Childhood Memory - Part I

I went to ride a bike on Greenlake yesterday and, if heaven is real, I was in one. The sunshine, the trees, the breeze, the tree shadows, the little kids, the lovers, the lake, the thousands of sparkling lights on the water, the peaceful corner where the sun only half shone, every parts of it were perfectly arranged . I thought of so many things. But the best part of all was the reminiscing of my childhood memory.

Joseph Campbell said that the sacred space that everyone is seeking is the resembling of their childhood memory. I felt the same way. Then, I thought of my fantasy of a little kid. I was always a child of peace, love, friendship and yet of adventure ( this is not to say that I wasn't naughty or selfish at all but rather they're not something I want to talk now). The last part about an adventurous me makes it different from a normal idea of heaven. How could a child of peace also loves adventure. What seems like a paradox is actually an idea of real heaven for me. There was one time when I sat at Starbucks and the mysterious old man came up to me and shown me the picture of a garden with a little girl and a bear. And he said " Wouldn't it be nice if we can live in a world where there is no threat, no danger and humans and animals live peacefully together. " I thought for a second that it would be GREAT but a moment later I changed my mind. How could animals and humans live peacefully together? The picture was made from human's perspective. If it was from the bear's perspective, a bear that doesn't post any threat to humans at all is not a bear. Or should I say, not a good bear! Bears suppose to occasionally defend themselves from the unexpected intruders by being mean, maybe groaning and swinging their claws around, you know,  instinctively wild animals are like that. Because if they don't act tough, they won't survive in the hood( or in the wood). I'm not going to say that there shouldn't be peace among animal kingdom and people. But my idea of peace is that everyone who has a sacred space knows their sacred space and respects other's sacred space. Therefore, my childhood memory was always peaceful and exciting for I find fun in exploring the unseen, gathering the unexpected, improvising the unlikely and in the midst of it all when I lay low to rest or stop to eat, I find peace.

Then, I thought about my bike riding skills. Nowadays, I'm just a normal guy but back when I was little and had roamed the streets of Bangkok( particularly in Bangkapi ), I was like the leader of the young bicycle gang consisting of 4 or 5 gang members. I could literally cruise around without using my hands to hold the handlebar. I could make a wide angle turn, pass through a bump and come back home without touching the handlebar at all. Of course, things like this take practice and I often got cuts and bruises all over the place. Whenever I met Sang( an only childhood friend whom I still get in touch with), we would talk about the fun times. I had done so many things that not everyone gets to do. For example, I had traveled to the nearby Soi( Village in Thai) called Sounson( Pine Garden) by passing through what looked and smelled like a pig slaughter house. I still remember the smell and sound that the pigs made when I had to lift up my bike and waltz( on foot )through the path that Mr. & Mrs. Pinkies provided. Of course, there was a normal route to the village but that would take too much time and energy and, as a kid, that was no fun.

The day after it rained( and, boy, in my Soi, once it rains that means there will be a flood at some point soon), I would bike around the little reservoir phenomenally occurred due to poor drainage system. The water level could be from an inch to half a leg depends on how many days it rains. The feeling I got sometimes was like riding a special tank designed to withstand any types of damage and sometimes like a strong-willed adventurer trying the best to conquer the law of nature. Once in awhile, though, there were fishes. Not goldfish or salmon but ugly looking fishes that came from somewhere via the sewage. And, being perverted enough, I went and scooped up some to take home. I was intelligent enough not to cook it and just observed its appearance. My grandmother used to open a grocery store that sells miscellanious things from laokaow( Thai vodka) to mosquito-killing incenses. The area in front of the shop always clogged and flooded every time it rained hard. So, as bored as I was, I sometimes made a small paper boat and sailed it away. Though the boat never got too far away because there were no waves, I had a lot of fun just imagine myself so small enough to fit in the boat and go on a little journey.