woodinville

on sunday, todd and i drove north to woodinville, where my family lived for three years (when i was 7-10). i haven't been there in more than a decade, but it was fun to recognize some things and tell todd weird little memories i have from each place.

our old house

i have many memories here, most of which involve accidentally inflicting harm on my brother. also, hammering nails into stumps (a good activity).

there is a walkway down the street that leads to woodinville high school. in the summer, it is totally covered in blackberry bushes. i never ate them, but i always picked them and brought them home to my mom. not sure why i did that, no one in our family eats them.

molbak's

aside from our little neighborhood and schools, woodinville is mostly unrecognizable to me. except for the freeway exit, the "tickle bump" (a little rise in the road right off the northbound exit on the left), the taco time (where we never ate), and my mom's favorite garden and home shop, molbak's.

woodin elementary

second and third grade

the school is one block from our old house, so my mom had me walk to and from school on my first day. but i took a wrong turn on the way home and got lost. i asked everyone for directions, but they couldn't help because i didn't know how to tell them where i lived. i walked back to school and called my mom from the office. i'm pretty sure she just walked out our front door and waved me down, because we lived the same street as the school... one block in the other direction.

also, a girl from the special needs class tried to strangle me on the playground.

kokanee elementary

fourth and fifth grade

i had my head cut open by a sixth grader in a nasty game of "dodgeball," which really should have been called "line the little kids up against the wall and peg them in the head."

i showed todd the course we ran for cross country meets, part of which went through the woods at the back of the school. i always walked the stretch through the woods.

there is a painted map of the united states on the courtyard blacktop.  it omits canada, but has
alaska painted up where it should be. thanks to this
map, i thought alaska was an island until i was about 20.