A Slalom Down Memory Lane

The Main Walkway

We'll start here, since this is where my stays at my Grandparents' house always began. When I was little, nothing was more exciting than pulling up the winding driveway and tragging my suitcase up the steps and down the walkway. My parents would tell me to wait to ring the doorbell until they caught up, but I rarely would. Just beyond the shrubs on the left, there's a gap of garden between the path and the doorway platform, the distance between which I became quite skilled at jumping.

	The Livingroom After walking through the front door, on the right is the livingroom. Light always filtered through the lace curtains onto the array of cultural artifacts my Grandparents kept on the tables and stands. At Christmas, instead of the clay Chinese figurines as centerpieces, the mighty plastic Christmas tree dominated the room, overflowing from underneath with presents that spilled over into the corners of the room. The piano wasn't played frequently, but when someone did plunk down and play, it generally became a good time.

	The Kitchen and Dining Room Ah, so many fond memories from this part of the home. The main reasons for staying over at Grandma and Grandpas' has been for holidays, occasions that are accompanied by good food. My family works as a team, everyone with their specialty dish- My dad does mashed potatoes, Aunt Audrey does the green bean cassarole, Uncle Bruce has sweet potatoes, and Grandpa does stuffing, among the many dishes we're spoiled with (especially Grandma's pies and cookies). The table has also been an epic Dutch Blitz arena, Puzzle table, and a place to eat coffee cake and chat to wake up in the morning.
	The Basement Ah, the basement. This is where I have the most memories of me and my cousins playing 'aliens' and running around practing martials arts and having dance parties. Back behind the stone wall is the best storage room you could possibly hope to play hide and seek in, as well as being well supplied with board games and childrens' books. It's cluttered [in the picture] with moving things, and it's wierd to think I'll never be in that room again...
	The Shed Moving back outside, the garden and shed come into view as you round the house. Grandpa took great care in upkeeping the garden, the tomotoes bearing evidence to that. He kept a tractor in the shed and let us grandkids take turns 'driving' on occassion while the rest of us rode behind in a wagon. There also used to be a basketball hoop on the shed, and my cousin Bridger would shoot hoops for hours.
	The Back Yard Past the shed on the right is the official back yard of the place, an amazing area that, just left of where the picture ends, extends out towards The Ravine, the coolest thing ever for a 10 year old. The yard became a sloping adventure skattered with trees and leaves. I always thrilled at the idea of making the 'dangerous journey' down and we spent many afternoons making trips to the bottom, where we built forts and looked for fossils, climbing back to the top by way of a giant fallen tree. I'll truly miss that, though I'll admit it's been a while since I actually went to the bottom.
	The Ravine & the Outdoors

< Back to Main Page	Childhood memories are wonderful to reflect back upon, and I'm very fortunate to have so many good ones from such a wonderful place. I'll certainly miss it...