My First Memory
My first really vivid memory comes because it is interwoven with a pretty substantial amount of physical pain!
The ingredients were: One old school merry-go -round
One big oak tree:
And one obstinate 5 year old who insisted he knew more than his momma- Me!
See, my mom used to take me to the local playground when I was little, and she or the other assorted moms would push us mom style on the merry-go-round. Getting hurt was relatively impossible since we were moving at the speed of evolution, and to spice things up I used to jump off of the merry-go-round. This, of course, would earn me the condemnation of my mom, put she was forced to play zone and not man to man since I had a younger brother, and when watching him took priority, off I would go!
It was all wonderful fun….until.
One day a teenage girl was present and babysitting some other kids at the playground and her charges and me were all on the merry-go- round together. The girl was pushing the merry-go -round considerably faster than the moms did , and I saw my chance to make an epic leap! I edged myself to the lip of the death wheel and liberated myself from gravity, soaring through the air until….I had never noticed the oak tree before, but I learn something about mass, velocity, and the immutable laws of physics that day. I collided knee first with the tree, busting it open but at least slowing down the velocity with which my kisser kissed the non-giving tree! I hurt like hell, and I yelped a barbaric yawp of pain that sent my mom into a straight up panic!
In the end, all I needed was a good brushing off and to pick up a tooth that I had bonked out of my stupid skull !
In addition to learning a few things about physics that day, I learned that momma DOES know best. And, if I ever forget it, I still have a scar on my right knee to remind- 46 years later!