Reaching up for a door handle. I described the handle and door to my mother years later, and it was at a house we moved out of before I turned three.
I had a weird "Oh wow" moment when I got into history as a young man. I came across the famous picture of a Huey landing on a rooftop with a bunch of stairs leading up to it. I knew that I had seen it before but didn't know when or how. Turns out that my family, including me, watched that on TV. It was the during the evacuation of Saigon:
I remember watching war footage on TV back in the late 60s. First regular shows I remember are Captain Kangaroo, Sesame Street and Gunsmoke. My grandma babysat me pre-kindergarten, and I remember gathering eggs from the hen house, riding the tractor in the fields with my grandpa (no air conditioning or enclosed cab, just a curved metal seat), and climbing trees in the chicken yard. Also, when grandma slaughtered a chicken, she'd grab it, yank and twist it's head off, then put it on the ground so I could chase it around while blood spurted out of the neck hole until it finally collapsed. Later, it was lunch. Sure, it sounds a bit twisted now, but I've certainly never had a problem seeing blood.
I remember getting stung by a wasp, and also getting bit in the face by a horse I was trying to feed. I guess it didn't like that particular apple. Never cared much for horses after that. Or apples. Wasps, either.
My first truly vivid memories are of the aftermath of a tornado that hit Macon and the surrounding area in June of 1970. My grandparents' farm took a direct hit, losing about half the buildings, most of livestock, and the tin barn my grandpa had built only a couple of years earlier. Mangled pieces of tin and dead pigs were everywhere. The tornado actually picked one building up, flipped it upside down, and deposited it almost completely undamaged on concrete foundation. They were able to right it using log chains and tractors, and fucked it up worse than the tornado did in the process. But it still stood for years afterward. Freaky. I remember that shit like it happened yesterday. My grandpa would have been in his early 70s at the time, and that pretty much retired him. Sold off most of the farm after that, except the 20 acres nearest the house. [Reply]
I was 2 1/2 and we were taking a family trip through Rapid City, then to Wyoming and California. I remember being at a reptile farm and riding a giant turtle and seeing snakes. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Frazod:
I remember watching war footage on TV back in the late 60s. First regular shows I remember are Captain Kangaroo, Sesame Street and Gunsmoke. My grandma babysat me pre-kindergarten, and I remember gathering eggs from the hen house, riding the tractor in the fields with my grandpa (no air conditioning or enclosed cab, just a curved metal seat), and climbing trees in the chicken yard. Also, when grandma slaughtered a chicken, she'd grab it, yank and twist it's head off, then put it on the ground so I could chase it around while blood spurted out of the neck hole until it finally collapsed. Later, it was lunch. Sure, it sounds a bit twisted now, but I've certainly never had a problem seeing blood.
I remember getting stung by a wasp, and also getting bit in the face by a horse I was trying to feed. I guess it didn't like that particular apple. Never cared much for horses after that. Or apples. Wasps, either.
My first truly vivid memories are of the aftermath of a tornado that hit Macon and the surrounding area in June of 1970. My grandparents' farm took a direct hit, losing about half the buildings, most of livestock, and the tin barn my grandpa had built only a couple of years earlier. Mangled pieces of tin and dead pigs were everywhere. The tornado actually picked one building up, flipped it upside down, and deposited it almost completely undamaged on concrete foundation. They were able to right it using log chains and tractors, and ****ed it up worse than the tornado did in the process. But it still stood for years afterward. Freaky. I remember that shit like it happened yesterday. My grandpa would have been in his early 70s at the time, and that pretty much retired him. Sold off most of the farm after that, except the 20 acres nearest the house.
Broncos. This is the origin story of your disdain for broncos. [Reply]
I've never had a good horse experience. I was riding one as a kid when one of my prick friends set off a pack of firecrackers behind it. The horse did the hi-o silver thing up on its back legs, and I ain't the Lone Ranger. Dumped me right on my ass. The next time I rode one was about 20 years ago. I was wearing hiking boots, and was unable to ever get my feet set in the stirrups correctly. The ride was very uncomfortable, and the next day I was so sore I could barely walk.
From that point on, if I wanted a horse experience, I'd go to Taco Bell. [Reply]
Originally Posted by IowaHawkeyeChief:
I was 2 1/2 and we were taking a family trip through Rapid City, then to Wyoming and California. I remember being at a reptile farm and riding a giant turtle and seeing snakes.
My grandparents retired in the Black Hills in the early 60's. I rode the tortoise around that time. Decades later we took our grandkids there and I was astonished that same tortoise was still there.
I remembered some squirrels at a picnic table that would come up and take food out of your hands. I asked my mom about this one time and it appears I am remembering a trip we took to Canada. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigRichard:
I remembered some squirrels at a picnic table that would come up and take food out of your hands. I asked my mom about this one time and it appears I am remembering a trip we took to Canada.
At some point in the future you're going to be going through your family albums in the attic, and you'll run across a picture of your hair-covered older brother who was sent to live in the circus at the age of 4. You will have strong words with your parents and will then spend years visiting circus sideshows, sorting through bearded ladies and lobster boys in an attempt to find him. [Reply]
my earliest memory has to be the hospital in witchita, went there often when i was 3, my mom had a stroke in surgery and was there for 6 months.
i can remember the therapist taking me to the cafeteria for an ice cream, wierd how i can remember this but not seeing mom. [Reply]
I think I was 3. We were on a road trip to Florida and we stopped the family wagon at a roadside zoo. This zoo, which was more like a gas station with cages out front, had a gorilla named Sam. Sam smoked cigarettes and drank coffee. For a long time I thought all gorillas smoked and drank coffee, which blew my mind. I remember thinking, "How do gorillas get their smokes in the jungle?" [Reply]
My earliest memory is being in my parents car on the interstate near an interchange. It was before I turned two, and I have no context of where it was. I have vague memories of my second birthday, and have quite a few memories of when I was two. [Reply]