When I was little I had an umbrella. I loved it. I would go outside when it rained just so I could use it. And stand dry beneath well I heard the crisp pop of drops landing on plastic.
It had strips of white and blue. You know, classic umbrella style. And on each white strip there was a picture of a little girl also holding an umbrella.
One day something strange happened. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the little girls simply disappear leaving one plain strip of white. It happened so quickly. But the little girl that was me was pretty sure it had happened.
And then it suddenly reappeared.
I looked my umbrella over carefully. After a complete investigation it was clear that every white strip had a little girl. And so I lowered myself to a quick search for secret buttons. Even though I was old enough, or just simply logical enough, to know I wouldn't find any.
I let my mind wander to fairies. But only briefly. I definitely knew better when it came to that.
I had no choice but to file it as freak. Imagination. An unexplained phenomenon. And to know that I would get laughed at as childlike source of humour if I tried to tell anyone.
And then I forgot it.
Fifteen years later I've suddenly remembered it. But now I'm too old for it to hold any sense of mystique. Life has taught me a few pretty straight forward explanations. Like, say, blind spots. A phenomenon...maybe. But one completely explainable through science. One that would've intrigued the four year old me. But disappointed me at the "simplicity" of it. To know that there are plenty of people out there capable of telling me exactly what had happened. Something so much more complex, but maybe not so cool, as secret buttons.
But not all is lost. The other day I brought a row of cows into the parlour. Suddenly, from between two of them, falls a pen I'd never seen before. Freak? Imagination? And unexplained phenomenon?
Definitely enough to respark my curiosity anyway.
Maybe when I'm thirty I'll suddenly remember it, grin to myself, and then tsk at the simplicity of the answer.
I hope not. There should always be something to make one wonder.

How come you don't realize when you forget?

I find the term, "Ah...We're camping," to be somewhat flawed. Indeed your camping. At least I hope you are, if you're going to say it. So, first of all, it's a statement of the obvious. Second of all, it's an over used excuse. I dropped your sandwich, that's o.k. We're camping. I haven't shaved in a week, but yeah, we're camping. Ah, screw it. We're camping.
Most importantly, that statement is flawed because physically, scientifically, and emotionally you are still the same as when you're at home. Well, besides being a bit more sunburned, happy, tired, and carefree. But your germ tolerance doesn't officially go up. Your standards of beauty don't have any real reason to go down. Unless you're generally prettying up for the guy at the office. If you're that kind of person, you're probably not camping in the first place. You shouldn't be able to stand sand in your bed any more then usual simply because you're in a tent. "A little dirt never hurt anyone" should be as relevant in the backyard as around the campfire.
All the same, we use it. We use it like crazy from the first minute we set up our tarps and throw on our swimsuits. And, somehow, we come out better for that casual embrace-it attitude.
Ah, I was camping.
I played volleyball and wrestled on the beach. Stayed up late playing with coals. Whispered to the next sleeping bag. I went skinny dipping, and hiked trails. I windsurfed, dived from the dock and had to give in to sunscreen. I laughed. I ate s'mores after supper and smokies at midnight. I pulled on my hoodie well still wet from the beach, and sat around the campfire playing Mafia. I went rock climbing, repelling, and tried to out sing my cousin, to start the list.
In short, I enjoyed this years vacation. Did I really need to say that?

Liquid nitrogen feels weird when it splashes in your ear.
Other then that, I've been uninspired. What? Are you mocking my, "other then that"?
Last night we there were nine of us line dancing at a double beat. All good fun.

There. Because you're such nice people. Note: the problem with digital cameras is you take twenty and then can't decide what you want. Oh well. Btw. This is me raw and uncut. Very unprettified. Oh, and sorry that I'm sideways. I'm sadly ungeek. Maybe I'll keep working on it until work.

Heh heh heh. I just posted a "picture" of myself. To see if I could make the photo upload thing work. And then I promptly deleted it. Wouldn't do to have it go down in history, eh? So now that's one less bad picture of me to haunt the world.