before age 12, i grew up in suburban michigan, surrounded by flat highways and shopping malls and trees and houses, grids and grids of houses and condos and apartment complexes.
my house was nested in a neighborhood that felt never-ending. i really used to think that i lived in a web of infinite houses, with neighborhoods connecting to other neighborhoods and other neighborhoods and other neighborhoods stretching all across the globe.
summer was spent barefoot on concrete and grass with neighbors and best friends and popsicle stains on white t-shirts. we were safe and sheltered, for the most part, and it was okay to [[play]] - as long as we were home for dinner. what do you want to do today?
[[go for a bike ride]]
[[see what the neighbors are up to]]
[[stay home]]
where should we bike to?
[[meadowbrook elementary school]]
[[just around the block a few times]]
whose doorbell should we ring first?
[[maddie, gabi, and stevie's house]]
[[alan and leslie's house]]we stay inside all day. my little sister angela and i go downstairs to the basement to play "roller skating rink," which is exactly what it sounds like. we have two pairs of skates, neither of which fit us, so we wear thick socks as we swirl around the linoleum floor.
at 6:30, mom tells us that dinner's ready.
we're having 飯糰 (fàntuán), one of my favorites.
[[the next day]]my sister ashley and i grab our bikes and ride to our elementary school, meadowbrook. it's a 5-10 minute ride (depending on how fast you pedal), and we bike there several times a week in summertime. the playgrounds are open to play on. they added a new one this past year that we're still trying to get used to.
we ride our bikes around the circular drop-off lane, looping around concrete pavement and light poles.
but [[then]],my big sister ashley and i mount our bikes, and as we're about to leave, my little sister angela (who's admittedly very bratty at the time) comes up and says she wants to come.
we say,
[["nope!"]]
and whizz off.
(we don't want angela to come because she'll slow us down. and because she's annoying and likes to steal our stuff.)
ashley tells me that we need to go home. right now! she doesn't tell me why; she starts biking back faster than i can pedal. it's hard to keep up, but we eventually make it back home.
she's okay, really. she just had a bad scrape and didn't want any of our neighbors to see her cry. mom bandages her up. we watch TV for a bit.
for dinner, mom makes 麻婆豆腐 (má pó dòufu), one of ashley's favorites.
[[the next day]]apparantly, angela decides to go by herself. i don't find this out until i'm halfway around the block and see her sitting on her bike, crying.
i run over and ask what happened, and she says, "i was hit by a car!"
i immediately accompany her back home because mom will know what to do. when we get back, mom sees angela crying and asks [[what happened]].
**"yes. i hit a car!"**
she stops crying and isn't physically hurt. we're all still a little confused, but she's fine, just shaken from literally riding her bike into a parked car.
mom reminds angela that she's not supposed to go on bike rides by herself.
for dinner that night, mom makes one of our favorites, 牛肉面 (niúròu miàn).
[[the next day]]we ring the doorbell and ask if maddie, gabi, and stevie can play today. their backyard runs on an incline, and we play kickball using trees as bases. my feet hurt a little from running on little twigs and acorns strewn across the grass; i keep going because i love kickball, and my feet will feel better tomorrow probably.
alan and leslie come over. we have popsicles, making sure to avoid the swingset because there are yellowjackets buzzing around (and gabi is allergic).
the clock on maddie's porch says it's almost time for dinner, so we play one more round of kickball before running home.
for dinner, mom makes 拉面 (lāmiàn), something we all love.
[[the next day]]we grab alan and leslie and then maddie and gabi and stevie and run back to my house. we draw a circular roadway on my driveway, complete with dashed lines separating each side of the road and street signs.
razor scooters and bikes become our vehicles as we drive around and around, occasionally stopping because someone decides that we should perhaps have a traffic light.
as it starts to get dark, mom comes out and tells us that it's [[time for dinner]].
we run inside and wash our hands because mom made 蛋炒饭 (dàn chǎofàn), one of my favorites.
[[the next day]]is sunny and warm and perfect for chasing down the ice cream truck (if it comes around). my bare feet are calloused, ready for [[another day->play]].**"i was hit by a car!"** angela screams again.
"you were hit by a car?" mom exclaims.
**"uh huh!"** says angela.
**"well, i hit a car."**
we look at her.
"what?"
**"i was riding my bike and i hit a car."**
"a car didn't hit you?"
**"i was biking and i hit it."**
[["so you hit a parked car?"]]