Snippets, memories

I'm sorry to hear that.  But you know something,  my parents never told me that they loved me either.  At least in those words.  I wonder sometimes, if their distant attitudes came from their own backgrounds. deleted on request

great topic, we are all build upon our memories...

how we act as adults is given to us in our childhood and teenage years....

one of my memories is the biking accident I had...had a new bike bike...went to school with it...waved to my mother with my right hand and hit the brakes with me left hand...went over my bike...down on the ground...cut open my head...needed to be stiched...marks still visible...years later my hair started to fall out...where???...where the stitches were visible...it gave me years of feeling insecure...until I decided to shave my head...damn...never knew the ladies liked a clean head that much 

You should start writing, you have the "don" as we in Spain say (which, I am sure, needs honing, but you have it).

Your "snippets" have me intrigued.

Rattler

same here...I started 2 or 3 during my lifetime but never ended one of them....

same with autobiography....bought many empty books to fill in...but the amount of negative memories obstruct the writing itself...

Our phobias all have a root somewhere do they not? Bees and wasps are my worst phobia. I know the reason why.

It was just another ordinarily day in the village, everyone going about their usual business, and I was going about mine, trying to find something interesting to do.

In a small rural village like mine, everyone knows each other really well, and kids are allowed to go anywhere they want, to anyone's house, anyone's yard or barn. It's was a very safe and friendly place and perfect for a child to explore.

One day I discovered a huge bees nest. It was in one of my neighbors back yards. I was fascinated by how the bees worked and intermingled in such a harmonious way. I watched for a while and then had this idea of causing some havoc for them, just to see what they would do.

I saw a tall broom to one side, picked it up and started poking the bee hive with it. As soon as I did this the bees started flying in all directions, buzzing angrily. I dropped the broom and ran out of their way. I did this a few times, each time the bees became angrier and angrier. And each time they got closer to getting me as I tried to run away from them. The last time I did this, they were ready for me, I dropped the broom and ran as fast as I could, with dozens of bees chasing me, they were relentless and I got stung several times around the face, one near my eye.

After that time, I never went near bees or wasps again, and to this day still cringe even at the sound of them.

Yep,  I did deserve that, I must say!  It was also a valuable lesson for the future,  on learning how far I can push people before they lose their cool.  um...I'm still learning.   

Skip forward some years now...I'm in the United States after running away from home.  My then boyfriend and I decided to drive across the USA,  it was a journey that would take nearly 3 months.  Here are some small snippets and memories of that trip.  This is the kind of car we drove across the country in: 



The seats in the back went down flat made quite a comfortable bed,  we even put up curtains on the windows with velcro.  We bought the car for $300 Canadian in British Columbia and drive thousands of miles in it. And so we set off with our 'new' car and $50 in our pocket:


LOS ANGELES

The California Coast is beautiful, peaceful and breathtaking at the same time. We were on our way to Los Angeles and decided to stop in Carmel, the home of Clint Eastwood. It was a quaint little town and we wondered exactly whereabouts his home was. The art galleries looked expensive, the cobbled streets reminded me of certain places in Europe. Sadly we didn't manage to bump into Mr. Eastwood himself.

We drove further down the California coast, and eventually came to Los Angeles. A big busy city, easy to get lost in. Ofcourse we just had to go to the usual tourist places, Disneyland, Universal studios, Hollywood, (just to take a photo of that famous sign), and Beverley Hills, to see exactly how posh it was for ourselves. We saw some nice places up in the hills, but nothing spectacular, I guess the real 'big' stars live in the more secluded areas.

We were only there for a couple of days, I'm not too fond of Los Angeles, for me it holds little charm. We parked on a large busy road, my bf had to look of something, or ask for directions, I can't remember which now. So he left to go down the road and there I was sitting in the car waiting. And there comes the traffic police. Before the officer could get to our car, I got into the drivers seat, started the car and drove off. I had no idea where I was going and was surprised that I could even manoeuvre that big old car at all. It was one of the busiest roads in town, and I had to concentrate like crazy just not to crash the car. Eventually I managed to drive it around the block and park again in about the same place. The bf appeared later on non the wiser.

We used to sleep in our car, and finding the perfect parking spot for the night was always a dilemma. It couldn't be on a busy road, it couldn't be in a deserted park (too dangerous), and in Los Angeles this was more of a problem than usual. We drove around for a while and eventually came to a nice area, with beautiful houses on either side, it was late, it was quiet, so we decided to just park there for the night. So there we were all snuggled up and we hear all this commotion outside. Upon having a peak we were shocked to see around 7 or  8 police officers surrounding us, rifles in hand. They told us to get out, we did. Eventually after explaining our situation to them, they let us go and told us not to park in these kind of areas again. We found somewhere else for the night. and then left the next morning... I was not unhappy to be leaving.

Oh yes, definitely, it's a good way to try and 'find yourself'.  I learnt  a lot on this particular trip,  you'll realize what I mean as you read on.  Actually,  I am planning to do a similar trip within the next two years or so.  This time, it will be a 15,000 mile journey, (approximately).  I'd like to drive from here (Eastern Canada to Florida, and then head West to California (with much zigzagging on the way to different areas), and then drive back up into Canada into British Columbia, and finally drive across Canada from West to the East and back home.  I think this trip could easily take 3-5 months.  Mostly because I like to stop in some areas to get a feel of the place and people....I can't imagine sleeping in my car this time around though,  better to camp or use motels if necessary. 

Anyway,   

Route 66

ROUTE 66

It's important to remember that there's not that much of Route 66, (or the Mother road as it's sometimes called), left to travel on now.

So after leaving Los Angeles, we were supposed to head back to Oregon and then British Columbia. But we had time, we had a car and thought why not? Everyone's heard of Route 66, the mystery and legend of it, the place to get your kicks.

We didn't travel the whole way, I think some of it was already not accessible, and it's not an easy route to take. Somewhere along the route, not far from California, we saw a sign pointing us towards where an old 'Cowboy' town still stood, perfectly preserved, this we had to see. I've always been interested in the early pioneers and their lives.

When we got there, I was amazed just how well it was preserved, the little town was there as a tourist attraction, but no one was around, but we explored it anyway. The buildings were very old obviously, I think it had been some kind of a mining town at one time, I went into a restricted area (shouldn't have done really), and nearly fell into a deep pit trying to climb some old steps that cracked under foot. There were lots of little buildings and even a little jail house.

Further down Route 66, it started to rain, and it kept on raining, everything got wet and uncomfortable. We had a station wagon, normally it would make a comfortable bed in the back, we even had little curtains on the windows. But now it was just damp and miserable. We drove miles and the road seemed to go on forever. We had heard that in certain parts of the US, you simply didn't venture, one was Native Indian territory, (they may not like strangers on their land), and the other was weird little towns, because the KKK might the ones welcoming you. We had managed to bypass or stay clear of anything that looked suspicious, and so far had been lucky not to bump into any weirdos. That's why when we finally came to a small town, the safest people to ask for directions were the Police. Now the Police in these small way out towns also have a reputation, so we weren't sure what their reaction would be to us approaching them.

Thankfully, they were a good bunch, friendly even, one thing about the States is they are a nation of travelers and used to people passing through, even in forsaken little towns like the one we happened to find ourselves. Also, luckily, they didn't do a back ground check on my bf, who was not supposed to be in the States in the first place, due to his record. We asked them for directions and also if they knew of any inexpensive place to stay for the night. they told us of a Pentecostal camp that we could try and told us the way to go, it was just a little out of town.

After a bit of a search and nearly giving up, we found it. It was a collection of cabins on a few acres of land surrounded by dense woodland. It was definitely creepy looking, and I had a strange feeling about it, not a place I wanted to stay in for too long. They gave us an empty cabin to use, no idea what they expected from us, they didn't ask for any money, maybe they just hoped we would join in their commune and be converted. Something that was no likely to happen.

The large house had a huge dinning area with a big kitchen attached to it. Everyone had a job to do, they all helped out in one way or another, I volunteered to help in the kitchen, and got talking to some of the people there. Most were young, some were teenagers, my guess was that at least some where runaways, they all had a story to tell. There was a certain tension in that place, too many people with too much history and pain and too much baggage, all in one place. A certain desperation seemed to be in the air.

I'm sure if we had stayed longer, I would have discovered other things about this place, things that I really didn't want to know, it had an atmosphere that was simply not right somehow. My bf befriended a French woman, I guess she must have been in her 30's. She was a teacher from France, I never did find out exactly what she was doing there, other than that she was a Christian and wanted to participate in this community. She was a nice lady, very proper, and seemed quite normal and obviously fluent in French. And maybe that was the attraction, maybe that was why he spent so much time with her, he missed having someone to talk to in his native French. Later on I would see another side to her.

After a day or two, I started getting itchy feet and wanted to leave and be on our way, but they wanted us to at least stay for the Church service on Sunday, so we stayed. The Pentecostal churches in the States are as wild as they get. It was loud, there was a lot of clapping and swaying and talking in tongues. People were just into the spirit of it like I have never seen. Then a group of people stood in line, including the French teacher, and the Pastor came down to them, still talking in tongues and touched each one on he shoulders, as he did this they 'fell into arms' and then quivered about on the floor like they were possessed. It was the strangest thing to see. Then it came to the turn of the French woman, she did the same, I couldn't believe it. How could this woman who seemed so normal, in control and intelligent be doing this? I guess it takes all sorts...

The next day we left, I often wonder if that place is still there, and what became of all the people who had found themselves living there at the time. It was a relief to finally get in the car and drive further down Route 66...

Yes please!

As always, I am intrigued (and have stuff to share, but am too busy with certain Real Life and technical forum issues currently), it is fun to read your snippets every day!

TechAdmin

YES, sorry if I haven't been convincing...please do 

just for you