Today’s prompt is “What was your favorite toy as a child?”

I have few, fragmented memories from childhood. What I remember is mostly playing in the woods and on the beach.

To lend perspective here is where we lived:

Arrow in above picture points to my location in this photo:

I was a wild child, perhaps even a bit feral. We moved to the beach when I was about two and a half. Baby sister, Jan, was born about a year later.

One, very random, memory I do have from around this time is about a garter snake. We called it “Rosy”. I hate snakes, but I remember liking Rosy because she ate slugs. She (?) disappeared when they brought in a bulldozer and put the creek into a culvert and built the bulkhead. I think I was about five when they did that.

Living in a remote location with an infant was more than Mom could cope with. Dad was always busy: working and building the house. So I was left to my own devices so long as I kept a low profile.

I guess it isn’t hard to understand why I have the social anxiety disorder I mentioned in my last post!

We had toys. I know we did. The pictures that exist mostly show me with dolls, but I don’t actually remember playing with them. I remember our pets and playing “camperation” in the woods, I remember low tides, running on the sandbar and exploring the beach, and reading, reading, reading. I remember eating bologna sandwiches sitting on the big rock in our yard.

The only actual toy memory I have is of playing with tinker toys with Dad when I was seven or eight. I probably only remember it because it was a rare occurrence. I liked tinker toys well enough, but don’t recall any particular passion for them.

Isn’t it strange what sticks with you?

Note: All of the photos are scanned from sn old box of slides that dad had in his basement; the quality is somewhat lacking.