how_andru235_was_twenty_plus_years_ago andru235 circa 1985 oooh, a pretty leaf! let's be friends, leaf. what a nice leaf. why did you jump off the tree, hmm? because you wanted me to scrunch you into a ball, and put you up my nose! just kidding, little leafy. i'll put you in my pocket and show you to the other kids later. oooh, a cool shady area under a fallen tree trunk! i'll decorate it with branches, like we used to. wasn't there a branch pile around here? first i'll lay here in the dirt, staring up. all i can see is branches. this is such a meaningful little spot...hey! i'll climb on top! it'll be meaningful in a totally different way up there! yep, sure is. ok, time to find some branches. oooh, better yet! i'll use those strange flat sticks with the florescent pink handles! the ones covered in mysterious runes...whoever tried to hide them didn't do a very good job. they should have buried the pink tips instead of the sharp, triangular edge. people these days...sigh. i love this path, it is so meaningful. i am brimming with meaningful sentiments and it is wonderful. i hope i never have to go to the prison again. the only redeeming part was learning about the letter 's'. it was as invigorating a letter as i remember it being. oooh, a raccoon! but is it the nice raccoon or one of the mean ones? c'mere, raccoon! it's ignoring me...i'll sit down. ...focus on the raccoon...focus on the raccoon...hello raccoon, how nice of you to visit. i'd pet you but you always run away if i do. so i will sit, and enjoy the pleasure of your company while it lasts. please tell the other raccoons that it hurts my feelings when they won't hang out with me. i told some adults that you and i are friends, raccoon, and they said you were rabid and dangerous. right now you are basically ignoring me, other than that you came over once i calmed myself so as to be presentable. i asked the adults why it was no big deal when squirrels hung around with me, and they said that squirrels don't hang around with people, but there are two right there, are there not, raccoon? if i took the leaf out of my pocket i could tickle that squirrel with it, without moving an inch. those silly squirrels...are they playing slow-motion leap frog? is that a deer i hear? hey, don't run away, squirrels! wait, don't run, raccoon! oh, its neighborkid. oh hoorah. i am so excited. neighborkid generates strange sources of meaning that i do not understand. not that i understand the raccoon but the raccoon doesn't push me, nor does it hurl insults. neighborkid is almost as tedious to deal with as the adults. hello, neighborkid. hi. hi neighborkid. whats that look for? i'm glad neighborkid blew me off entirely, but it'll be weeks before the nice raccoon comes again. by then i might have to return to the prison. what did i even do wrong, i wonder? it must have been something from before...but wasn't i imprisoned young the last time, also? who knows. whenever i try and talk about it everyone closes up. they are clearly hiding something. i wonder when i'll encounter the group, maybe they will be in the prisons also. i remember what they look like but i haven't seen them anywhere...did i see them here last time? i can't remember. i asked those adults about them also, and they said not to talk about it, that it was bad to talk about. instead they suggested i talk about someone else, geesys, i think it was. he may have two 's's in his name but otherwise i am not impressed. what should i care? i don't see why i should talk about their clique if they blacklist discussions about mine. the adults at that prison are so stuffy. oooh, a butterfly! why am i worrying about such things, with such a pretty butterfly right there. one of the wardens became upset when i released the show-and-tell butterfly into the room. i wanted to show everyone how much i liked butterflies, and my parental unit who helped me catch it likes them also. the warden said butterflies are not for inside, but the warden was happy enough when the butterfly was inside the jar! besides, the warden didn't mind when neighborkid brought whippersnappers in and threw them all over the place, and they were stinky and smoky! the warden thought it was funny! i'm frowning again. i must never return to the prison nor the adults, or i will get caught in a cycle of frowning. the first step to liberation is to collect those sticks to decorate my forest house. i'll go to the field with the three hills; i saw a *ton* of those sticks back there, all in a nice row. it's as though they were meant for me to bring them back into the forest! here i am...wow, quite a lot. i wonder what the big mounds of dirt are all about, they weren't here last week. more sticks, too, and some of these have florescent orange! AWESOME! i wonder what that wierd truck-thing is doing, sitting over there? i mean, this is practically the middle of the forest, and there are no roads here... where did that pond go? the pond was super full of meaning. on the pond there were those ducks that were so friendly, but i don't see them now. maybe they don't like the dirt pile sitting where the pond was before. and i wonder what happened to those pretty flowers. and the big moss patch. and my friends the cats, the ones that parental unit said were named 'faral'. anyway, oooh, florescent orange-topped wooden sticks with mysterious runes! this one looks like it says something important, and it has a pink plastic ribbon tied to it. better grab this one first. wow, so many sticks. ooof, i can't carry any more. i'll make several trips. back...and forth. great. now i have collected all the sticks from the mysterious dirt area. for now i'll store them under this log so that neighborkid doesn't steal them and put them to malicious use. maybe parental unit will help me build the nice raccoon a little house from the sticks, for when it is winter, when i won't need the sticks to decorate my forest house anymore. i'm sure that if i can avoid prison for several months i'll be safe hiding in the parental unit's basement until it is summer again. ...so hungry...oh, how perfect. there is a big juniper bush right there. now i won't have to waste time going back to the house. this day has been so meaningful, i might pee my pants. the only thing that would be better is if the others were here. in the meantime, maybe the raccoon or the ducks or the squirrels will come back, or as a last resort, neighborkid. on the other hand, these trees are quite enough. i think i'll have some more juniper and take a nap. 050727 what's it to you? who go blather from