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1000 posts already. I don’t think I ever really expected to reach 1000 posts. I didn’t expect to hang out here that much. But I found so much wit, wisdom, and warmth here that I found myself wanting to part of this community. I won’t name names, because I would surely leave someone out, but just know that I really like you guys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, a lot.
Thinking about approaching my 1000th post got me to thinking about how I ended up here. Not specifically here in this little corner of cyberspace, but how I became the person I am. That, of course, started me thinking about my childhood and about the people and places and events that have influenced me. I haven’t come to any conclusions yet. But looking back, I see that I did not have your normal, everyday childhood. Although it seemed that way at the time…
I am a California native, and grew up in southern California, which probably guaranteed that growing up would not be completely boring. I always, from the time I can remember, believed that growing up there was a special thing, a gift. I imagine a lot of people think that is a pretty bizarre perspective. But I had the best of both worlds. Simi Valley, where I lived until I was almost seventeen, was a lot smaller then, so that I had the experience of growing up in a small-town atmosphere. Yet we were - when we were actually home - within easy driving distance of all the cultural resources of Los Angeles, one of the largest cities in the country. I grew up going to the County Art Museum, the tar pits, the Natural History Museum, Griffith Park Observatory, and the like. And all of our television and radio stations came out of Los Angeles. So, I got all the advantages of living in a small town - not much crime, a sense of community - but I also was able to gain the cosmopolitan outlook of exposure to a major city. I love having that feeling of being connected to the world.
I also got to have the advantage of living in a family that was loving, nurturing, and mostly sane. I got to appreciate that early, considering that a majority of my friends didn’t have that. Being an only child gave my childhood a little different spin, as well. As did the fact that my dad didn’t have what you’d call normal jobs. Until I was about five or six, he had a tree removal service and firewood business. Since he worked for himself, he was home a lot more than a lot of dads. That was a good thing. He was there to nurture my love of reading and learning, which defines a large part of who I am. Then, when I was in kindergarten or first grade, he decided that he needed to find something a little more remunerative, so he took a civil service test and started working as a produce inspector for the State of California. And that was where my childhood got to be not so normal.
As he was only a part-timer, my dad was one of the ones they sent out to different parts of the state, depending where harvests were going on, to work for a month or six weeks at a time. As first, he left Mom and I at home, and came home on weekends. However, we soon started going with him. We’d usually live in a motel with a kitchenette, although we lived in apartments two or three times. If it was during school, I would either go to school wherever we were or I would just take my books along from my school at home and not go to school for four to six weeks at a time. Worked for me. I remember one school, in El Centro, that I only attended for five days. Thank goodness we found a better place to live in Brawley (that was one of the apartments) and moved up there; I couldn’t have taken that teacher for much longer. She hit people with a yardstick, across the back of the legs, when they did something she didn’t like. We lived, at various times, in El Centro, Brawley, Blythe (twice), Firebaugh (twice), and Madera (twice). We also lived a couple of summers with my grandpa near Fresno, and in Glendale, Arizona twice, when he got loaned out to them.
Let me tell you, that experience taught me to be flexible. We never knew ahead of time when he would have to go off somewhere to work. He’d call from the office in Oxnard to say that he was leaving to come home and that we needed to be ready to leave when he got there. It was about a 45 minute drive. And, packing would not consist of just clothes, but pots and pans, any non-perishable food, and whatever else we needed for a month or six weeks. Also, if it was during school, the principal’s office had to be notified that I would be out of school. Ever try finding a school principal at five or five-thirty in the evening? But we always managed, and off we’d be again.
This was not just an occasional thing. A couple of years while I was in elementary school, we were away from home at least half the year all told. And what a learning experience it was. I got to meet new people, see things that none of my friends were able to, and learned the art of three people living in two rooms and a (very small) bathroom. To this day, I feel like I’m home every time I stay in a motel. In fact, if I don’t do so a couple of times a year I start to get homesick. Silly, I guess, but there it is.
Well, I was going to say a couple of other things, but this is way long enough as it is. As I said, I love you guys, and I’m honored to be part of the community.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Isn't it interesting how people who grow up in the same place really don't. The SoCal you grew up in was far more different than a few years or miles can explain. But I also loved growing up here.
Thanks for sharing your unique childhood with us.
Still hoping to meet you IRL sometime soon!
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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What a positive landmark! You seem to find the positive in a childhood where others might find chaos and uncertainty. Good for you, littlemisscool. Weren't you in the LASF society? Could you post a little about that?
10 Points to the first Heinlein fan who can remember which novel Brawley is mentioned in.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Morbo...I'm not a member of LASFA. I probably would be if I lived in southern California now. However, I try to attend LosCon, which they organize, every year that I can. Didn't get to go last year, and the jury is out on whether I'm going to get to go this year.
And as far as the trivia question: I wasn't aware that Heinlein had mentioned Brawley in any of his books. Drat, now that means I'm going to have to go on a Heinlein reading binge to find the reference. Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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(((rivka)))...I'll make it to one of the get-togethers soon, I hope. If these darn gasoline prices will just go down...
(((Morbo)))...Maybe my experiences growing up is why I thrive on chaos.
(((LadyDove))), (((Theca))), (((Damien))), (((Ralphie))), (((everyone else)))...Thank you all for your kind thoughts.
And now...dessert for everyone. They're Jubilee Jumbles, topped with burnt butter frosting, which tastes a whole lot better than it sounds.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I always look forward to your flawless posts, littlemissattitude. I've noticed that they are only rarely edited. You have a gift, indeed!
Thank you for your 1003 posts of wisdom to date, and I, for one, am glad you brought your attitude here.
Posts: 1843 | Registered: Aug 2003
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This is great, LMA! I can't imagine what that must have been like, to move that often on such short notice! Now do you stay in one place these days? Or do you still feel that wanderlust?
Posts: 968 | Registered: Sep 2003
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(((Storm Saxon)))...thanks. I don't think I've ever been one of anyone's favorites before.
(((Ryuko)))...thank you.
(((ana kata)))...It was actually a lot of fun to get up and take off at a moment's notice. It is still my favorite way to travel. Unfortunately, now that I've got pretty bad arthritis in my knees and ankles, I have trouble doing stairs, so I have to make reservations to stay so that I can get ground floor accommodations if the motel doesn't have elevators. I hate not being able to just pick up and go. Last time I did, a few years ago, just decided to go and end up wherever I ended up, I found myself in Cresecent City two days later. Great trip.
I've been living in the same location now since the beginning of 1978. Horrible, horrible. I still have that wanderlust in me, and if I don't get to go somewhere every once in a while, I get really cranky and hard to live with. I think I could be really happy living in a motor home. I don't need that much room (learned that living in motel rooms, too, by the way), and it would definitely be cool to be able to get up and go and take the house along any time I wanted.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I'm a furniture rearranger, myself. But I can relate the the idea that home is not a location so much as a feeling of things being a little different. I loved certain kinds of newness as a kid.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I remember one school, in El Centro, that I only attended for five days. Thank goodness we found a better place to live in Brawley (that was one of the apartments) and moved up there; I couldn’t have taken that teacher for much longer. She hit people with a yardstick, across the back of the legs, when they did something she didn’t like. We lived, at various times, in El Centro, Brawley, Blythe (twice), Firebaugh (twice), and Madera (twice). We also lived a couple of summers with my grandpa near Fresno, and in Glendale, Arizona twice, when he got loaned out to them.
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