When I was growing up, I lived in a small community in Spring Valley.  Our house was a cozy, red brick with a large yard and a few  young trees.  The house  had been built into the hillside and had a concrete block wall as the back of the yard.

Beyond that wall was forbidden territory.  It was overgrown with brambles, brush and many scary things. To keep myself and my brother and sister from becoming lost in the wilds, there was a set of wooden steps that could be taken down by an adult ONLY! The rest of the yard was surrounded by chain-link fence.  It was a very safe space and definitely boundary defined.

Our neighbors on either side presented their own type of dangers.  To our left lived the evil, mean older boy called 'Lee Baby'., who of course could do no wrong--according to his Mother.  I was forbidden to play with 'Lee Baby' since he was always rough and way too physical for a 4-year old.  Because of this command, we sometimes sneaked and played through the holes in the fence.  The last straw for my Mother was when 'Lee Baby' reached through the fence, grabbed my hand and proceeded to bite through my finger(to the bone).  The bloodcurdling screams and the blood itself sent my Mother marching next door to confront the neighbor.  Lee Baby was no more!

On the other side lived Mrs. Edelen, old, cranky and equally scary.  She forbid any children from retrieving balls that went into her yard! So we knew that if they did go into her yard they were LOST FOREVER!  Of course, we made up stories about the evil things she did inside her witch's hut.

Thus I lived with my boundaries until the challenging day that the steps to the forbidden land were  temptingly left down for my convenient and eager exploration.  However, when I approached the enticing steps, along came my dog, Sir Willy. He was a dalmation and was particularly good at protecting.  On this day, he saw a real opportunity to prove his worth!  As I embarked on this adventure and started to take my first step, he jumped in front of me and blocked the steps! No matter how many times I tried, he kept getting in my way!  Obviously, and sadly I was not meant to leave my boundaries!

These were the parameters of my small world at that time in my life.  As I said it was safe, defined and only scary in my budding imagination.

Posted by Tighe Frantz on 7/11/05; 1:48:47 PM to the Tighe Department
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