The early memory flashbacks I wrote about recently have slowed down. However, some came to me late yesterday, as I was settling down to sleep.
A metal spinning top, brightly coloured. It worked by pushing down on a knob at the top, and would spin for a long time if the rachet caught properly. I remember this toy from when I was older, but last night’s memory was perhaps the first time I was given it. Sitting on the floor, my dad kneeling in front of me pushing the top to make it spin. I can feel my mouth wide with a big smile.
Being given a ride on a man’s shoulder’s. Not my dad, probably my uncle, mum’s brother-in-law, judging from his thick black hair that I am holding onto. He runs across the room, and I feel very high up. An old glass lampshade is in front of me, and I can see dead insects inside the large illuminated bowl. He swerves just in time so my head doesn’t hit it.
There is a gold-coloured fire-guard in front of a glowing coal fire. I am either sitting or crawling, and I grab the edge of it. I can feel the heat as it burns the edges of my fingers, then I am swept up, to be carried away somewhere by my mum.
Just fleeting seconds of my life, and all as real as if they happened this morning.
You are blessed, having such a great memory of the past, Pete! xx Michael
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I know, and I hope they don’t stop happening.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Reblogged this on OPENED HERE >> https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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(1) Did the spinning top ever fall? My friend Chris Nolan wants to know.
(2) “Hey, kiddo, I’ve got some dead insects to show you!” (Pete’s uncle)
(3) Aha! Your mum caught you red-handed!
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I still haven’t seen Inception, but have a good idea what you mean.
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s so strange how memory works. For some people, it might be a smell, a song, a noise, but for others, it is a word or a sentence… Thanks for sharing those snippets of memory, Pete.
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Thanks, Olga. These tiny flashbacks come and go, but I really relish them.
Best wishes, Pete.
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You are fortunate to have these clear memories flash up. They’re wonderful to read. Best to you, Pete.
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As brief as they are, they are wonderful to have too, Jennie.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Indeed!
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so vivid memories, Pete. amazing!
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I love those, Wilma. So brief, yet so clear.
Best wishes, Pete.
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You will be please to know that spinning tops are still in vogue, although no longer played with by the girls, we may even have passed it on to a younger cousin. Coloured stripes around its circumference and a note played like a single cord on a mouth organ as it span.
Your memory of the gold coloured fireguard took me back to my Grans little cottage with an open fire 🙂
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Good news about the tops. Those flimsy fireguards seemed to be everywhere when I was young. They were very easy for toddlers to move or pull down.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Wow, vivid down to the dead flies!!
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And moths in there too. They were visible inside the opaque glass bowl because I was up so high.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I had forgotten all about those spinning tops but now I remember them so well. I too have a memory about fireplaces. I had a piece of orange peel in my hand and thought I would try touching the bright orange glow of the electric fire. I succeeded and have been a great respecter of electricity ever since!
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It seems that many of us had a spinning top. By the time we had an electric fire, I was old enough to be wary of it, Carolyn. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I had one of those spinning tops too, mostly red and blue I think. As it spun it played a tune as I remember.
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I had one too. I guess they were universal.
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I remember a whirring noise, and the colours merging, but have no recollection of a tune.
As Darlene said below, I think everyone over a certain age had one as a baby.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Vivid memories, Pete. Lovely to read.
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Thanks, Maggie. They are tiny moments of memory, but crystal clear.
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s strange how those vivid little spots of time will just reappear after many, many years, seemingly unprompted.
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It has only been happening for a few months, Liz. But I do love them!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Here’s hoping they continue!
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These memories are amazing! I hope they keep coming.
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Me too, Darlene. Tiny windows to my past.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I wish you that you will still have many wonderful memories.
Have a nice Sunday.
Best wishes, Irene
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Thank you, dear Irene.
I hope that too.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Cool! Though burnt fingers isn’t so good.
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When I was older, I picked up a piece of coal that had fallen onto the carpet, and had to go to the hospital casualty department for that burn. I must have been at least 7 or 8, as there was no fireguard to stop me. That much younger memory of a hot fireguard only appeared late last night.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’ve still got a scar on my thigh where a hot coal jumped out of the fire.
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I was lucky my hand didn’t scar. It probably wasn’t as bad as I remember it being, despite my parents taking me to the hospital.
Best wishes, Pete.
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These are wonderful memories, Pete. They are also very detailed.
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It’s hard to describe how short they are. Like a photo taken with a flash, or mere seconds of an old cine-film. But the details are clear, as are the sensations of feeling things like heat.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Those tops could be lethal on little fingers if the ratchet didn’t catch!
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My main older memory of that spinning top is how stiff it was to push down. I suppose this brief earlier memory is to remind me of how much I enjoyed watching it spinning when someone else pushed it, Lucinda.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I absolutely love these and the details within them
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Thanks, Beth. I enjoy having those memories, and hope they don’t stop coming.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Goodness, they do seem vivid, Pete
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Very brief, little more than seconds. But they come with physical memories like feeling heat, which gives them so much impact. I do like them, as so far they have not been bad memories.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Excellent
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