Little Things

Have you ever noticed how our senses trigger little memories? No matter how old we get, these memories always pop into our heads when we smell a certain smell, taste a certain food or drink, hear a certain sound or even do a certain activity.

When we went to Maine, we went to camp in Northern Maine. This is a place for Seth that means the world. He loves going to camp. Since we have been together, he has wanted to bring Adrien and I to camp with him. On Saturday afternoon, after a HUGE lunch and some neat browsing at the Amish stores, Seth and I went out on the 4-wheeler, up on the mountain and picked raspberries. Before we knew it it was almost 7:00pm and we had been gone over 2 hours. We called it quits and headed back to camp where we were greeted with some not-so-happy campers. Adrien and my step-father in-law were worried. Rightly so, I suppose, even though everyone was fine. Later that night, Seth and I went back out on the 4-wheeler to look for wildlife. We didn't see any and it was chilly so we headed back. On our way back, Seth stopped and asked if I wanted to drive. I have never in my life driven a 4-wheeler and I told him that. He hopped off, scooted me forward, and climbed on behind me. He showed me the gas, the brake and told me that the engine had a brake so if I let off the gas too much we would stop. This might not seem like much to most people, but I was SUPER excited.

When I was little, my mom, sister and I used to go pick berries at my grandma's cabin in Pennsylvania. Going up on the mountain with Seth reminded me how much fun we used to have up there. Whether we were picking berries, playing in and traveling up and down the creeks, fishing, shooting at squirrels or groundhogs, watching for deer or just playing whatever board game on the porch. There was a phone, but we didn't need it. There was a TV, but no cable or satellite. We had a VCR and sometimes that was good, especially when it was cold and rainy. For the most part though, we were outside from the time we woke up until it was too dark to see, and we were doing "stuff". We had to think of ways to entertain ourselves and it was AWESOME.

While we were in San Antonio, Adrien and I got to go visit my other grandparents at the mobile home park the reside in during the winter months. That was great too. While they were headed back north, the stopped in San Antonio to visit with us before everyone went their separate ways. While they were there, I did laundry. It took forever to fold because I just wanted to smell my clothes. When I got to our house in Hastings, I used up the laundry detergent and softener that Seth bought, and I called my Nana to ask her what kind of soap and softener she used. I went to the store, bought what she said, did laundry, but it still wasn't the same. It smelled really good, but not the same. Another memory that stems from going to Nana's house is sweet tea. My Nana makes the best sweet tea I have ever had. I have tried to make sweet tea like her, so has my mom and my sister. It is never the same though. The stuff we make is good, but not nearly as good as Nana's.

My mom is really good at taking and organizing photos to help remember the moments she doesn't want to forget. I unfortunately am not as good. I try and take my camera, but I usually get so caught up in doing what we are doing, I forget. I have learned to rely on my senses and memories. What helps you remember or triggers your memories?

I will leave you with a joke that I will never forget from when we went to camp. I laughed so hard I had tears rolling down my face for a good five minutes and I hadn't even heard the whole joke that time, just the punch line. Enjoy!

Two ropes walk into a bar and order a couple of drinks. The bar tender says, "Sorry, we don't serve ropes." The ropes walk outside and think for a few minutes and then one of them ties himself into a knot and pulls apart the top. The other rope does the same and they walk back in the bar. The bartender says, "Hey, aren't you the two ropes that were just in here?" The ropes look at him and say, "Nope, frayed knot."