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What's your favourite memory?

I remember reading in one of the Hannibal Lecter books, a fantastic description of how Dr Lecter would retreat into a favoured memory when he was in situations he didn't like, and to such an extent where he could remember the taste, touch and smell of everything around him.

I've been doing that for years - mostly on commutes and long journeys, or even when I am doing one of those mundane tasks at work where you don't need to think.

I have a couple of places I go to, one is Downtown Las Vegas - early in the morning, it's December - the week before Xmas. It's about 3am, and the casino is just doing all the money boxes in the slot machines, and the place is quiet patron wise. I've just nipped over to the Starbucks at the Golden Nugget, and am enjoying the warmness of the white choc mocha as my fingers hold the cup. Fremont Street is quiet, apart from the Christmas Carol Muzak being piped in - there's a definite chill in the air, and the temperature board on top of Binions shows 35f - blooming cold! I get back into the casino, and there's the undertone of chings, slot music, and the occasional shouts from the craps table. The place smells of coins - it's mainly ticket in Ticket Out now, but the metallic smell will remain for a while yet. I wander around, no aim in mind, just wander, soak in the atmosphere, and revel in the fact that I am HERE!

So, where do you go to when you are stuck in the tube/traffic jam/queue at Tesco/Boring Meeting?


Heid
xx

Ballistix Tracer 512MB DDR PC4000 184-pin DIMM


Sorry couldnt resist! ;scarymoment;

Always one.

Jagster, you can't stay behind the sofa forever, even if you have got supplies!

<g>

Heid
xx

The day my daughter was born.

24th July 2004 - Diamond Day at Ascot.

Woke about 8am to find out my wife had been having contractions since 5am but she didnt wake me cos she didnt want to bother me at that time!    Got up, she insisted I went to work for a bit.

Get a call around 1pm, dash home, dash to the hospital and by 5:30pm we had a little girl in our arms.  My favourite bit of the day was my wife in bed lying with Heather sleeping in her arms not long after - I have a photo of it and it's one of my most treasured things.

Got kicked out of the hospital about 9:30pm and went home, had something to eat then went to my mates house who was on a bit of a bender as he was at the races and he also proposed to his missus. 


Also, I have a nice memory of my Granddad helping me with my first ever science homework at school.  I miss him a bit since he passed away a few years ago and am sad that he never saw his great granddaughter.

Happy memories

I have several "happy places" (think happy gilmore) I go to but I am afraid none of them are suitable for a family forum ;)

cant remember :'(

damn monkey memory.....

Memorys of seeing  my babies for the first time ,  the night i met Paul  :o Our beautiful wedding that i arrived early to, much to the dismay of the vicar..lol
Our wonderful honeymoon in the maldives , a true slice of heaven with the man of my dreams * sigh *
Memorys are truly precious

My most precious memory is that of the morning after my youngest daughter was born, although like Charmaine says, seeing each of your children for the first time is a precious memory  it was even more so with Caitlin.

My pregnancy had been a very worrying time, I had had operation early on whilst I did not know that I was pregnant (Caitlin was the only one of my 3 not planned)  the hospital had done a test to ensure that I wasn’t, the tests came back negative and they proceeded with the op. After still feeling very unwell several weeks later and not responding to all kinds of medication, the hospital carried out more tests to find out why I was not recovering as planned, they finally did a scan and found that I was nearly 5 months gone already.

I had several meetings with specialists, and none could confirm that the drugs that they had given me would not seriously harm the baby, the only help they could offer was to have 2 weekly scans from then on ( although I still fail to see how this would “help”) and we would all have to wait and see, the effects could possible not become evident until the child reached the age of 4.

I was due on Christmas Eve, which at a time that is stressful for any mother  in any normal situation, put even more pressure on a time that should have been full of excitement.  I can honestly say I was very scared of what lay ahead the uncertainty was a huge weight on me. Christmas eve and day came and went and still no sign of things happening, ( nothing unusual there, I was 2 weeks late with my other two)  but on the 29th  Caitlin decided it was time. I finally got to hospital after having to call a taxi when our car wouldn’t start (great timing) we had snow the night before and had to wait for nearly an hour!  The birth was fast but event free, so some small mercy there.

But this is where the real precious memory is, we had been given a private room and after the doctors checked her over for about the hundredth time, and we had been visited by a stream of midwives, we finally got to be alone. I must confess I also then checked over every cm of her also, we both then got some very much needed sleep. When I woke up it was dawn, Caitlin was in her hospital crib awake but very peaceful. I scooped her up and took her over to the window, It had snowed heavily in the night and the view before us was something that was straight out of a winter picture postcard. All the trees were laden with snow, the roofs of the houses looked like they had been covered in white icing and the roads were still covered in crisp white snow, beautiful. I can still remember how it felt, cradling Caitlin in my arms whilst showing her this wonderful sight and at that moment I remember knowing, and I mean KNOWING that Caitlin hadn‘t been affected, I didn’t need to wait 4 years to be told, I knew that morning.

i can tell you guys enough how the limp in my throat grew with those stories. im too emotional to post any but it has got me thinking of many great memories.

thanks for sharing and im so glad your baby is ok ginger

mad x

Is this to be read in an "inspector Cleusau" accent? ;)

you can say it in any accent you fancy Matt, but ill stick to my glesga tongue

mad :)

 :goodpost:

Always enjoy a good soppy O/T thread. Brings out the old feminine side in me. This is welcome at the moment as my bask, stockings and suspenders are all at the dry cleaners.

My favourite memories are of first dates that went well. Relationships tend to go downhill after that, but I love a good first evening with a member of the opposing gender.

The butterflies beforehand, the relief when the initial awkwardness has been allayed and you get chatting. Those moments when things seem to go fantastic and you can see in their eyes that they are enjoying themselves. Making a smooth/lame comment that perfectly fits a situation before moving in for that first kiss.

My second girlfriend............ahhh "hello maryKate, hello Ashley!!

It was 6 am on a beautiful june morning, I was walking from my horses stable to the muck heap - I stopped at the menage to rest slightly as i had backache.  I watch my beloved dog running around the menage and my horse joins me to watch, my horse lifts his head to kiss me on the cheek (he always did this, but usually for a treat).  I stoke my 8 month pregnant bump and feel such complete peace, I  just wanted to stay there forever.  My horse followed me everywhere I went that morning, when I took him to the field he waited by the gate and refused to eat the grass.  The slight back pain was in fact labour pains and my daughter was lying sideways instead of head down - im convinced my horse knew something was wrong.  My friends at the stables say he didnt move from the gate all day to eat the grass.  I was lucky to have a doctors appointment that day, as I was 10cm dilated and had to be rushed to hospital for a c section.  The whole ride there and the fuss of the doctors who were worried my waters would break before they operated didnt faze me at all - I just thought back to that morning, and felt calm. 

OMG Hied, soppy memories, I've got fahzands of em


I was about 10 or 11 years old

I was lying in the double bed that I shared with my younger brothers at the back end of the caravan. My mother was kneeling on the floor pumping air into our little Primus, a small paraffin fuelled cooking stove. Although I was warm and snug in my bed, I could see my breath condensing in the freezing winter air and I was always glad when I heard the Primus burst into life with a comforting roar, it’s bright blue flame bringing the promise of hot tea and fried bacon

We were stopping on one of our regular places, Flash Lane. It’s now a main road through an estate of houses but at the time it was an almost unused minor road with wide grass verges, ideal for tethering horses. Some people think it’s wrong to tether horses but if you take the time to get them used to it properly it allows them a lot of freedom compared to a stable, and Gypsy horses have such thick coats that they ‘sweat up’ if kept indoors. We used to camp there for about two months every year; the locals knew the horses and us well and didn’t make a fuss

It was my job to help my father to move the horses every morning and when I heard the dog’s backs scrape along the brake wires beneath the caravan as they roused themselves, I knew it was time to go

I jumped out of bed and quickly pulled on my cold jeans and boots, being careful not to knock over the Primus, I was already wearing my shirt and jumper because I had slept in them, then I slipped quietly outside into the bright sunshine that was already beginning to thaw the nights hard frost, turning it into sparkling dew, it was a beautiful day

I followed my father and the dogs down the lane towards the place where the horses were tethered about a quarter of a mile away, long before we got there they heard us coming and whinnied softly.

When we arrived I retrieved a battered bucket and a sledgehammer from some brambles where I had hidden them the day before. While my Dad used the hammer to loosen the long metal pin that held the tether, I filled the bucket with water from a small stream, taking care not to disturb the muddy bottom

It’s easier to move and water the horses according to their rank, they have a pecking order and they like you to observe proper protocol, so we tended to Rosie, the eldest and the boss first. My Dad had moved her a few yards further along the verge and as I came staggering towards them carrying the bucket he was preparing to hammer the peg back into the ground, the trouble was, every time he turned his back the old mare would nuzzle his neck, pushing his trilby hat over his eyes, he would push it back, and wave her away, only to repeat the whole performance a few seconds later. Eventually, my Dad swung around to face the old mare, shaking his fist and advising her of the horrible consequences of continuing to torment him, Rosie backed up a little, held her head up high and rolled her eyes, Dad carried on with his tirade but gave me a little wink to let me know he found it all just as amusing as I did

After we had finished our livery Dad turned for home but I asked permission to continue on down the lane with the dogs to see if I could catch a rabbit. At this time of the morning you could often find them feeding along the grass verge but they never strayed far from their bolt holes and they were always too quick for the dogs. Dad knew this, but he let me go anyway, hunting was an important skill and he didn’t discourage me. We never wasted anything we caught, if we couldn’t eat it, we didn’t kill it, It wasn’t cruel, it was a way of life

Usually I would have crept down the lane as quietly as possible, dogs to heel beside me, trying to get as close as possible to the rabbits and hoping to surprise one that was a little slow to bolt or preoccupied by a particularly succulent plant. But this time I had a different plan and I walked in plain view, dogs running ahead, I saw the rabbits bolt long before we were anywhere near them

When I reached the twenty or so bolt holes there was not a rabbit in sight, but the dogs eagerly sniffed every hole in turn, scratching and pawing at the openings of the occupied ones. Now to test my great plan, late the night before I had blocked some of the holes with dried grass which I had rammed in as far as I could reach, the theory being that the rabbit, once in the hole, would not venture out again and would lie up against the blockage, waiting for the danger to pass

I reached expectantly into three or four of the holes but all I encountered was the blockage that I had placed there, then suddenly, on the next hole, I touched something that was unmistakably alive. It was like an electric shock, and I snatched my hand away instinctively, my mind conjuring up images of rats and snakes. It took all my courage to pull that rabbit out, I killed it quickly the way I had been shown and ran home in triumph

I told the story of my hunt over and over, and I was showered with much more praise than I deserved. My Mam cooked the rabbit that night and to this day it remains one of the most memorable meals I have ever had

I often think of that morning, it’s as vivid to me today as it was all those years ago.   

RED_DOG - 1 : Elmer Fudd - 0

Red-dog i cant believe your favourite memory involves the taking of a life  :(

zelda, I'm so sorry if my post offends you, If you want me to remove it I will do so gladly

I don't really want to offer a defence here because it's an argument I can't win

No need to do that red-dog, I was just surprised…  I have a huge amount of empathy for animals and do get upset by how they are persecuted at the hands of us humans.  That said I much prefer the practice of hunting animals in the wild for food, rather than factory farming.  But for your first kill to be a favourite memory? :(:(:(

Nice thread.

I studied in the US for a year. I had just turned 21 and was lucky enough to spend June, July and August in Amherst, Western Massachusettes around people I loved, Nicola, Beverley, Zoe, Mike and Keith.

The daily routine was in itself a thing of great pleasure to me. After four hours or so of sleep we used to loadour mountain bikes onto the back of Mike's pick-up truck and drive to a nearby diner to enjoy a massive breakfast (Zelda, look away now) of pancakes, syrup, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, hash browns, beans, coffee and (in mine and Keith's case) a bottle of budweiser before slowly making our way over to the near-deserted university campus.

There, those of still studying would work on our dissertations for a couple of hours (the impact of sports on US Colleges, in my case). "Work" out of the way, we'd then meet for a light lunch around noon, and afterwards play Tennis for a while, drive to a nearby lake and swim or take the bikes out to Quabbin reservoir, a flooded valley, an area of outstanding natural beauty and home to some great bike trails.

I would then usually sleep for a few hours before watching the Red Sox game with the boys or going out to watch a movie with everyone.

About 11ish, we would usually head in the direction of the South Amherst Alehouse, which served Draft Newcastle Brown ale  in pints (hey, I was 21) until it shut about 2am. After continuing to talk rubbish and enjoy a smoke we'd crash about 4am. Halycon days indeed.

The memory this thread has triggered is riding back from the reservoir on the bed of the truck, hanging on to the bikes sitting opposite Nicola. The wind was blowing and Nicola was struggling to keep the hair out of her eyes. I adored her and thought she'd never looked so beautiful and went to take a photo with her hair everywhere. She stopped trying to fight the wind while I took my photo. When I got the film developed I could not believe how relaxed she looked, nor how beautiful. Thanks for giving me an excuse to remember that.

I didn't say it was my first kill, and it was the morning, the dogs, the horses, my family and my way of life that make it one of my favorite memories

tom  im in tears reading that it took me three hours

Nowadays Red goes to the Supermarket to buy his meat - and I bet it's ages since he last had a rabbit!

T-bone Steak all the way now you know!  lol

Great post as always Red.

Trace
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