Five Minute Friday: Exhale

GO.

I have had two distinct moments of "exhale" today.  Both a little out of the ordinary.  It was a day with lots of rushing and rearranging plans, last minute packing and frenzy.  But on the way to my parents house, where I am currently typing away, the baby and two dogs were all asleep and it was silent.  For a whole 45 minutes.  So I just listened to the quiet.  My husband thinks I'm nuts.  He blares his music in the car turbo loud and I tell him my favorite sound is silence.  Total opposites.  But we're married and it's wonderful.  While listening to the silence on the road, I had a chance to just pray and think.  It's amazing how clear everything sounds in your head when it's silent.

My second exhale is actually right now.  I'm sitting here at my parents house alone on the fourth of July as the baby sleeps and the dogs make muffled barks at the sound of firecrackers in the distance.  I was thinking, I don't remember the last time I've been alone at the house I grew up in.  It feels kind of weird.  My mom just texted me directions on how to turn the TV on and how to find HGTV.  But I think I like the quiet again.

Today, my husband's grandpa passed away while a marching band paraded by the house.  Silence and noise.  On Independence Day.  In a way, I think it's kind of beautiful that he went home today.  Independence…freedom…today Jim is truly free, and no doubt there was a lot of noise and celebration (perhaps even a celestial marching band) as he was welcomed home at last.

STOP.

Five Minute Friday is a weekly one-word writing prompt by Lisa Jo Baker in which you have only five minutes to write whatever pops into your head.

1992 World Cup

Apparently this whole World Cup thing is a big deal.  I watched a little bit of the US v Belgium game yesterday with my hubby, and I even got into it a little bit!  In addition to the downright creative costumes in the crowd, the commentators were an unexpected highlight to me.  In what other US sport do you hear such poetic statements as, "He was plucked from his youth at the age of 16 (i.e. He was recruited early)?"

My youngest brother and sister would be so proud of me for watching.  They're pretty awesome at soccer, but it seems I didn't get those genes.

Flashback....1992, Hillsboro, a small white house on Rountree Street.  A young Ree gets ready for her first soccer practice.  She pulls on her bright orange soccer shirt, cut-off sweatpants shorts, and pulls her hair back in a high-and-tight pony tail.  And there, sitting on her bedroom floor staring back at her mockingly, was her arch nemesis...Shin Guards and his crony Tube Socks.  Mom comes in to check on her.

"Are you ready yet, Ree?"

Tears well up in her eyes and her cheeks flush hot with anger.  "No."
 
"Well you need to hurry up; we're going to be late!"

"I'm not wearing these things! They look stupid! No one else will be wearing them!"

"Put them on and let's go."

Fuming, young Ree straps on her shin guards and pulls her tube socks up over them.  She tries desperately to hold it all together as she silently hops in the back seat of the cream-colored Ford Escort.  As they pull up to the soccer field, Mom gets out of the car.  Ree doesn't.  Instead, she starts crying.

"I won't get out of the car!  I look stupid!"

Exasperated, Mom looks over at Coach Sheila.  Horror of horrors, Coach Sheila has the gall to actually walk up to the car and see what's going on.  Ree stares straight ahead, tears streaming down her face.  After a brief explanation, Coach Sheila tries to rally young Ree.  "But look, everyone else is wearing shin guards too!  It's part of playing soccer!"

Ree held firm, refusing to get out of the car.  Mom and Coach exchange a few brief words, and Ree was driven back to Rountree Street in the backseat of the cream-colored Ford Escort.  World Cup Victory.

At least for a day.

The next day, Ree was dropped off at soccer practice, shin guards and all.  And she played for one whole season, making one glorious goal...for the other team.

Five Minute Friday: Lost

Lost.  I got lost once...well, at least my parents thought I did.  We were on a family day trip to White Oaks Mall in Springfield.  I was just old enough to walk around the mall by myself...sometime in junior high...and my parents said to meet them outside of Sears in an hour.  So I did.  An hour came and went as I sat on the little bench outside Sears.  There were lots of interesting people to watch, especially a lot of mall cops with big flat brimmed hats on.  I was starting to wonder where my family was...they must've got sidetracked looking at the puppies in Pass Pets.

Finally, after a loooong while, I see my family rushing up to me, escorted by one of the mall cops.  My mom was shaking and my dad was mad.  "Is this your daughter?",  he asked my parents.  "Yes."  After a few seconds of very heated questioning, and lots of confusion on my part, it turned out my parents asked me to meet them outside of JC Penney.  The wandering mind of an adolescent girl...  I was probably too busy ogling at all the plastic jackets and chunky shoes when they were telling me where to meet them.

Five Minute Friday is a weekly one-word writing prompt by Lisa Jo Baker; set a timer for five minutes and write whatever pops into your head.

Five Minute Friday: Release

START.

Catch and release.  Fishing…catching lightning bugs.  I love to do both of these things.  Fishing is a peaceful experience if you don’t think about the gross parts. 

I remember running around my grandma and grandpa’s backyard with an old Jiffy jar trying to catch lightning bugs.  My brother and I usually made quite a haul.  Back then, I used to love the part when I could rip off their rear ends and make beautiful glow-in-the-dark jewelry for myself.  Seriously…who thought of that?  “Hey, how about we tear the lower half of this bug off, smear it on our fingers and call it a diamond?”  Usually, though, I think Mom made us let them go.  Probably because she didn’t want to deal with a jar full of dead bugs in the house the next morning; who can blame her?  They’re pretty to look at, flying around in the sky at night.  I feel like I see less and less of them these days, even when I am back at home in the Boro.  Hope they stick around for a while.

STOP.

Five Minute Friday is a weekly one-word writing prompt by Lisa Jo Baker.  You have five minutes to write whatever pops into your head.