F is for Favorite Childhood Things

Favorite candy: Pop Rocks and Pixi Stix. My sister Andrea was always the most enterprising of the girls. I remember when Pop Rocks came on the market; she
would buy them for 10 cents each and sell them for a quarter because kids wanted them so badly. She capitalized on the principle of supply-and-demand at the tender age of seven.








Favorite Color: purple

Favorite room: At our farmhouse in Dublin, Maryland. I had a purple, crushed velvet bedspread. The only thing that spoiled it was a part near the pillow area where the cat had peed. That 12-inch round spot remained permanently crusty.

Now that I've whetted (wetted?) your appetite, let me tell you about my...
Favorite food as a kid. Grilled cheese and tomato soup that my mom fixed every Sunday after church at Alden.



Favorite pet: Brandy, our horse. She was a chestnut Morgan-Thoroughbred, technically a pony at 14.2 hands, who loved to run but hated to jump. Picture that love/hate relationship with a rider (me) on her back, approaching the jump at 462 mph. The thrill for both of us stopped when she did. Typically that was 18 inches in front of the jump. But truly, I loved her. Trust me.

Favorite vacation: We didn't take many, but I loved our trip to Colorado except for the camping. My parents didn't have experience with tents and such, but I remember the best part was breakfast. My mom bought those miniature cereal boxes --the kind that come in an 8-pack or 12-pack and are high in sugar. I still remember reaching for a dwarf-sized box of Sugar Pops (as they were called before Kellogg's changed it to Corn Pops) , and Frosted Flakes the next. We never got sugary cereals at home unless we put sugar on our Shredded Wheat. (You know, because everyone needs some sweet sandpaper to cleanse their palettes and colons from time to time.) In Colorado, we went horseback riding through Estes Park and my little sister Andrea pretended we were "real live cowgirls." We were higher than the Rockies on Sugar Pops, so high we probably could've ridden to Oregon without refueling.

Favorite toy: Lincoln Logs

Favorite celebrity: Olympic ice skater Peggy Fleming held regal status in my mind. I watched her on TV, read books about her, and pretended to be her as I skated around the linoleum kitchen floor in socks. I remember one day a boy at school asked me the riddle, "What's green and skates?...Peggy Phlegm." If it wasn't so funny, I might've smacked him.

Favorite fast food joint: I'm old enough to remember the first fast food restaurant I ever went to, which was fairly new: Wendy's. She looked like Pippi Longstocking. But fast food was a rare treat until we moved to Maryland. Then my dad started taking the family after church to lunch at Hardee's so that Mama wouldn't have to cook. One time we went with friends. The kids sat at one booth,the adults behind them at another. Well, the friends had two teenage boys, Kevin and Michael, who sat across from each other and thought it would be fun to squirt each other with ketchup packets. It would have been funnier--or maybe it was funnier because--Kevin missed. Phyoop! Deep red Heinz ketchup hit my mom instead--right in the bosom on her pale pink dress.

Favorite subject: penmanship

Favorite song:" Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" and "Fairest Lord Jesus." If you find the connection, do tell.

Favorite gifts: 1) a musical jewelry box with a ballerina wearing a pink tutu. 2) a multi-colored overnight bag and 3) vinyl rainbow-strap sandals with one-inch heels. I think the heels landed me the part of Amaryllis in "The Music Man." I actually looked more like Shirley Temple on the good ship Lollipop, what with my chubby cheeks and brunette ringlets.


How about you? Remember some favorite things from your childhood?