I don't how many of you remember but I did rambled on about my childhood in one of my recent posts. I, however, do remember Leopardcc asking me to blog about it more. That was last Friday. I admit I was not inspired to blog about childhood (and yes every time I blog I have to be inspired, it's the way I work) on the Saturday that I said I would do, but leave it to blogging (and gushing) about a Sartorialist photo today to inspire me to blog about my childhood. I also think it helped that the photo was taken in Asia, my birth continent.

I was born in Asia and lived there for several years before settling to America with my family. I lived in the rural parts of the country or as the city folks like to call it, "the province." I lived in my grandparents' large house along with my family and other relatives (a very common thing to see or hear in most Asian cultures).

The house was wonderfully located between two ponds. Now what I loved about this was that the two ponds were used for rice paddies. When scorching summer arrives and dries up the ponds, the locals would gather the rice up. The ponds then would become these two empty land that my cousins and I would run around joyously. I remember always feeling happy that I was running around these empty, dried up lands because of the thought of it having been filled with water makes it sound so magical in my head when I was little.

I especially love the cool mornings we get everyday. We lived very far from the city, but we had abundant resources of trees, plants, bushes, weeds, flowers, fruits and water, and the morning air never smelt or felt anything but fresh and sweet each day. I remember the goosebumps I get each morning because the night before would be so humid and hot that I would only wear shorts and shirts to bed. The cool morning air always surprised me.

We took cared of pigs just like a lot of families in "the province." They weren't actually our pets but more like food to be roasted in the future, and you know what else? My uncles and their friends were never to shy to butcher and roast the pig out in the backyard. So in other words yes I have seen pigs get butchered before more than once actually. I'm only adding this because it's one of the most vivid childhood memories I have. I know what you are thinking, "OMG how can you kill an animal!?" But simmer "the-animal-rights-activist-in-you" down and remember that not all countries have the similar resources of food as other first-world countries. If killing a pig is what it takes for more than one family to be fed, than kill a pig. The kind of people I dislike are the ones who are ignorant and elitist but that's a whole different story right there. lol.

Okay now back to my childhood (lol)....To give you a sense of what my little "province" looks like here is a photo that someone else (no relations) has taken who has visited the town next to my town but really there is no difference:
Photo from www.pbase.com/tekgik/......

We lived right next to a very long, deep river. I mean the minute you walk outside our gate, the river is right THERE, in front of you. The river always scared me when I was little, but I think a lot of it has to do with the nightmares I had about it. Believe me when I say most of nightmares involved that river and being captured by mermaids of that same river.

And when monsoon seasons arrive the river just looks like a deadly monster. I hated riding the boats across that river in monsoon seasons, but I had no choice. The boats were the only transportation for the locals to take if they wanted to go to the other side of the town that had the church, the schools, buses to take for the city, the fish market, the clinic and many more.

Here is a photo (that I didn't take) of what some of the boats looks like:
Photos from www.pbase.com/tekgik/....

I also happened to experience the aftermath of a volcano eruption, which is something I find strangely cool, but I think it's because how many people can say that in America. So what is it like? Well it was dreary and dark. The sun didn't shine for a while due to the clouds and ashes in the sky. That long, deep river became more horrendous. The color of the water turned to this color you get when you put cream/milk in your coffee and you stir it around for a while. THAT'S the color you get. It was always windy and cold. The power lines were located near the huge trees, and it always frightened me that the wind would knock down one of the trees onto the power lines, resulting it to a blackout. When it rained, it rained with pebbles and ashes. At the end of the day your scalp was always filled with pebbles. I actually enjoyed shaking my head so to see pebbles fall down my scalp.

As for what my cousins and I did to keep ourselves preoccupied, well we used what nature has to offer to us as our playthings. For example we had this huge pine tree (yes in Asia, a pine tree, but there was one I swear) and we would use the "leaves" if that's what you call them for our "noodles". Our parents would throw away can lids and we would secretly search through the garbage to get them so we can use them as "knives" to chop up petals, leaves and fruits we had gathered. We would grab the empty rice sacks so we could use them as our roofs for the little house we have made outside.

We would climb up the trees in our backyard when we played "tag." One game we played was one of my cousins would be the "monster" and he/she would climb up the tree as we, the "humans" would climb up the highest part so not to get "eaten." Now to think about it, it's a very dangerous game--climbing up a tree when you are scarred. lol.

In addition we would gather banana tree leaves and sticks. We would tie the leaves around the edge of the sticks with rubber-bands and use them for our "children." We would cut notebook papers for our "play money." When the tide is low in the morning down the river, we would climb down and dig through the mud as the boats passes by. We would use the mud to craft out bowls, pots or anything. We would then lay them down the porch to harden them up. Did I also mention we had a coconut tree and a papaya tree in our backyard?

Finally to end my little story, I especially enjoyed the time around 5 p.m. because that's when my cousins and I would gather in front of the television to watch Asian animes ("Voltex V", anyone remember? and "Transformer").

And that's it ladies. That's my lovely childhood. Also I wonder if you can guess where I was born?