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Sarah

Page history last edited by Sarah 15 years ago

Is this where I put my paper?  I am so lost...i cant even find the Assessment sheet :(

 

Sarah Capron

Literacy II

My Experience

Carebear Pond

            Stepping out on to the porch protruding off the back of my dad’s house I could gaze out over two acres of well groomed land.  The grass was a healthy green and the blades shown when the sun hit their glossy sides.  Two square gardens full of raspberry bushes and weeded out vegetables, in the beginning stages of life, took up a portion of the yard.  In front of the porch and in sections of the yard were strategically placed beautiful flowers, apple and crabapple trees, and lilac bushes.  At the back of the two acres of freshly mowed sod sat a border of untamed shrubs followed by dense woods.  The various songs from the birds, chirping grasshoppers, and fresh air smells mixed with floral scents, encouraged one to close their eyes and drink in a deep gulp of country air.  The yard beckoned to my youthful mind to fill my day with exploration.

            Of course, that is just what I did.  There is a method to exploring that most adults can not fathom doing now.  A slow wandering around in the yard produced discoveries of small sticks, newly fallen off the maple tree, which would soon turn into shapes, weapons, or piles of peeled bark and green strips.  There would be an occasional bug to catch and examine, until it would pierce my skin or leave a small present in the palm of my hand.  Traveling behind the shed in the hidden part of the yard I would discover the sour tastes from long red and green stemmed rhubarb.  The large leaves at the tip become wings or a fan for awhile, until boredom would once again set in and it was time to move on.  A tree on the opposite side, surrounded by several others, contained small bumps that would spurt out juice when pinched by dirty and jagged nails.  It was a fun game until some wayward sap landed directly on the eyeball and then it would become a respected enemy masked by the beauty that surrounds it.  The large pine behind the garden was just right for climbing and it was then that the real adventure began.

            From the highest point of the tree that could be climbed a vast view spread out before the observer.  It was from this angle that I deduced that the lawn was to clean from the debris I needed for thorough exploring.  Down below the tree however contained a vision of the garden that could not be afforded while walking on solid ground.  At this wonderful height I could see the square patch of dirt that had yet to be pawed through by my own hands.

            Within minutes my feet landed on the ground with a solid thump.  My knees bent and my body lurched forward as I charged to my destination.  As I slid to a stop a cloud of dust rose up and hung on the bubbles of air that usually remained invisible.  Quickly small hands with long fingers dug into the moist earth building a pile of dirt and a large hole beside it.  It was not long before long squiggly worms were unearthed for examination and experimenting, later in life defined as tortured.

Out of the corner of my eye something moved; looking and seeing nothing the inspection of the brown wiggly worms continued.  Again small movement caught my eye but this time the location was within sight.  I moved my hand to the area and a small rock leaped into the air and thudded several inches away.  Small beady eyes blinked at me as I slowly crept forward with my hands cupped out in front.  The brown blob matched the color of the dirt.  Two of the legs were hunched underneath it with long toes, which reminded me of ET’s fingers, protruding out from beneath its rounded belly.  Quickly my hands darted out to catch it before it could escape from view.  Its flat head banged against folded fingers while the legs pumped the tiny, tickly feet into my palms.  Greatly excited over the find I sped across the yard to put my new pet into an enclosed home.

My pets first home was a class jar rescued from the recycle bin but as I watched him he began to look very depressed about being in such a small space, or was it the lack of oxygen?  Anyway I tore across the yard to the blue shed to drag out my Carebear pool thick with dust.  (My dad hardly ever let us use it because it marked up his yard with dead grass).  At that time the neighbor’s son, who was my age, came over to see if there was anything to do.  He criticized the menial home created for such a fine pet and suggested that we put water in the pool and some houses.  We found some rocks and Barbie toys, stolen..ahem…borrowed from my sister, to put into the carebear pool to make houses and paths and places for the creature to hang out on.

My pet seemed to like these circumstances much better.  He didn’t try to escape and he swam in the water to get over to a rock to sunbathe on.  My neighbor Thomas and I spent the whole morning and after noon playing with our new friend.  My younger brother soon emerged from an excursion in the woods near a fishing hole, before our parents would come home.  He caught a few more hopping friends for my pet and soon we had a whole Carebear pond full of amphibians!

We all had had a delightful time watching our new friends and trying to find them food we thought they would eat.  We giggled and splashed each other with the water from the pool and made plans on how to expand our towns that we were building in the clear water.

That night when my dad came home I excitedly dragged him to the side of the yard to show him our creation.  He looked at it and let out a long grumbling sigh and said “uh-huh”.  Smiling broadly at him I had taken his response as a yes for keeping my absconded pets.  Bright and early the next day I had gone out to play with my new friends.  This went on for almost the rest of the week, or maybe two days.  The water had started to look a little murkier each day but this was hardly noticed.  One day it rained the whole time and my new pets had been forgotten.

My dad had informed me one day, before he left for work, that the lawn needed to be mowed and the pool removed from its current location by the time he would be home that night.  Finally I revisited the pool after having forgotten about my pets and gave the only remaining amphibian a proper burial in the sand box underneath a small pine tree.  His small body had been found floating on the top of the water which now covered the houses and rocks that had been carefully placed in the pool.  He apparently had forgotten how to use his bent legs to propel his small body out of the pool.  That or, he being such a faithful pet, had waited by the pool for me to return to him, and died moments before I could come to his rescue.

The Carebear frog pond was the most delightful part of my summer that year and will never be forgotten.  The faded and bloated faces of the Carebears swaying in the water and the enormous smile on the frog’s face will forever be imprinted on my memory, not to mention the ability to touch those slimy creatures in the first place!

 

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