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Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Are you crazy? Or is it me?

As I walked through my house today, heading down the hall I again remembered that I had forgotten what on earth I was going down the hall for. I have become accustomed to this having lived with ADHD for 40 something years. But at times I actually feel pretty "normal". That is until someone really normal walks into my world. So last week I was doing my usual whatever I want, when my neighbor came by. I didn't answer the door because I was in the back yard, 15 feet up the walnut tree shaking the crap out of it so the walnuts would fall out before the squirrels could get to them. I was also talking on my cell phone to a friend at the same time. She had come into the backyard and was just staring up the tree. She later told me that she couldn't see the phone, she thought I was having a full on conversation with myself! What? Did she think I was that whack? Well in order to get into the tree, I had to pull several chairs over. Unfortunately, I had tipped the main one over on my way up. It never occurred to me how I would get down. See the other side of the tree was covered with a purple paper glue bust I had made earlier in the day and it was hanging to dry. So it turned out to be a blessing, she was able to help me down. As I grabbed her shoulder for balance she shrieked! "Tracy! Oh my God, what did you do?" She was staring at the blood on my leg. "No big deal, I scratched it in the tree." I said as I looked at the black walnut stain I had just put on her white silk blouse. I changed the subject quickly, "so what do you think of the bust I'm making?" I asked. The reply was irritating at best. "What on earth are you going to do with that huge thing?" She was looking at it like it were some kind of slimy bug! "Well, I thought I'd put it in the front yard!" I replied, tongue in cheek. She looked at my patio, and I followed her gaze. These are those moments of clarity we ADHD folks get now and then. If we don't have enough shame from our childhoods, we can well make up for it with the help of normies!
I had the horror of seeing what she saw. I had a minimum of 5 projects going at once. All different, all consisting of different types of boxes, bags, tools, gizmos and gadgets. "How do you make such horrendous messes Tracy? Honestly, it amazes me that it doesn't bother you to live like this!" I am sure, what with her being in a state of shock and all, she did not mean to be rude, so I chose to not be offended. Plus, I had ruined her shirt and thankfully she had not noticed it yet. "Well" I pondered the question for a moment, then it occurred to me. "You know what? Life is too damn long to not make lots of messes, climb trees, scrape your legs up, and create art! If I had to go sit in a cubical most of my days, I think I'd just rather not be alive! You know what? I think it would do you a world of good to get messy now and again yourself!" Amazingly her eyes went from disbelief to delight! She went home and changed into cutoffs and was back in a flash. The two of us spent the evening climbing trees and finger painting! She said it was the most fun she'd had in ages, and I refused to let her clean up one thing! In fact the paint is still out here, OH THATS what I was going down the hall for! I wanted to get the mirror out of my husbands drawer! I have an awesome idea about melting hard paint onto mirror! I'll let you know how it turns out.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

OH MY GOODNESS TRACY...
ROTFLMAO!!!!

Anonymous said...

Well, facts are stranger than fiction right? ;>)

Anonymous said...

Hi Tracy, thanks for the visit! I enjoyed your story! I once climbed up a tree to hide from the kids and I could not get down without falling on my Ass! I so enjoyed your post and glad that she joined you in doing all those fun things! (So did she notice the mark on her blouse? - LOL). Your blog is really interesting and I have a lot of reading to do - Cheers!

Tracy said...

Never did mention it, now thats a true friend!

Anonymous said...

I don't know why I have such difficulty getting my comments to publish ... I hope this one comes through. I loved reading this and I WISH I was your neighbor. Hope the cut on your leg wasn't too bad. I totally get how free your neighbor must have felt during the time she shared with you.
I am adding this info because I don't know if this will publish or not - have tried several times and ways.
Love, Dawn -
www.dawn-unplugged.blogspot.com