Hot Chocolate
Do you ever get part of a memory stuck in your brain, but lose the surrounding information that would give it context? In the house where I grew up, we had square heater grates that were mounted on the walls. As a little kid, I used to wake up early in the morning, turn the heat up, and then sit by the heater with a blanket around my shoulders to capture all the warmth. I very distinctly remember that as a treat, I would pour chocolate chips into a bowl before getting in front of the heater, then would sit there and let the chips melt, eating it all with a spoon. That memory is all good and fine, but I can't for the life of me reconstruct the circumstances leading up to me doing that. I mostly remember heating myself up in the mornings; did I secretly get the chips and just chow on a bowl of chocolate before my parents got up? Did my mom give me a bowl of chips and allow me to bake myself and eat melted chocolate? Neither of those seems entirely likely, and seem like they would come along with accompanying memories of sneakiness or extreme indulgence. I guess everyone must have a sprinkling of weird childhood memories that lack detail we as adults wouldn't think to exclude.
I remember waking up early, getting all of my mom's towels out from the closet, laying them all out (ensuring there were no wrinkles or folded corners) lay all of my baby dolls out, one baby for one towel, and then proceed to play - "nap time at the pre-school" where I would yell at any baby who "moved". I remember doing this all the time. I'm not sure why or how I didn't end up a prison warden, but there you go...young memories.
Watching my mother hang white sheets on the washline behind our house. The wind would whip the sheets and as I look up I could see the white sheets and the blue sky beyond. Instantly,I was on a sail boat, wind blowing the sails. Deep blue water, crisp white sails, light blue sky.