When my brother was in his pre-teens, he tried to blow up
his bedroom. After that, my mother insisted all chemistry experiments be
conducted outdoors. These experiments fascinated me as well, and I spent much
of my childhood peering over his shoulder.
His initial miscalculation in the
bedroom left an indelible stain on the ceiling. It was a light brown, shaped
like a Rorschach inkblot gone wild, and refused to go away. My parents painted
over it several times, but it slowly eked through the paint until it returned
in its full color. This determination fascinated me. How did the paint cover at first, but not for long?
I loved science (still do). I wanted to be an astronaut. We
had a built-in toy storage in our house, and my brother and I regularly dragged
everything out of it and crawled inside. He learned to close us in by yanking
the door suddenly and pulling away his fingers just before it slammed. We’d
twist until we’d have our feet on the wall and our backs on the ground, like
the real astronauts did. I wanted to see the stars from the stars.
I learned about chemistry from mixing vinegar and soda and
sending a plastic rocket flying. I learned about physics from tagging along with my brother's rocket club...and trying to run down a
slide board only to land on my face. (But I never gave up; I had a bit more luck
a little later in life, as you can see in the picture.)
My brother encouraged me to study as much science and math
as I could, and I took all four science and math classes (biology I and II,
chemistry, and physics; algebra I and II, geometry, and trigonometry) in high
school. In chemistry, I repeated the family history by trying to blow up the
lab (by accidentally mixing two acids) and causing a class evacuation (by
creating ammonia nitrate outside of a hood).
I also played five instruments, which blended well with the
science. I was in band and chorus. I wanted to play music. I wanted adventure
and travel. I wanted to be a doctor!
What? The writing? Oh, well, yes, I wrote all the time. I
knew I was meant to write, even as a kid. But . . . no one but the famous
people made a living at it. Right?
Then, when I was 18, I hit a wall. In the course of two
years, I walked away from my science studies and my music. I put down all the
instruments, and began to bounce willy-nilly through the university, taking
everything from history and foreign languages to acting lessons and political
theory. A class in linguistics changed my life (a subject for a later blog).
Only later did I realize that my writer’s brain had kicked
into gear. I wanted to learn it all. Still do.
My shotgun approach to education befuddled my advisors and
my parents. My mother was convinced I’d spend my life hanging out a drive-thru asking
about French fries.
But I forced myself to trust. I had to. I had to believe
that God had the bigger picture in mind, and He wouldn’t let me starve.
Only later did I learn that God’s sense of timing is quite
different from our own, and that He has a great sense of humor.
(More to come…)
I love your telling of this- can't wait for the next post. Making connections here. Grateful for the transparency! Love the fridge idea! (better to linger on the outside than to open it up and end up in more trouble!) :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lori! I'm always fascinated by what people hang on their fridge fronts. It reveals more about them than they may realize. :)
DeleteOK, I'm hooked for the next post. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jason. I hope it lives up to the promise!
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ReplyDeleteWhy am I not surprised. I can totally see you in that young kid years ago and you took me to that era with your words. You ask why I'm up at this hour? Or maybe you didn't. I couldn't sleep (took a big nap earlier) and got out of bed, then noticed the motion light came on. I stepped up on the garden tub to peer out the transom only to see a four pointer feasting on my grass. Exciting as it's the first large antlered I've seen in my yard in 11 yrs. Then I go grab my Android for a photo and he moved out of view. So then I'm off to the garage to see if he's visible through the garage door. Vanished. I'm awake....off to see what happened while I slept. So it was nice seeing your post and now I'm wide awake. Look forward to reading more. *You're a writer when......your comments tend to run long! And it's 2 am my time. (had to edit 1st comment for typo:)
ReplyDeleteDaphne, what a great midnight adventure! Love the picture of you standing on the tub trying to peer through the transom. I think there's also something of the writer in the idea that you wanted to push it to the next step (going outside and following him in the middle of the night).
DeletePerformed that vinegar-soda experiment a few times myself - our kitchen ceiling was never the same!
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