April.24.2026 Somewhere between the Red Dump Truck & the Crayon Box

My wise Mother would tell you it all started somewhere between the Red Dump Truck and the Crayon box. The Red Dump Truck goes back to my 3rd birthday. The Crayon box by the time I turned six.

That's when she could see that I was not the most typical young lass. I had a penchant for dirt and building as well as a knack...and need for color.

I, however, would probably tell you about my management skills at the ripe old age of five. As the Kindergarten class was playing and my fellow female classmates wanted a 'house' built that was made of cardboard boxes which were covered in a red brick patterned paper, I was busy calculating what it would take to get this 'house' built.

All the while the boy classmates were running & smashing large brightly colored cars into the walls with as much velocity as possible.

I would look at what was in front of me and think...well, the girls want a kitchen and living room to play house. The boys on the other hand seemed unruly and dangerous. They had more energy than any sane person could comprehend and made so much noise crashing those cars into the wall that we regularly jumped from the impact sound.

We needed some organization to get somewhere. So I would corral the boys to build the walls of the play area, giving us a kitchen and living room, set up the play appliances( which included a sink and oven) move the table into the center to give us a kitchen table and chairs. And ta-da. All set.

My job was now done. My organizational skills had put together the play area and the boys went back to running their cars into the wall as fast as they could while the girls went about playing 'house' both seemingly unaware of one another. I seemed to fit into neither group and yet was accepted by both. Looking back I suppose I was never one or the other. I was somewhere between the structure...and the color.

And about that Red Dump Truck and Crayon Box that I mentioned above. Well, this story comes next.