Comments on: Toughskins

By: ruben mancillas

ruben mancillas — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 06:40:20 +0000

bryan, sorry for not commenting until now. i was suffering the anxiety of influence, knowing that i was in the midst of something related to childhood/adult memory and this was just so good that it made me step back and reassess where i was going. i liked how this was so much about a particular place and yet, as a life long city boy, i could still completely identify with it in so many ways. just great writing all the way through, thanks.

By: James

James — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:04:10 +0000

Everything you wrote is evocative of things I hope to share with my own children about growing up here. And I hope that their memories are as cherished.

Mine still are. It’s one of the reasons I can see that same creek from my office window.

By: Rogan

Rogan — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:42:42 +0000

Great post Bryan,

I agree, that looking back definitely makes one wonder how the differences between our children’s childhoods and our own will play out over the years to come. Lovely work.

By: Bryan Waterman

Bryan Waterman — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:00:20 +0000

dead dog reminds me of _stand by me_, which was on my mind but which i was trying to avoid if possible: i never had friends like the ones i had when i was 12. blech. not true in my case. (sorry, old friends who may be out there! i don’t mean everyone, just on average.)

but when anna watched that film a couple weeks ago i was in the other room and kept finding myself mouthing whole sequences i had memorized.

i had some green toughskins, now that you mention it.

and lane, i always did love that ray stevens song.

By: PB

PB — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:52:00 +0000

Myfavorite parts of this post:
Varying dryness of cow poop.
Mid-childhood’s ambilvelence with nakedness (“this is supposed to be cool but I don’t get it”).
A reference to the Boxcar Children (one of my favorite manuals to what life could be without parents).
Crazy sharp images and a sense of place I can practically smell.
And the toughskin pants – I had a pair of purple and kelly green (girl colors were more vivid than blue) – a kind of time capsule that anchors you to this memory. Sunk deep and rediscover to our benefit.
I found a decaying dog carcass on one of my similar adventures – the possibility of danger (in this case your evil teens) always eclispes the possibility of too much sepia. There was mystery and in some cases real fear. This was life to us – not entirely play. You capture this beautifully.