Ingrained

Ingrained

sing
a song
a tune filled
with gratitude
for a life well lived
through all seasons of change
the bite of cold winter snow
frost crackling the windowpanes
bounding down the steps Christmas morning
blood pumping, sight of glowing tree and gifts
lazy summer days reading on front porch
picking dandelions in back yard
fingernails stained shades of yellow
eating ice cream in alleys
catching fireflies at dusk
childhood memories
ingrained in heart
until the
end of
time

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2024
September 14, 2024

Happy Saturday! It’s been a busy week with the final September 16 business tax deadline, plus I’m recovering from a sudden bout of bronchitis. Not fun — I’ve been fatigued, wheezing and coughing all week. 😦

The title of this poem has significant meaning for me – the definition of ingrained is “deeply rooted; firmly fixed or held.” It was inspired by the picture of the week – dandelions were a huge part of my childhood, and in fact, they are deeply rooted. At one time, they were my favorite “flower.” I have such vivid memories of my sister Barb and I picking the dandelions and blowing the puffy seeds (inadvertently germinating the entire yard). Our next-door neighbor “Grandpoppy” was a kind old soul, and he told us we could pick as many as we wanted from his backyard. So we excitedly hauled our wagon over to his yard, literally picked and picked them until the bottom of the wagon was full, our fingers ached and our nails were indeed stained yellow. Mom tried to tell us they were weeds, but we refused to believe it. 😛

My sister Barb, cousin Joanna, younger brothers (Doug and Mark) and I also wandered the neighborhood streets and alleys day and night (hey, it was the 70’s and a different time for sure), walked to the local ice cream shop and ate the ice cream cones on the walk back, often melting all over our clothes. We terrorized our younger brothers, played kickball and wiffle ball in our gravel driveway, rode bikes with a baseball card attached to the spokes with a clothespin, played hide and seek, tag, Simon Says, Freeze, kick the can, dodgeball, you name it. We had a dilapidated playhouse where we made “dinner” with dandelions and Rose of Sharon blooms, maple leaves and grass; we also always got chased by wasps that made their nests in there. We picked Japanese beetles off the roses for Mom and caught lightning bugs in glass jars. Even if it rained, we would either play in the cool basement or underneath the back porch, setting up cities, drawing roads with chalk for Matchbox cars, flinging mudpies on the ceiling (that one got us in big trouble), and even made our own dollhouses out of boxes, leftover paint and scraps of fabric. We played school, had play performances for the neighbors, re-enacted TV series like Batman, Dark Shadows, The Monkees, Star Trek (setting up our chalkboard as the USS Enterprise screen, drew chalk stars and planets) and even epic movies like To Kill a Mockingbird and Wizard of Oz. Side note: we always made our brothers be the villains, haha! We were creative and always brimming with energy! 😀

Growing up in a large family, we didn’t have much as far as belongings or extras…we had the basics in life. I mean, hell, we didn’t even have a shower in our childhood home on Guilford Avenue! No kidding, a family of 7 living in a small 3-bedroom duplex, no AC, siblings sharing beds, the entire family sharing one tiny bathroom with no shower (meaning baths only – yikes!!)?? I’d tell my kids of these things, and they were flabbergasted at the horror — how did we do it, how did we survive without showers, AC, cell phones or internet? We just did, we were grateful to have each other, and it has made me appreciate the blessings I have had throughout my life! As I reflect on my past today, I find myself listening to the music that was the soundtrack of my childhood, flooded with joy and gratitude. These precious memories are ingrained in my memory and in my heart forever. ❤

Xoxo,
Colleen

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 11.16 – Dandelion Salad
Hard Bonus: Reference the place you had your first kiss (alley – hey, it was the 70s LOL)
Easy Bonus: Sing a song