Marker Nostalgia: September 12-19, 2024
Relive your childhood in two ways by using markers (Crayola, Sharpie, whatever you’ve got) to make a drawing of a place or thing that you miss from when you were a kid.
The Submissions:
by Journal Kurtz
by Captain Quillard
These are some pretty terrible drawings, but they both brought back fun memories.
My back yard from age 0 to 11. Bordered on the left by a line of apple trees that didn’t produce very edible apples, but produced a ton of bad ones that would fall to the ground and attract hundreds of bees. In front of those trees would always be home plate for when my dad would agree to play baseball with me. Bases and pitcher’s mound were always indicated by some old red and yellow Frisbees, and the better I got at baseball the more my poor dad would have to chase after each hit, being the only player on the opposing team. The right side of our yard was bordered by a tall row of hedges, which made for my own Green Monster to target for home runs. At the back left corner of the yard was a swing set my dad built for us. It had two swings that we would launch ourselves off of, a trapeze-style bar, and some gymnastics rings on the bottom. On top was a cool deck to hang out on, and a slide made from a sheet of aluminum that would get super hot and burn our legs or cause us to stick to it instead of sliding down. A lot of times, I would run up the slide instead. Next to it was a lilac bush I can still smell, and then a garden my parents would plant. I don’t really remember us eating food from it, but I remember sitting on the front porch with my mom and grandma each summer, snapping green beans into smaller portions. At the far right back corner was a sandbox my dad made that he’d stenciled with the words “Mike’s Gravel Pit.” There are so many good memories from playing in this yard, and looking back on it really makes me appreciate all my parents - especially my dad - put into ensuring we had a fun childhood.
There are times I feel like I must have made this place up, but it actually existed, and we only went maybe three times, but I remember it vividly. It was called the Springdale Music Palace, and it was a casual restaurant that was essentially one large room with a line of long wooden tables where you could eat pizza while waiting for the show. Every so often, a Mighty Wurlitzer organ would rise out of the floor and a man would play songs while you ate. The organ controlled not only that main instrument, but dozens of other instruments hung around the room, such that you could get drums or flutes or whatever along with your organ music. The organist had a fishbowl on the stage where you could submit requests. I noticed that the back wall, opposite the organ, had dozens of horns hanging over our heads, lined up according to size. They were rarely used, but I knew a song that required them. I would submit my request for the “Raiders of the Lost Ark Theme Song” and wait. Eventually, the organ would rise from the floor and the room would fill with the loud, anthemic horn parts to the song. It was great. Just as great was the fact that there was a spot near the restrooms where you could get ice cream, and they had Superman flavor - a triad of unnaturally colored red, blue, and yellow ice cream in a flavor I can’t identify other than it being “superman.” What a weird and amazing place. I wish it still existed.
Next Week’s Assignment:
This week, renowned artist Shepard Fairey visited our town to install five wheat paste murals that encourage voting. For our next assignment, design a poster, flyer, or mural of your own that encourages people to vote.