The Basement

Were you afraid of your basement when you were a kid? I was. Our chest freezer was as far from the bottom of the stairs as possible (roughly 100 yards, by my estimation), and when my mom sent me down to get a frozen something it was like running a gauntlet. I don’t remember being afraid of anything particular, no boogie man or anything, just being afraid – and running like something was chasing me as I came back up the stairs. The basement was partially finished – it was our playroom so I was down there all the time! – but the laundry room/freezer part was the abyss. I’m pretty sure I didn’t know how to turn the lights on and maybe that was the whole problem. I am wondering right now if my big brothers told me something scary. Mmmm. That suddenly seems really possible.

Our current house basement is really nice. I am reaquainting myself right now, because the sirens are going off and we are down here not getting stormed away. I don’t come down here much anymore since we moved the TV upstairs during pandemic. Keith usually does the freezer retrievals, since stairs are not my friend (thumpy heart). I was just sitting here, listening to the rain, admiring the pictures. I really like them. Which makes sense, since I hung them here.

When we went to the basement when I was a kid, it was great. Since my brothers and one sister are enough older than me that they didn’t pay too much attention to my younger sister and I, storm time was a great time because we were all together. If the power went out, it was even better. It’s kinda weird now that you don’t have to grab flashlights or candles, because we all just have our phones. The best part then was when we got to pull out the hide-a-bed couch and got to sleep in the basement. That couch is still in my mom’s house’s basement (now my sister’s house) and I sleep on it when I visit. It is so ugly it’s awesome and I love it. It is terrific that my sister has let it stay.

We moved a bed down here during pandemic for Benjin and Sean to use and keep distant while visiting. I thought it would be fun to sleep down here tonight! Keith just showed me the radar on his phone and said the storm is moving away in less than 10 minutes, then we can go up and watch tv. It is good to be safe, but sometimes technology takes away the fun.