Last week we took a few days off from work for a mini stay-cation. The temperatures rose to the mid-90s. The air was hot and thick. The days were bright, sunny and long. We had no agenda or schedule to follow. Each day we woke up and decided what, if anything, we were going to do. We were spontaneous, on the go, productive — cleaned out the basement, the garage, did yard work — and sometimes we were just lazy. We went with the flow.
It reminded me of the long summer days of childhood when hours stretched into one another and we squeezed as much as we could into each day. My brother and I spent our time bike riding, playing wiffle ball with our friends, chasing after the ice cream truck as it passed by our house, reading comic books, and on one day discovering a new archery set in our basement.
It appeared without explanation. We didn’t care how it ended up there, only that it did. There was a real bow, a bunch of arrows and a huge target. We set it up in our backyard, ran to the other side, pulled back the bow and let the arrow fly. I don’t know how often we hit the target or how long we even used it before we got tired of aiming at the big circle in the center. Eventually, we decided to aim for a spot on a tree trunk or the window of our tree house.
We pretended we were on the hunt, we walked through our backyard with bow in hand and took turns. We never shot at any animals, though. When we got bored with that, we decided to see how far we could shoot the arrows. My brother let the tip of the arrow rest on his left index finger as he pulled the bow back as far as he could with his right hand. He closed one eye and lifted the bow up to the sky to generate the greatest height and distance. He took in a deep breath then let the arrow go … swoosh … it went up, higher and higher and further away.
We waited. We watched. But it never came down.
We stared at each other at a loss for words. We couldn’t imagine how far the arrow could have gone! Or rather, we could only imagine where the arrow might have ended up or how far it flew. And we let our imaginations go wherever they would take us, because when we ran up the grassy hill in our back yard to where we thought the arrow should have landed, it wasn’t there. We looked at the trees above but it wasn’t up in the branches. Nope, we hadn’t just missed it — it never came down. We made up stories about the far-away person that would come across it, we put the archery set away and eventually forgot about the arrow that never came down.
The long hot days of summer gave way to back to school shopping and cooler nights, warmer clothes, darker mornings and the busyness of school, homework, basketball practice or volleyball games. Soon it was Thanksgiving, then Christmas break and New Year’s. Winter came and covered our yard with a thick downey blanket of snow and that once grassy hill became our private sledding hill.
We bundled up in puffy coats, knitted hats, scarves and gloves and trudged up the hill to ride down on our plastic sleds. We ran up and sledded down, over and over again not wanting to stop even though our noses ran and I couldn’t feel my fingers. But on one trip up the hill, the wind picked up. My brother was taking his last ride. He pushed off on his sled, there was a gust of wind and … swoosh … the arrow landed on his lap.
We were stunned! We cheered and laughed. Of course, there was only one explanation for how this! My brother obviously shot the arrow so high in the summer that if must have reached it’s peak sometime around October and it finally landed right on his lap in January.
At least that’s the theory we went with for a while. Of course, we eventually accepted reality … it probably got stuck in the lush tree branches of summer and the bare limbs dancing in the winter wind finally released it.
Today, the temperatures have dropped – it’s cool and rainy. The sun is hiding behind a thick layer of clouds. We’re back to work and back to reality. But it was nice to have that break and be reminded of what the long hazy days of summer are all about!
Carrie Rubin said:
What a wonderful story! Too bad that as we get older, we don’t let ourselves believe what your brother and you believed about the arrow. Instead, our pragmatic sides take over and we accept reality. I suppose that’s why we love writing fiction. 🙂
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Arlene said:
Absolutely Carrie! It’s fun to experience the moments every now and then, to suspend our “adult” perspective and remember to see with new eyes … how children see the world.
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Naomi Baltuck said:
What a wonderful story, and beautifully told! You really captured the day to day moments of childhood, but the wonder of it as well.
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Arlene said:
Naoimi, thanks for your kind words! I hope to capture a few more of those good “stories” from childhood and use this blog to practice telling them. Even I’m interested to see which one I’ll tell next 🙂
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char said:
Your stay-cation picture looks very beautiful. Loved your memories. Childhood is the best–the imagination of a child is priceless.
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Arlene said:
Thanks Char. We really did enjoy visiting new places in CT that we hadn’t been to before. We relished in each moment instead of letting the “what do I need to do next” part of our minds be in charge. It felt great when the question popped into my head and my response was, “absolutely nothing!” 🙂
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Kourtney Heintz said:
It’s funny what kids can imagine. So much better than the mundane adult explanation of what happened to the arrow. Glad you had a good staycation. 🙂
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Arlene said:
Absolutely Kourtney. And sometimes I still come up with those explanations and I get weird side-ways looks that remind me to use my adult brain 😉
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jmmcdowell said:
Ah, our youthful imaginations—they knew no bounds! But I like to think writers and other creative types manage to hold on to more of them than others do. 🙂 We’re hoping for some short stay-cations this summer, but I’m not sure the work load is willing to cooperate…. 😦
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Arlene said:
I can only hope I’ve managed to hold onto some of that imagination, JM. At least, I’m trying to stir it up and tap into it again. As you know with your ‘A day in the life of me’ series, walking down memory lane and sharing in story form can be good writing practice.
Hope work begins to cooperate so you can enjoy the rest of summer 🙂
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Denise Hisey said:
I love this story!! How fun!
And I reminisced right with you all the seasons as a child 😉
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Arlene said:
Thanks Denise. It was fun to think through childhood memories and pick one to share. I’ll probably share more here and then, just for practice. Hope you enjoy reding as much as I do writing them! 🙂
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Denise Hisey said:
I’ll look forward to more, Arlene.
I definitely enjoy reading that sort of thing 🙂
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PLUGOartsPLUGO said:
Awesome! I miss shooting arrows, There’s an Archery range up in the hills of Oakland California, but I never seem to have the time to give it a . . . eh shot.
I remember the moment the arrow landed, point down in the snow as I rode past the knobby tree that marked the hill’s halfway point. If it actually landed in my lap it would have probably hurt.
We sometimes had a tire swing on that tree, other times a conventional one. I remember how we would practice jumping from the swing’s apex as the hill receded below us. I still dream to that magical and mysterious hill, with its wreaked convertible at the top just beyond our yard’s property line. I wonder if the small trees which grew through the floorboards continued to grow.
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Arlene said:
I may have taken ‘creative liberty’ with where the arrow landed 😉 I forgot about the tire swing but I remember the spooky car. We should go back and walk those woods just to see how it all looks now. Xo
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Sheri de Grom said:
Memories are precious gifts from yesterday.
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Arlene said:
So true. And as I get older they are becoming more precious – I am appreciating them more. Thanks for stopping by.
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Inion N. Mathair said:
So descriptive, Arlene. We felt as though we were there with you, experiencing your childhood. It’s moments like that we remember and think on that help us get through the stress and cynicism that adulthood brings on. One of your best posts yet!
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Main Street Musings Blog said:
Sounds like story telling was part of your life even back then! I’ve taken a half-day staycation today. It allowed me to catch up on some blogs!
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Inion N. Mathair said:
What a beautiful story. And the entire time I was reading it, I was saying. That would make an unbelievably cute children’s book! Expand on the places the arrow went, and voila, picture perfect for kids. Loved this and will be sharing sweety!
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Kourtney Heintz said:
Aw I love the magic of discovering the bow and arrow. I wonder where that arrow went–another short story in the making?
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