Earliest Memory...I mean memories........

I was reading a story posted by a colleague, where she recalled her earliest childhood memory. I thought I would try to do the same...but I can bet there will be inaccuracies.....but hey, its my memory, what can I say?

I remember riding a train...yes, a train on train tracks...a choo-choo.... with Mom and Billy, and baby Beth in what was then the earlier edition of today's "pack and play". It was red tartan plaid...red with yellow and green lines. I don't recall where we were going or how old I was...but the train and the 'playpen' somehow stick in my mind.

I remember living in a duplex (of course I didn't know it was a duplex at the time) with a wooden door and a diamond-shaped window in the middle of it...looking outside and across the street to the little white house with a carport where we moved. Hardwood floors, linoleum, and a dinette set with vinyl seats...white with black flecks I think...and of course, the ever present high chair...with adjustable metal tray. I wonder how many of 6 went thru that highchair? I also remember pink sears-sucker shorts and top...and I think Beth matched mine in yellow...or maybe it was the other way around.

I remember Grandma & Grandpa's "rock house"...on a crowded little street...where we collected hail in plastic banana split trays one afternoon....wonder if they came from a 'dairy queen'? The porch was a cool place to play.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Bouten...Mom's grandparents...lived in another town somewhere in Missouri I think...I remember the black and pink tiled bathroom and the sweet smell of pink soap - which turned out to be dove as I recall. I remember riding with Great Grandpa in what was a "HUGE" black car (from a toddler's point of view of course)...and also picking up 'helicopters' from the ground...seeds from a tree with what looked like a blade-like leaf attached - that swirled around and around when you threw it in the air. Maybe from Mimosa trees?? Ooh...and acorns.... and digging in the dirt with a big metal spoon from the kitchen...and yes, eating dirt. I actually can remember eating dirt...or was it sand...and feeling it in the back of my throat. I also have a memory of playing on a wooden cover for a water pump, sort of like a flat with slats nailed together...and squishing spiders with bare feet....not quite sure of where that happened, but there were lots of kids around, at least brothers and sisters. Eating honeysuckle...and catching fireflies. Funny what is remembered, huh?