It was a lazy hot summer school day, the crisply manicured lawns, respectable homes, greenbelts tranquil and motionless as the hum of a lawnmower buzzed in the distance. Inside my air-conditioned home in Irvine, CA. I collapsed on the couch in the family room. A lone glass filled with ice cubes and diet coke sat on the cool granite countertop. It was this scene that harkened me back to all those still suburban days of my childhood. The calm quiet of the afternoon unchanged from several years ago when I was living here. Of course, time passes, sic transit gloria, but things remain, physical traces of past memories.
For some reason the particular images that remain with you are never the ones you would expect. I can remember far far back (relatively) to when I was in early elementary school, it must have been around first or second grade. I have a distinct memory of my mom’s glass with diet coke in it, I remember the type of glass, for in our kitchen we have several different styles of glasses. It was a round glass, like many glasses, with a slightly larger circular base like an upside down chef’s hat. This one day, it sticks out for me…of course there were many days when this particular glass sat on the same granite countertop in the same dying sun of the afternoon. But for some reason this unremarkable image has remained ingrained upon my mind, a quotidian reminder of my childhood, a symbol of suburban contentment, American lifestyle, but actually probably not a symbol of anything. A simple glass of diet coke.
For some reason the particular images that remain with you are never the ones you would expect. I can remember far far back (relatively) to when I was in early elementary school, it must have been around first or second grade. I have a distinct memory of my mom’s glass with diet coke in it, I remember the type of glass, for in our kitchen we have several different styles of glasses. It was a round glass, like many glasses, with a slightly larger circular base like an upside down chef’s hat. This one day, it sticks out for me…of course there were many days when this particular glass sat on the same granite countertop in the same dying sun of the afternoon. But for some reason this unremarkable image has remained ingrained upon my mind, a quotidian reminder of my childhood, a symbol of suburban contentment, American lifestyle, but actually probably not a symbol of anything. A simple glass of diet coke.
No comments:
Post a Comment