The Pond???

Today i spent the day with my extended family and wrote a literary masterpiece ;). My step grandma LaRee is taking an English class at BSU and she has an assignment to write a paper. She decided that she wanted to write about the pond that my Grandpa owns, now refered to as Weber pond (it was never called that when i was growing up, it was just called the pond). LaRee decided though that it would be so great to get all the kids and grandkids to write their memories of the pond for her to include in her paper, or to comprise her paper. So i was asked to write my memories of the pond....uh....hm....if you know me, you can imagine that as a little girl i wasn't dying to spend all of my time at the pond. Honestly, the only times i went to the pond were when we went on motorcycle rides with my dad and uncles and then we threw rocks in the pond and rode back home. not an exciting story, so i chose a memory that is related to the pond. i'm not sure that's what LaRee had in mind but it's what she got. here's the story i came up with- it's kind of ridiculous but i am proud of it regardless. I don't really know what to call it, so here it is

When I was a little girl, my dreams were painted shades of Disney technicolor as most little girls' dreams are. I loved Cinderella and her glass slippers, Sleeping Beauty and her beautiful dresses and Snow White and her fairy tale ending. I knew that I could also be princess enough to have a fairy godmother, a pumpkin carriage and a prince charming to sweep me off my feet. But when I went to my grandma's house, my dreams took on a different light; dreams now filled with magic umbrellas, spoons full of sugary goodness, words too difficult for normal mouths and chimney sweeps that made me believe that rooftops were the most glamorous ballroom ever. My thoughts soared to flying kites and magical street painting portals to other worlds. I forgot those tiaras and lovely princess gowns because if i owned a carpet bag of undefinable dimensions, I could have all of that finery and more. That magical world, housed in one video cassette tape, held more magic to me than any other world could. When I spent time at Grandma's house, I was consumed by that world, an obsession that required the tv and vcr to be solely mine for hours during my visits. A mixture of obsession, charm and stubbornness guaranteed to me a monopoly on that tv, an occurence which my uncle and brother looked on with great disdain. That tv was also their portal to worlds of miniature Italian super heros on secret missions and dangerous hunts for flocks of fowl in Nintendo land. They did not appreciate my fantasies standing in their way. A plan was hatched and a plot was formed for the overthrow of my world. In order to take control, the demise of my video was paramount. In the minds of those boys, they could not merely rid me of access to that video, it needed to be destroyed, decimated from existence. Their plan involved one thing- the pond! Their plan- drop my video into the endless depths of pond water until it was lost forever. Those two took such painstaking efforts to enact a plan, draft a diagram and plan the day and time of the fateful takeover. Although meant to be secretive, a lapse in judgment ruined the secret. Their one mistake was pride in their plan, which led them to brag of their genius, revealing to me their diabolical plan. Telling a girl you wish to take away her favorite thing, regardless of what it is, is an invitiation to war. But to my benefit, the best weapon in their arsenal- brute force. The best weapon in my arsenal- eye fluttering and lip pouting; a girl's best weapons. If there was something to be done to save my world, in addition to my own power, I would need to enlist an ally. And who would strike fear into the hearts of my barbaric uncle and vicious brother better than my grandma. Once I discharged my weapons, my grandma had no choice but to support my cause. With haste, she attacked those boys with an onslaught of conscience and good sense before they had a chance to get anywhere near that precious treasure of mine. My fantasy world was saved by my champion. I had come off victor over my uncle, my brother and the pond that threatened to steal my video. I would forever be free to take carousel rides across the countryside, fly kites up to the highest heights and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to my heart's content.

Today that movie is a symbol of my childhood, the moments in my life when anything I dreamed came true. That video connects me to a woman that shaped my life. That pond today reminds me of the war I won over my brother and uncle and the joy I feel that my fairy tale dreams are warm and safe and dry, instead of at the bottom of Weber pond.

that's it! kind of crazy and kooky, probably slightly dramatic and hardly anything to do with the pond, but i had a blast writing it! those are my memories of the pond! and good ones at that!