corner view ≈ seen through the eyes of a child

dining room area in auntie's house.
the cherry wood table stood in the middle of the room,
facing the stove (that wasn't there in my time).
the room looked a lot bigger.

the table is empty, bar a fruit bowl. there's one chair of six taken. i'm on it. i am told to sit down and wait. i listen to the silence, thick as cream, but for muffled voices that trail behind the dining room wall. someone hushes impatiently. i turn my head back towards the worn cherry wood tabletop, but i don't know that's what it is. cherry wood. i'm puzzled by the bowl, which is chipped, and also cleared out of fruit. i purse my lips. i sigh intelligibly, and also as if. then i start talking. stricken, i hear my voice rasp. then i gain confidence, and talk some more. the wispering in the next room swells into a friendly banter, then dies down completely. i take pace in my words and sentences. i seem to be interviewing someone. i halt. who am i interviewing? 

☻ truth is, whilest i'm tracking back in my mind and pinning down this moment remembered, i can only but have been four. i dunno. can i have been?
"seeing through the eyes of a child", by beth, has proofed to be a powerful trip down memory lane. this is corner view by jane, hosted by francesca. 

☻ if you like, come to london with me here. put on the slideshow, hit the music button in another window, and relax. i so appreciate your company...
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24 comments :

  1. sophieJuly 20, 2011 at 9:06 AM

    Age of four you wrote... I have a flash memory of my 3 and something, just a view and a feeling also. It's impressive that we can still feel that, so many years after. I'm wondering what would be my son's first memory.
    Have a beautiful day and a good 21th of July (with the "drache nationale")

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  2. renildeJuly 20, 2011 at 9:13 AM

    Your love for words and telling stories started there maybe, at that cherrywood table..

    I loved to walk with you through London, seeing it through your eyes, the lines, the shadows, the doors, the unexpected beauty of the ordinary, the art and architecture, the rain :( it was a wonderful trip! X

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  3. likeschocolateJuly 20, 2011 at 9:57 AM

    Wow! What memory you have. I can hardly remember back this far.

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  4. shayndelJuly 20, 2011 at 10:07 AM

    Yes, how amazing you can remember all these details from four.
    your vivid imagination always so alive, wonderful!
    And you really were in London, Fab and I will go take a look with you.
    ♡

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  5. DorteJuly 20, 2011 at 10:40 AM

    amazing memery you have ... and thank you for the london tour :)

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  6. annaJuly 20, 2011 at 11:14 AM

    Wat mooi verwoord!! Makes me feel like a kid again too.x

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  7. KristinJuly 20, 2011 at 11:30 AM

    Oh yes, I know. In my childhood memories is all much, much bigger than now in the adult world. Longer, farther, higher. And as an adult, the world and the distances shrinks.

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  8. HeatherJuly 20, 2011 at 12:11 PM

    Isn't the mind funny? Some of things you remember with such specificity and then other, seemingly equally important things, are like shadows in your memory.

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  9. JoyceJuly 20, 2011 at 12:55 PM

    A wonderful photo to go hand and hand with your beautiful words. xo

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  10. LeteJuly 20, 2011 at 3:16 PM

    Wonderful. I think my furthest memory dates back till I was 6 or 7. Brilliant photo.

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  11. tanïaJuly 20, 2011 at 4:38 PM

    Yeah, your magical words took me back into my own childhood! Sometimes it just needs a picture or smell to bring memories back, no matter how long ago they occured. But I keep wondering if I really remind these early impressions or if I just have been told of them very often in detail...?

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  12. G. E. LightJuly 20, 2011 at 5:05 PM

    It is all about nostalgia for an age that is past, innit it?

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  13. KariJuly 20, 2011 at 6:47 PM

    there's also certain smells, voices, sights that take us back to our own childhood views of the world. thanks for sharing.

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  14. LeslieJuly 20, 2011 at 8:58 PM

    Ohhhh, THANK YOU for taking me along for your walking tour of London! Did you give Keats a hug for me? I loved the old cemetery, especially the little stone angel... I love most old cemeteries (there is one just behind my mother's house) - they seem like such friendly places, and I like to think about the stories of the people laid to rest there...
    I enjoyed my tea and scones, too, thank you very much. And that yellow and blue door, side-by-side. Lovely.

    My one regret is that I could not, for the life of me, figure out where or how to turn on the music for the slideshow :(

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  15. LeslieJuly 20, 2011 at 9:00 PM

    p.s. okay, i see now... the Bright Star soundtrack. perfect :)

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  16. FrancescaJuly 20, 2011 at 10:46 PM

    a wonderful weekend in London! Hot, cold, hot, cold, sun, rain, sun, rain - I really have never minded the changeable weather in the UK. Over here, it's more like: rain, rain, rain and more rain (or the opposite).
    Your auntie's room is a grand place for a first memory. My eldest boy insist that he can remember something from when he was three - which amazes me because I have a hard time remembering what I did yesterday :)!

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  17. TheresaJuly 20, 2011 at 11:33 PM

    It's amazing what children remember...what we all remember.

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  18. BethJuly 21, 2011 at 4:18 AM

    I haven't taken your tour yet or listened to the music, but I will.
    I liked how you went back to a memory. I remember bits and pieces of a younger age. You described this well. I liked the photo also---can imagine the table and you as a little girl sitting at it. :>)

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  19. RosaMaríaJuly 21, 2011 at 4:28 AM

    great memories and wonderful photo!

    and hey, thanks for the trip, the music was new for me and London... ohhh love it!

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  20. RachelJuly 21, 2011 at 7:13 AM

    i just took your tour of London! Oh my. I was trying to take a mental note of all my favorite shots, but they kept coming. Too many! I love all of the signage that you captured. The French Milliners shop, loved that one.
    I want to go to London now.
    Did you happen to visit 221 B Baker St??

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  21. Julia da FrancaJuly 21, 2011 at 7:48 AM

    thank you for the london-trip, what a great idea. and i am touched by your childhood memories, i love to go back in my brain/memory as far as i can.
    i remember, guess i was 3, the perspective, lying on the floor of a department store, just to take a look under the tables, while my mother couldn't stop talking and shopping...one shop assistant followed me under a table and she was very angry. ♥♥♥ julia

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  22. RedekerJuly 21, 2011 at 1:30 PM

    what a memories, I have good memories of De Rijp (in Noord Holland) but if I go to there now, it is totally different, lots has changed, luckily I (or we) have our memories!

    Also like the shots of London!!

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  23. flowtopsJuly 21, 2011 at 8:51 PM

    I have few happy childhood memories - but I have discovered I can be the child I never was. After all, age is just something we've all accepted as a matter of fact, haven't we? Whenever I have the chance, I am a seven YO. So much fun.

    (I'll be awaiting your card, for now, I'll go and check out your London post ;-)

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  24. TziviaJuly 22, 2011 at 4:12 AM

    I love your descriptions (Silence thick as cream) and details (the chip in the empty fruit bowl). You truly capture the child's perspective with the adult gift for poetry!

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♥