Its Only 365 Days
166/365: CHILDHOOD
14 JUNE 14
Another bloody hot day outside. At one point I found myself standing half in shade and half out and I could feel the left side of my body absolutely roasting under the heat. The thermometer read 100 degrees again. It's almost as if it's stuck on that number and has been for the past week.
Good news to report, my hamstrings just today, after 3 weeks, finally felt normal. I knew this because I went down to squat to take a picture of my growing bell peppers and I didn't wince in pain. I woke up and didn't want to scream as my feet touched the ground. The world somehow seemed much shinier and prettier that it had been in the previous three weeks. I was loving life.
Also today, loving my childhood. Well, the one I imagine I had eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Make no mistake, my brother and I were never allowed to have sugary cereals or any cereal with dyes in it. My mom absolutely insisted upon us not getting those things. So as kids we ate things like Cheerios, Grape Nuts, Crispix, Wheat-a-Bix, Corn Flakes, and Raisin Brand. However, every chance we got...a friend or families house spending the night, there was a chance to get at and finally taste those cereals we dreamed about like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, arguably the best cereal on earth for the simple and delicious fact that when you're done chewing down those cinna-sugar flakes that taste like mini crisped waffles, the eternal problem of what to do with all that leftover milk is solved by the mere fact that is so caked with cinna-sugar flavor, that it tastes like its own drink. This process of slurping down the now flavored milk that remains IS the reason that many will agree, that Cinnamon Toast Crunch is arguably THE best cereal.
Now that my childhood is dead, and not too many people would still consider me as a child, I find myself on occasion going down the cereal aisle, past the brans, and wheat this or that, and organic gluten free, dye free boxes that adulthood has led me to believe I am supposed to eat for something called "balance", and settling on the box with friendly looking baker with glasses on it. As and adult, I know the 12 pounds of sugar per bowl is bad for me, I know I can't go back to my childhood or life before I knew the words "diabetes," but for one fleeting period of my life, I am young again. I am sitting in front of the tv watching cartoons and doing flips on the lawn for hours, and gabbing with my next door neighbor and best friend. I feel happy. I feel joy. I forget about bills, and boyfriends, and being an adult. I slurp the milk down, some of it dribbling to my chin, and I wipe it away with my sleeve as if I were right back there at those kitchen tables of my youth, and then, just like that, the moment is gone.
166/365: CHILDHOOD
14 JUNE 14
Another bloody hot day outside. At one point I found myself standing half in shade and half out and I could feel the left side of my body absolutely roasting under the heat. The thermometer read 100 degrees again. It's almost as if it's stuck on that number and has been for the past week.
Good news to report, my hamstrings just today, after 3 weeks, finally felt normal. I knew this because I went down to squat to take a picture of my growing bell peppers and I didn't wince in pain. I woke up and didn't want to scream as my feet touched the ground. The world somehow seemed much shinier and prettier that it had been in the previous three weeks. I was loving life.
Also today, loving my childhood. Well, the one I imagine I had eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Make no mistake, my brother and I were never allowed to have sugary cereals or any cereal with dyes in it. My mom absolutely insisted upon us not getting those things. So as kids we ate things like Cheerios, Grape Nuts, Crispix, Wheat-a-Bix, Corn Flakes, and Raisin Brand. However, every chance we got...a friend or families house spending the night, there was a chance to get at and finally taste those cereals we dreamed about like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, arguably the best cereal on earth for the simple and delicious fact that when you're done chewing down those cinna-sugar flakes that taste like mini crisped waffles, the eternal problem of what to do with all that leftover milk is solved by the mere fact that is so caked with cinna-sugar flavor, that it tastes like its own drink. This process of slurping down the now flavored milk that remains IS the reason that many will agree, that Cinnamon Toast Crunch is arguably THE best cereal.
Now that my childhood is dead, and not too many people would still consider me as a child, I find myself on occasion going down the cereal aisle, past the brans, and wheat this or that, and organic gluten free, dye free boxes that adulthood has led me to believe I am supposed to eat for something called "balance", and settling on the box with friendly looking baker with glasses on it. As and adult, I know the 12 pounds of sugar per bowl is bad for me, I know I can't go back to my childhood or life before I knew the words "diabetes," but for one fleeting period of my life, I am young again. I am sitting in front of the tv watching cartoons and doing flips on the lawn for hours, and gabbing with my next door neighbor and best friend. I feel happy. I feel joy. I forget about bills, and boyfriends, and being an adult. I slurp the milk down, some of it dribbling to my chin, and I wipe it away with my sleeve as if I were right back there at those kitchen tables of my youth, and then, just like that, the moment is gone.