Playa de Isla Verde

Playa de Isla Verde
Originally uploaded by Markus Masataka.

Letter to Brenden Month 6

Sorry, B; I'm a wee bit late with this letter. Blame your father. He bought me Civilization IV, 4th in a series of Sid Meier games that have helped me waste more time than anything else in existence. Yes, I'm including television.

So what shall I talk about this month? Well, at your 6 month check-up you weighed 18 1/2 pounds - I think you would have weighed more if it wasn't for that stomach virus you got at Thanksgiving. You took your immunization shots well even though you were a little cranky during the rest of the day. The doc told me you shouldn't eat at night any more - to feed you water instead and to make sure I brush your one little tooth.

So now I gotta start ignoring you at night so you can learn to 'self soothe'. Oy! Easier said than done.

Instead of reiterating all the things you have done in the past month (the neatest of which is your desire to play peek-a-boo constantly) I'll regale you with boring moments from my own childhood.

I have few memories of before Puerto Rico - I can't remember much of Missouri at all. So few I wonder if they are memories. But then again we moved to P.R. when I was three years old. My first memory from there was my mom teaching me to say 'buenas noches'. We were in a hotel, I think.

I have said before in my blog: my memory is not linear so forgive me if I jump around.

We first lived in a small place in Rio Piedras. I remember I buried a model airplane somewhere and I was never able to find it again. I still have dreams about searching for it. How's that for messed up? We lived somewhere else after that. Parkville? Park Place? Or was that the name of the school? I recall going to Kindergarten a while there. I remember an easter egg hunt at that school and finding a candy necklace. I also remember reading ahead in a 'See Spot Run' book despite our teacher telling us not to. I remember an argument some boys had about whether playing with a girl made you a 'sissy' or a 'tomboy'. (Fact: I was a tomboy, but my boy friends were *not* sissies!)

Most of what I remember is from when we lived in Isla Verde, in an apartment building along the beach (creatively titled Beach Tower). This area was high tourist. The apartment building was 'L' shaped, with one side of the building paralelling the ocean. We lived on the 10th floor facing the ocean. If you walked along the beach you would eventually walk past big hotels. If you walked in the other direction, however, the first thing you would run into was a walled cemetary. I loved playing on the rocks near the ocean near the beginning of the wall. During winter time when the seas were rougher more of the rocks would appear. By summer the sand would have covered them up again. I remember being totally fascinated by this phenomenon. Near the apartment building was a big tree that I climbed once but got stuck. I think my dad got me down. I eventually got the hang of climbing and I got particularly adept at climbing palm trees.

I remember a swimming pool shaped like a tennis raquet. Where was this? I think it was some sort of country club type deal but I don't remember much else. I remember a gift shop there and walking around in it with a wet swimsuit on. WTF? Is that a random memory or what?

I remember several movie theaters - most movies were in English with Spanish subtitles. Many T.V. shows were dubbed in spanish but some, particularly those shown in prime time, had a simulcast over FM radio of the english soundtrack. I recall this huge theater with a balcony section where I saw such great movies as Dirty Harry and Jaws. I think it was the same theater. I also remember seeing Midway, Blazing Saddles, Two Minute Warning, and Earthquake (in Sensurround!). Astute movie geeks will note that quite a few of those movies listed had Chuck Heston in them. I was totally bummed when he bit it at the end of Earthquake.

I went to grade school at a private English School (San Juan School By the Sea, and yes, it was by the sea). I think I went to Kindegarten there, too. We stayed there until we moved back to the states when I was 13 (in 1977). I hate the fact that I resisted learning Spanish. What was I thinking? Knowing two languages is a valuable skill. Considering how many Spanish speaking people live in the U.S. that skill would be twice as valuable.

But I digress: near the end there I never went out to play; I just stayed indoors and read and watched T.V. The apartment building put a fence between the building and the ocean, and paved a lot of the area in between. This will probably happen to you too, Brenden: you will look back at parts of your childhood and wonder why the hell you didn't appreciate what you had when you had it because eventually you will lose it.

I'll wrap it up here. This random sampling of memories doesn't even come close to describing that time in my life. I'm sure I'll eventually bore you with more.

Oh, crap. I'm such a non-reflective person that when I start digging at memories I get surprised when they flood in on me.