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December 05, 2005
Triggered memory
One of the comments on the last entry just brought back on old memory for me.
When I was about ten, we lived in Nebraska. Don't blame me, blame my dad's construction jobs, as I would have preferred coastal cities. My oldest sister Debbie was just learning to drive. It was fun to watch my dad teach her, especially when she locked up the brakes and slammed the dog into the back of the driver's seat. My dad felt so bad about that, and my sister hated hurting animals. Being a teenager, her selfish need to drive outweighed cruelty to animals.
One day, we were all strapped into the Buick Electra that my mom used. Driving with my mother in control of the vehicle was always stressful, but having my mother training my sister was like scream therapy. Lots of screaming, lots of future therapy. Debbie is clutching the steering wheel, the car is only semi-erratic, and mother is only occasionally shrieking, gasping, or tensing. Bonnie and I are just in the back seat, probably reading, but I don't really remember.
Here's the thing- our town had these giant squirrels. I'm sure they weren't that big, but they seemed about cat-sized when I was only ten. Maybe it was my mother shrieking, maybe it was a sense of bold optimism that convinced the giant squirrel to dodge in front of the much more giant Buick Electra.
It was a partially successful dodge. Unfortunately, the unsuccessful part was the head. My sister crushed only the head of the giant squirrel, mushing its little rodent brain into the asphalt. The rest of the squirrel wasn't in on the joke, as it was trying to detach itself from the merged asphalt/head. The legs and tail are still twitching and jumping around, almost like a precursor to the Riverdance phenomena.
Both my younger sister and I are screaming in the back, looking through the rear window at the frantic corpse. My older sister is screaming in the front, in tears, not paying attention to the car, driving, or her mother hitting her from the side. I still remember my mom screaming at her to not stop, just keep driving. I can only imagine what it looked like to pedestrians. I know what it looked like from the inside of the car. I'm chuckling, right now, as I remember it. I guarantee both my sisters will also chuckle. We're pretty sick that way.
We were a fun bunch, my family. I probably should tell the story of when I ran through the cow, now that I'm in the mood.
Posted by G at December 5, 2005 10:32 PM
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Comments
What is it with you and squirrels?
Well, at least it was over fast for him.
Posted by: Jess at December 6, 2005 12:23 PM
Great diary......
I got your site from TMB
Hugs from Louisiana
t
Posted by: tommy at December 6, 2005 03:51 PM
Oooooh....now you've done it. It's one thing to run over one of the little rodents, but it's quite another to gloat about it. You'll be staring in the Tippi Hedren role in your very own Hitchcock movie: "The Squirrels." Not even your nuts will appease them.
Posted by: Alan at December 7, 2005 07:23 AM
I am laughing. I am sick that way.
Posted by: Bonnie at December 15, 2005 07:22 PM