Friday, January 9, 2015

I grew up six blocks from a small factory building


I grew up six blocks from a small factory building, surrounded by rather large woods (Kuhlman Woods). A good part of it was used from "six-foot solid wooden boxes." Most were stacked one on top of another. The boxes were in a maze, arranged with narrow paths, which led, many times, to a dead end. The boxes came from the factory and were filled with "World War II Airplane Parts." As kids, we used to love to park our bicycles outside of the woods and go climb up onto the boxes, jumping from one box to the other one, or playing Tarzan. One time, when I happened to be alone, which was rare, a girl appeared out of nowhere. I guessed she saw my bicycle parked outside of the woods. After we became acquainted, she told me she studied "ballet." I said, "What's that?" And before I knew it, she went up on half point, into an "Arabesque", then a single "Pirouette", a lovely "Attitude", and a slow "Penchée" right on top of all those war boxes. I was astonished! I never saw anything so beautifully executed with the human body. She invited me to her parents' home. I told her I wanted to learn how to dance. Then she told me, moving her graceful hand toward me, "Whoever turns my ring 32 times gets to kiss me." And the sleeping beauty came to life.

No comments:

Post a Comment