In front of the old house the tree used to stand. Now, it was just the remains. But the remains still stood.
It was just an old tree stump. Oddly placed in front of the house. But when I added my imagination it became a portal to the heavens.
Upon it, I climbed, and stood.
I looked left. I looked right. To my left was the lane leading to the main road a quarter of a mile away. It seemed like a very long road at the time. To my right was a field that led to “the water”. But I couldn’t see the water. I could only see a pathway through the fields.
I stood upon my portal and I sang. Loudly. “When the saints come marching in”.
I looked to my right. I belted out “oh when the saints come marching in”.
My imagination calling upon-and demanding-that the troops of saints come marching in.
I stared down that field.
Nothing.
I sang again. Louder. The sky hung low and grey. The air was soft and cool. Dry. Even though I was outside I felt like was enclosed within the lowered sky and the colors of the world closing down for fall.
I stared down the field. Fully expecting the saints to come marching in. Up to me. In a glorious chorus.
Nothing.
I belted out the first few lines.
Loudly.
Again.
Again.
Staring down the field. Believing I could summon them.
There was nothing to deter me. I had to have faith. And patience. I believed.
My singing was powerful. It felt good. And loud. If I waited. And if I sang. I would see them. How could they refuse this child who sang. And believed. And beckoned them.
I sang again.
I could do this all day.
Until my brother came out and told me to shut up. Dad was trying to take a nap.
I jumped off of the portal. And it returned to being just a tree stump. On a dark and cool fall day.
I am pretty sure I was just beginning to see halos flashing through from the edges of the fields.
Now we will never know.
This is the very tree that one day long after this picture was taken, turned in to a tree stump, turned in to my portal, and returned to being just a tree stump.
What a great story, Colleen. Love that you have the photo of the original tree. Now I think you need to do one of your little drawings of you standing on that stump!
Love the anticlimactic ending!
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
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OH MY GOSH! I do need to do that. 🙂 And aren’t brothers good for that? 😉
Hugs returned!
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Ok now I can get “deep and wide” out of my head and replace it with “when the saints come marching in”. For those who didn’t get the “deep and wide” reference, you need to read Kathryn’s blog.
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Don’t spoil it for me! I haven’t read it yet! On my way!
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Love it. Love the photo. This one’s for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyLjbMBpGDA (sorry about the short commercial, don’t know how to delete it) xoxo
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I LOVE LOUIS ARMSTRONG! Thank you Paulette! 🙂
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Oh the imagination of a child!
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🙂 so magical and life saving!
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that it is!
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What a child you must have been. Such determination, patience and faith. Darn brothers and life interfering. Heartwarming story, that’s what this is. I smile and think back to childhood days. 😀
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🙂 Brothers can do that, along with life. I hope to see one of your memories! Any singing ones?
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I used to sing all the time as I was an only child for five years only. 🙂
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For five years? My oldest brother complains he was a prince for 18 months before my twin brothers arrived, and then the rest of us. He had EIGHTEEN months of being the only, none of the rest of us had that. 🙂 Sorry, my head just went there after laughing because it reminded me of that.
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I had no idea how heavenly being an ‘only’ child was until four more babies arrived about every 18 months—all girls—soon afterwards.. 😉
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What a wonderful, wonderful story and memory… Why is it, do you think, you remember this so vividly? Your mind is incredibly…untethered. That’s the only word that seems to fit…
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ps Loved the photo…
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Thank you Koji, on both counts. I don’t know why I remember this one so clearly. I don’t feel like I have a lot of vivid memories from childhood. But I can still see the vision of looking down that field. And feeling alone and powerful within the world. And then my brother comes out and tells me to shut up. Eh. But I remember the singing and believing they were coming!
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Reblogged this on Masako and Spam Musubi and commented:
What a wonderful, wonderful story and memory from childhood…
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Thank you on THREE counts! 🙂
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A response from my Uncle:
“Colleen,
…..and the 1936 Pontiac in the photo was the car that “Papa” taught me to drive. We started from Columbus to New Lex and he suddenly stopped the car, got out, and told me to drive! My driving at that point had been restricted to our driveway. I believe he pretended his somewhat serene composure but we made it, almost without incident.
The car ultimately became ours and your dad and I drove it often. When it became an embarrassment and not truly roadworthy we gave it to Fr. Dermody to use in clearing land and outbuildings for his new parish of St. Matthias on Karl Rd.
I remember the car as actually being made of metal heavier than army vehicles I drove later in life and most likely the safest car in existence .
Oh yes, I remember the tree also.
OUT”
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having Pillsbury Dough Boy counter whacking flashbacks again…
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Hmmmmm….so you had a PDB doll you whacked on a counter? Or you had the containers you had to whack on the counter to get them open for the flaky rolls to bake????
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the containers that you had to whack upon the counter so that the real live dough boy would suddenly pop out and be standing in your kitchen (some of us are so very literal, sigh)
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Okay, so you used to whack those containers so the rolls would pop out. Got it. But why the flashbacks? Did you think the Dough Boy would pop out?? Did you believe this ???? And if so, I LOVE IT.
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Yes…I did. It was one of the few good things I recall about the person named my mother. She stood there whacking and whacking, trying to make the commercial and the magic be real. (ok she might have been yelling at me trying to show me that it was NOT real, ASDs rule!) 😀
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🙂 I like your twist on this. And that hopefully he would truly pop out!
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Great story. It is so easy to picture you standing on top of that stump singing your heart out to those darn, uncooperative saints. –Curt
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😉 Thanks Curt. I’m still surprised that my brothers and dad had a problem with it….
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Colleen, not much has changed since then … I had to have faith. And patience. I believed.
I can see you belting out … a bit like me when I was a child, when I moved away from my grandma to my mom after school finished, grandma neighbors said they missed my belting.
A brilliant story, Colleen … I can see you in front of me .. singing your lungs out.
Believes can move mountains they say.
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Thanks Viveka. I have a bad (according to who you are) habit of putting my ear buds in while I am working outside and being oblivious to who may hear me. One day I felt my phone go off in my pocket while I was outside singing and painting the fence. My neighbors son sent me a text asking if I was singing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and if I was , to sing louder. 🙂
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Brilliant, you have and audience … I think people love to hear people singing, because it means that the person singing is happy. Because we would never sing if we were feeling low. Sometimes people sing along to the music on their phones … I just love it and make everybody that hears them smile, because most of the time they don’t have one tune right. *smile
Your neighbor’s son has good taste.
Keep on singing, Colleen.
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🙂 Thank you Viveka, I think I will.
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Sing your lungs out, girl !!!!
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I usually do! 🙂
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That’s a great story. What an imaginative child you were! I used to think that the holes in clouds with sun shining through them was God reaching down to us. I thought that fog was a cloud that had died and fell to Earth. My mom used to say when it was raining while the sun was shining that the “Devil was beating his wife” which caused me to have images of Persephone beating the crap out of him.
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Okay, you have just given me three new things to believe in!!!!!!!!!!! 😉 Those are great. I wonder what Miss S will think!
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Omgosh there is no telling. She is very imaginative, but I can tell already that she is more grounded and logical than I am. She’s a Virgo. lol Tonight she was singing, “Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty”.
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VIRGOS ROCK! 😉 I hope she sings a lot.
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I love this story, CM. Love it. ♥
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Thank you Robin. 🙂
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I had to laugh at your brother coming out to tell you to “Shut Up!” Clearly he was standing in the way of something glorious! Now, if I may…you were a funny little kid! LOL! You had a great imagination. 🙂
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Funny as I was, I was usually pretty quiet my mom says. Though….I may have just been drowned out by the chaos of all of us. 😉 And my brothers thought they were the bosses of us.
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Colleen, I am sure beyond any doubt if you had rang out “When the Saints come Marching in” one more time you would have seen them in all their glory. But brothers with big mouths have a way about themselves. You have your stump, your memories, and a glisp of a halo, sometimes that is all that is needed. Take care, Bill
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Thank you Bill! I do have those things. And a belief that it was really going to happen. 🙂
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