Nativity Hilarity

In recent years, our family has been entirely unable to act out the Nativity with a straight face. I couldn't tell you for sure, but I don't think that it was always that way. The year that I remember it changing, at least for me, Robyn was playing the part of the angel who appeared to shepherds Chris and Jason. I remember watching the scene was running smoothly when all of a sudden Robyn broke out into uncontrollable laughter. We didn't have a clue what was going on until Robyn could squeek out, "He looks like Quasi Modo!" Then we all started laughing, and the line "and the shepherds were sore afraid" has not been the same since. 

Snow

Albuquerque has three seasons: Summer, Fall, and Wind. Despite the absence of Winter, we do get one day of snow each year. It's rarely more than an inch, but it usually cancels school for a day or two just the same. One year in Albuquerque we actually had a real snow storm. The snow hadn't started to fall until we were all already at school, so when the three or so inches of snow came down they had to cancel the rest of the day. Buses were called in to take students home, but those of us who walked to school had to wait until our parents came to pick us up. Mom came and got me fairly quickly, and it was fun to play in the only deep snow Albuquerque had seen in years. 

Lightning

Albuquerque has great lightning storms. I remember that while we were still in the rental house we would all gather on the porch to watch the storms. They were bright, frequent, and exiting. Another time I remember the storms were very near our house, and there was one flash that looked like it came down in the arroyo. The next day Adam, Lesley, and I went out looking to see if we could find any glass from the lightning hitting the sand. We didn't find any, but it was fun. 

Encyclopedias

Now, I just want to set the record straight. Yes, I did read the encyclopedias as a kid. Yes, I did it for fun. No, I never read them cover to cover, I only looked up articles that seemed interesting. And no, It is not that strange. Besides, my wife Faith did it as a kid too. 

I have a bald spot now.

As a child I had an inhaler that I was supposed to use every night. One night, shortly after moving into our new Albuquerque home, my inhailer went missing. I don't actually remember where it got off to, but for some reason I was possitively certain that I needed to look in Robyn and Lesley's room to see if they had it. Looking back, I realize that there could not of been any rational reason to suspect that it was in there, but I was determined to check. Robyn and Lesley, however, were equally determined to keep me out. They blocked the way as I resolutely tried to accend the stairs, with Robyn in front pushing and Lesley in back pulling. Thinking about it I realize that I should never have thought that I could take on both my sisters at once. As should have been expected, I was quickly toppled down the stairs and hit my head on the corner of the railing on my way. It bled for a while and I gave our new carpet its first stain. I learned a valuable lesson that day: contention leads to baldness. 

Volunteer Pumpkin

At Halloween most years Lesley and I would paint our pumpkins. Why bother with all the trouble of carving? After a while though we would have to take them out back and toss them into the arroyo. One year we must have dropped them on the way out back, because in a short while there was a little pumpkin plant peeking up from the roots of the pine trees. It was a neat little plant that grew all on its own. We only got one fist-sized pumpkin from the plant, but it was fun to see our volunteer pumpkin as we walked to school. 

Scorpions!

The summer that I moved into Jason’s old room I liked to keep the windows open and have my room open to the fresh air. I was really nice, until I had some visitors. One night I went to my room to find a large scorpion guarding my bed. I did the same thing that any self respecting young man would do: freak out and get my older brother to take care of it. Chris was really nice to me. He had only had his own room for a short while, but that night he let me come back and sleep in my old bed. We found another scorpion the next morning, but Chris took care of that too. Since then, my windows have always stayed closed. 

Bananas...

I've never been the most adventurous child when it came to new foods. Ok, ok, I was downright picky. There were times however that I was daring enough to try something new. One sunny afternoon I decided that I was going to try a banana. I liked some fruits, especially apples, so I thought it would be alright. So I picked one out, peeled it like I had seen my siblings do, and took a bite. It was all I could do to run to the garbage and spit it out. "It's not crunchy!" I thought I liked fruit, but it turns out that apples was the sum of my fruit expirence. I thought all fruit was crunchy like apples. A simple misunderstanding, and one that I will never be able to live down.
And I've never had a banana since.