Hello!
Regular followers and visitors to this site will know I'm using BLOGGERS WERE CHILDREN TOO! for my theme this year. I hope you're enjoying reading about bloggers, some you know and some you may not yet know, as they respond to some prompts I sent out. I've been so grateful for their responses as it helped me to get to know them better, admire their stunning cuteness as babes, and delighted me with random facts.
Thank you Adult Bloggers for your heartfelt responses. Thank you readers for visiting my posts. I hope you'll leave a comment and if you'd like to follow the link to my respondents' blogs they'd be delighted to meet you.
Today:
V is for Vogt (Li Vogt) from Flash Fiction
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| Li as a disheveled child. She says nothing much has changed! |
I was born, raised and spent most of my life in Lancaster County, PA, known as the Garden Spot and the Heart Of Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
Other places I've lived include Pomona, New Jersey and McLean, Virginia.
My favorite place to live will always be Lancaster; I'm a bit of a country girl at heart. But I did enjoy living in McLean, Virginia. It's a suburban area with easy access to Washington DC via the Metro, so we could enjoy the Smithsonian museums and the Washington Zoo as well as symphonies at the Kennedy Center and events at Wolf Trap in nearby Vienna. If only the traffic on the Beltway wasn't so horrendous.
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| Li driving a covered wagon in the Bicentennial |
My worst childhood memory was having my tonsils out at age three. I remember that they clapped a gas mask over my face and I really did think I was suffocating. I can still recall the sweet, sickish odor. Coming out of recovery, my throat was on fire and yet I couldn't have a drink, only a few chips of ice to suck on. Crying, of course, made the pain worse. I'm told I fought like a tiger coming out of it...
I have lots of wonderful childhood memories - so many that I couldn't pinpoint just one. My beloved German Shepherd gave me many happy memories. I loved the beach, and I can remember finding a $5 bill floating in the surf one year - to me, it was like finding $100. I consider myself lucky to have grown up in a close-knit family with two loving parents and - appreciated only later in life - a big sister, as well as a comfortable home with lots of open space to play. In those days, we could roam pretty far and not have to worry, unlike today. I was also horse crazy, and during the Bicentennial I begged my way onto a covered wagon trip; in exchange for helping to water and care for the horses, I got to ride along and learn to drive the wagons. I also took guard duty and slept near the horses in a sleeping bag on the ground. I was just drifting off when one of them began to pee. They were sturdy Belgians weighing about a ton each and it was like Niagara Falls. I scrambled madly out of the sleeping bag and struggled to drag it uphill before the urine river reached me.
Survival lesson number one.
I've written stories since I was kid, and several draw on childhood experiences, including the story Alpha (the first of my A to Z Challenge posts). If you're interested in reading stories or finding out more about me, feel free to visit my blog. The "Published" page includes two other interviews I've done.
Thank you, Denise, for inviting me to be a part of your A to Z Challenge!!!
Wasn't it great to learn so much about Lisa's childhood. But there's more! Tune in tomorrow to find out more about Writer's Block NZ, aka JJ.
25 comments:
What wonderful memories.
And yes, as a kid, finding money was like finding lost treasure.
Some treasured childhood memories, I had a German Shepard as my first dog (named Hungry) and he was my best friend - thanks for sparking some of my treasured memories! :)
Horse pee and sleep just don't mix, do they? Li, your memories are delightful. I'm glad to meet you.
Oh my word, I am laughing about the horse pee situation! Thanks for brightening my day!
Yay! I love the photos, and yes.... horse and pee... haha!
Dear Li,
Great story, photos and laughter. I also live in Lancaster County (smile). Thanks for sharing some of those personal stories. Nice to meet you my dear.
Hello there. That covered wagon looks awesome. I had my tonsils out when I was young too, before 5 years, but all I remember is being taken to the hospital in the middle of the night. Nice to read about you here on Denise's blog. :-)
Love this character! Great work :)
Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
Sounds like a great place to grow up, with all the space. Hope you managed to escape the pee river!
I can imagine how scary that river of pee would be :) And I remember being stationed at Andrews AFB and trying to get up the beltway during certain times of day. Ugh! A cell phone sure would have come in handy way back then.
.......dhole
Funny pee story. I mean it wouldn't have been funny for you though. Thank you for sharing your story with us.
wow! That's a lot of places to grow up in. I love the pictures:)
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Hi everyone, thanks for dropping by and thank you Denise for featuring me! I'm abominably late in replying - it's the busy season at work and I've also just mowed the lawn. (Wish I had horses to munch it down for me!) Lovely to meet so many new bloggers! And don't forget to check out the Romantic Friday Writers - it's a great group!! :-)
I just discovered Li's blog yesterday, fun to find out a little about her childhood. Thanks for the post!
Love that first picture of you, Lisa. Really, you haven't changed all that much! ;) The pee story is classic. Glad you still got to love horses, in spite of that.
(and hmmm...I hope Sarah Allan realizes you are a real life character, not a made up one).
Okay, got it. If I (or one of my characters) ends up having to sleep in the stables, find one with an uphill lie or suffer the consequences. Thanks for sharing (both the stories and the pictures), Li.
Lisa loves her horses! And she is an awesome writer.
Li-I love Belgians. what great memories you have. Love the pic with the wagon. :-)
Belgians are the sweetest horses. When I was an upper teen I did ranch work (Southern Maryland) one summer. The lady had something like 75 or so milking goats, chickens, geese, and horses.
She had raised some of the most beautiful Belgians. All golden and shiny. I had been so accustomed to thoroughbreds and horses of their temperament. Belgians were so laid back in comparison.
One of my favorites was a stallion. Lord, his legs were huge--like trees. You'd think being so big they'd be slow and you'd think wrong. One of the joys was watching them run and play in the pasture babies and adults. Sometimes you'd see impromptu races between the adults. What a joy to see them, manes and tails flying, thundering hooves, racing across the pasture. You couldn't help but laugh.
Thanks for sharing your memories. It brought back some nice ones for me too. :-)
Sia McKye OVER COFFEE
Its great to get to know Lisa a little better. And glad she loves horses too. Thanks.
Great hearing about Li isn't it? That pee story is priceless.
Denise
Li, I had a similar tonsilectomy experience, but I think I was 6. I've heard I cursed like a sailor during recovery. Not good for my throat either. There were promises of jello and ice cream, but nobody ever mentioned the pain going down my throat would take all the fun out of it.
Great stories from Li's childhood. My mother-in-law lives in Lancaster County, PA but I've only been there once.
That's a cute picture and those are fantastic memories.
I also remember bad medical moments from my childhood, but nothing as major as surgery.
Love the idyllic childhood picture both in images and words,. Lisa is a wonderful writer from what I have read of her works, the horse story had me LoL, sorry. :)
Hi Denise and Li .. what a great post - and crumbs, yes, you'd have to move fast for that torrent wouldn't you.
But what a great memory - working with the horses ...
Cheers Hilary
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