Avocado Greens
The Blog
Random Memories of Childhood4/13/2023 Belladonna, also known as deadly nightshade, is an invasive plant species that produces attractive tubular purple flowers and black berries. Just 2-3 berries from this plant can be fatal to an adult. I found this plant growing on the rock retaining wall of my neighbor's hill, only a few feet away from my friend Greip's garden and home. I collected some of the flowers and took them to my mother, who immediately recognized the plant and washed my hands and arms with soap and water (possibly with bleach too). My father informed our neighbors about the plant, and they promptly removed it from the wall.
I was unaware of the plant's deadly nature when I picked its flowers, and only now, while writing this entry, do I realize how close I was to death before even reaching my teenage years. At around age 12, I discovered what a killdeer was when I found a nest with eggs in the fields near my home. I brought an egg home to show my mother, but she made me return it to the nest. That day, I learned how adult birds squawk loudly to distract predators from their nests. I suppose humans are just another threat to them. Once, I collected a dozen snails from the park and put them in a plastic container, which I left open next to my dad's car wheel. As expected, all the snails crawled out and onto the car's tire. My dad was not pleased, and I had to remove them and release them into the nearby field. On Davis Street, I had two friends, Aegir (male) and Hyperion (male), who visited their grandparents' houses during the summer. I don't recall their real names, which is a shame because we always had fun together. Their grandparents lived next door to each other. One house was a three-story Queen Anne Revival style building with a full attic that had regular stairs leading up to it. In the attic, Aegir's grandfather had built an extensive model train landscape that was at least 10 meters by 10 meters in size. Hyperion's grandparents' house was a much smaller yellow-brick cottage with white trim, built in the 1910s style, with a small front porch. I remember watching Hyperion's grandfather play chess with him on the porch, and he tried to teach me too, but I just couldn't seem to grasp the game. Sometimes, Hyperion and I played lawn darts on their front lawn, but our parents thought it was too dangerous for us. So, we threw small plastic paratrooper toys up into the tall maple trees towering overhead. One evening, we decided to play some music really loud on the boombox on the front porch. I think it was the soundtrack to Sesame Street or some other children's show. Hyperion and I laughed and danced crazily up and down their front sidewalk, having the time of our lives until my father showed up from our house half a block away and demanded that we stop. The music was so loud that they could hear it a block away, and my father was not impressed.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply.AuthorI am an average Gen X'er writing about my life experiences and adventures. Archives
July 2023
Categories |