate there own silouette.
Dad reffered to the family of shadows that followed us by our last name spelled backwards, since shadow images like mirror images are backwards of sorts. Each member of the family had their own shadow family member and it was their name said backwards. I remember really liking the way my shadow's name sounded "Nodnarb", it was so fitting.
Sometimes when going about my business of adulthood I will catch a glimpse of Nodnarb, he's bigger now all grown up, but I will wave to him and he waves back and it makes me feel a bit like a child.
2 comments:
Well I certainly remember the shadow family - especially Enneirda - but I don't remember the Eight Oh Eight oh Eigh. Sometimes it sucks being the youngest and having amnesia for some obviously great parts of childhood.
What a fond memory, it made me choke up a little to read your account. You told it exactly right!
Post a Comment