blablabla & then some of the things we remember

james doesn't want me to write about any of the snaky underhanded crap that happened, so i will just go blablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablablalbablablablablablablabalablablabalbalablabalbalablabalbalbalabalbalabalbalablabalbalablabalbalbalablabalbalablabalbalablabalablabalablabalbalbaalalabablaalabablababalablablablalalalbabalablalbabalalablablaalalbalablababalalabalalalaalalalalablabalbalbalaba
hahhhh
aaaahhhhhhh....swamp cooler... the smell of my childhood...
what are the senses of your childhood?
the sounds:
jenny: crickets, mourning doves, & trains.
james: the train going by. we lived in paramount & compton, & the train went right by our house.
jenny: we lived right by the train in fresno when we lived there for a year when i was a baby. and trains were everywhere i lived in bakersfield, on the east side & downtown. 42 years.
the music:
jenny: dad would sing songs with us & teach us to sing along: the union maid, billy barlow, & the gettystone light. & the christmas coke commercial with i'd like to teach the world to sing, so i was 2 & a half.
james: cartoons, bugs bunny & stuff. one of the earliest ones i saw was the one when cab calloway was the walrus. i didn't know who he was, but i remembered the hi-dee ho & the way he moved.
both: bad, bad leroy brown!
james: jim croce, you know he got drafted, & he met leroy brown, & leroy brown was a street hustler from the south side of chicago. he was like 6'9" and weighed 300 lbs, & he didn't wanna be in the army, it was just something to do, so when he got his pay, he just went back home. when my mom used to have me go to the bar to get my dad when he'd been up too long, he would have me up on the bar singing songs, & that was one of the songs. and then later, everybody went, bad bad whiteboy james cause i had two diamond rings, i had the custom continental & an el dorado, too, i had a 32 gun & a pocket full of fun, i had razors in my shoe, i liked to shoot dice, leroy brown liked to shoot dice...
the smells:
jenny: the swamp cooler, fideos & beans, & the burning smell of the wall heater. also what i now know is called petrichor -- the smell of the rain when we would get it.
james: produce at the market. the rotten produce, the fresh produce, the meat section, just all the food smells going on at little farmers.
the tastes:
jenny: fresh ripe delicious figs from grandma mary's and the ramirezes' trees. bottle cap candy from woolworth's. and tortillas with butter.
james: berries from the berry tree in the field by my house. there were the red ones & the blue ones. i used to sit in the tree and pretend i was a monkey. and we had a huge avocado tree in my yard. i used to sit in the tree & eat avocados all day. i have the perfect method. i can get the whole avocado out without making a mess. every once in a while i would put toothpicks in one & watch it sprout.
what did you see?
both: comic books & mad magazine. and the train caboose.