tinywoolf: 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...

24 comments:

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")
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
likeschocolateJuly 20, 2011 at 9:57 AM
Wow! What memory you have. I can hardly remember back this far.
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.
♡
DorteJuly 20, 2011 at 10:40 AM
amazing memery you have ... and thank you for the london tour :)
annaJuly 20, 2011 at 11:14 AM
Wat mooi verwoord!! Makes me feel like a kid again too.x
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.
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.
JoyceJuly 20, 2011 at 12:55 PM
A wonderful photo to go hand and hand with your beautiful words. xo
LeteJuly 20, 2011 at 3:16 PM
Wonderful. I think my furthest memory dates back till I was 6 or 7. Brilliant photo.
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...?
G. E. LightJuly 20, 2011 at 5:05 PM
It is all about nostalgia for an age that is past, innit it?
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.
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 :(
LeslieJuly 20, 2011 at 9:00 PM
p.s. okay, i see now... the Bright Star soundtrack. perfect :)
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 :)!
TheresaJuly 20, 2011 at 11:33 PM
It's amazing what children remember...what we all remember.
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. :>)
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!
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??
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
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!!
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 ;-)
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!

♥