But I thought I'd tell you a bedtime story.
The linoleum floor in the kitchen was probably orange and maybe made up of geometric squares. It was in the early 1970's. The yellow (probably) formite counter top was a far way away. The woman swept the corners that collected dust bunnies and secret cobwebs. Back then, it was an corn straw broom that left little shards of splintered sticks behind, sometimes. Moving the chairs and collecting the crumbs from the toast that had been dropped on the floor earlier, she swept the pile near where the small baby was sitting. Too close. The child investigated with it's tiny fingers. Curious at the soft brown pile.
"No, Jill. Dirt."
"Dirt", the mother repeated and pointed at the pile.
"Dirt?" I mimicked, too tiny to know that was my first word legibly spoken.
My mother laughed and picked me up and said, "Yes, dirt."
Still today, it's one of my favorite words.
1 comment:
BYM - I never used a corn broom in the house - even way back then. But "dirt" was your very first word - even before Mommy.
Post a Comment