Monday, September 28, 2009

A Story From My Childhood

My grandma told me a story that my older brother, Brian, recently told her about our childhood. I think it says a lot about who I was and still am.

Brian and I were working in her backyard by picking up acorns. I don't know what the context was - perhaps we were just picking up acorns to make barefoot walking more comfortable, or perhaps we were prepping the yard for being covered with sand, brick, and rock. After all, it wouldn't be good to have hundreds of oak trees trying to grow up out of a patio. Either way, Brian and I each had a bucket that we were filling with acorns for some reason.

After awhile, Brian noticed that my bucket was a lot more full than his was. My grandma said he was surprised because he is four years older, but maybe he'll grace us with a comment giving his side of the story directly. He asked me, "Did you pick up all those acorns yourself?" I responded, "No." After a bit of silence, he prompted, "Well, how did all those acorns get in there?" "One fell from the tree and landed in the bucket," I answered.

This tells me three things about myself that remain true to this day. First, I have an aptitude for tedious tasks like picking up acorns or knitting. Second, I don't always recognize when more information is expected after I give an initial answer. Third, I generally don't lie, especially when it comes to pointing out technicalities.

It's also interesting to analyze my memory of this. I don't remember the words said, but I do remember the acorn falling into the bucket, and I remember that I pointed it out somehow when explaining the fullness of my bucket. I don't remember anything else about the scene, though. I was pretty young, so I'll use that as my excuse. Anyway, nothing major in this post, just thought it was cute and fun.