Reading. Hands down MOST favorite. I could hardly wait to pick those black marks off the page and READ! Have had a love affair with it ever since. I am the kind of reader that reads the medicine inserts, the small print, the directions, etc. I read all placards at a museum display, etc, ad nauseam, to the irritation of others who might want to just move along. Began early on with Nancy Drew mysteries. Liked stories of real life people, but also remember liking stories about rabbits and squirrels and forest animals that acted like people. The Jennifer books-- my sister Marie loved those as an adult. And after I read each one, I would take it to her to read. It wasn't long before I was reading stuff that was waaay beyond my grade level and years life Daphne du Maurier. That's about the era I read Jane Eyre for the first time. I liked the stories in Greek and Roman mythology, some other kinds of fairy tales. Funny. Now I can't stand anything like that. Even when I got to college when Lord of the Rings was SO popular, not interested. No Harry Potter. None of that stuff now that permeates the big and little screens. Oh, I was even into a good detective novel now and then. But after I read all those required books for an English major and graduated from college, it took years before I could read anything more than a magazine. The thought of sitting down to an entire book seemed too overwhelming. I got over that.
Dolls and playing house. From the time I can remember, I was always fussing over some doll and making a play house with bits of furniture and scraps. The basement had the remnants of my older sisters' cupboard--with windows--and crib set my dad made them for Christmas when they were little. But the basement was dreary. So, my dad made a place in the one side of the garage that had his tools. I put down a "carpet" and made my home there. I had to compete with blue-bottle flies, but the sun came in through the garage windows and I liked that lots better. I still have many of the dolls I had when I was little--the Toni doll Marie made all those cute clothes for. The Madame Alexander doll Beth gave me with the little blue metal chest. The baby doll Lois gave me when I was born but I wasn't allowed to play with--it was too nice. The little black doll Amosandra named after the comedy duo Amos and Andy which was on the radio at the time.
Jump rope. Never learned any of the fancy stuff like Double Dutch. Just plain jumping. I liked it.
Jacks. As my hands and fingers got more dexterous, it just so happened that Linda Magnum moved in around the corner from me. That was about the 5th grade. Not only was she a Mormon and went to Church with us, she KNEW Jacks. And she didn't diddle with those wimpy little things. She played with heavy duty jacks and a golf ball. She taught us all everything she knew and all the different games. I played even through college and still love to pick up jacks and a ball now and then, though the Arthritis in my right hand finger would make it almost impossible to grab up and the jacks AND the ball at the same time.
Roller skating. This was the clip-on-your-shoes kind of skates. Again no fancy stuff like backwards or anything. I just liked swooping down the sidewalk. And ours were the smoothest on the block. My dad had really troweled them without pockmarks. Slick as snot in the winter, though, when they were icy. Great in the summertime.
Riding my bike. But not anything over the top like a loooong bike ride. I was satisfied to bike to school, the library, down to the chapel for Primary, to my piano lesson, up the street to my sister Lois' and down the street to my sister Marie's. Those kinds of things. The big bike rides didn't come until my parents brought my old Elliot Ness White-wall bike that I got for Christmas in the 3rd grade to Arvada when we moved into our Welch Court house.
Stamps and coins. My sister Marie collected stamps and coins. I got interested through watching her and had a nice little amateur collection of both. And both are still down the basement--somewhere.
Paper dolls. The old time kind where the cover of the booklet was the heavy cardboard part with the perforated dolls. The inside papers were the printed dresses that had to be cut out. That took a lot of practice and skill to make those decent without cutting off important tabs to hold the dresses onto the dolls or leaving white when the lines of the dress called for precision scissoring.
Storybook dolls. These were not the kinds of dolls you dressed and undressed and played with. They were usually fairy tale characters or dolls depicting other cultures. Mine were in boxes, but I always wished I had a fancy glass display like my cousin Lynn did to showcase hers.
And anything miniature! Obsessed with the teeny and the tiny. Still am. My house is full of it, either on display or in boxes down the basement. Some things you never grow out of !
Oh, I'm sure there were some other things I dabbled in. Remember liking to color. Scrapbooks--enough to do a decent job at my Treasures of Truth book for Mutual. Tried my hand at embroidery. It was a big thing for girls to do. Designs on pillowcases and dishtowels. My sisters were really good at it. I wasn't--at all! But without really thinking too hard about it, the above is pretty much it. And that generally exhibits that I was a fairly sedentary and reclusive kid who spent a lot of time ALONE.
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