Cara Leckenby, writer, designer, organizer, mother and Thing-doer.
25 Things about the kind of a nut who commits to 1000 days of good:
1. My son was the first kiddo born on the Olympic Peninsula in 1998. (I guess that's only partly about me - I was there, though!).
2. The "Senior Prediction" for me in high school was that I would have "Longer hair and shorter skirts". Heh. Guess that prediction didn't come true. I don’t wear skirts.
3. Lima beans, canned peas and bananas make me gag. Cheese does too, under the right circumstances.
4. I met Sonny Bono in a bar in Bellingham and was manhandled by his assistant. That was fun.
5. Every one of my grandmother’s siblings (and my grandmother) had cancer (different cancers), but died of other causes in their old age.
6. I'm afraid of dying in the water. Makes ferry rides interesting.
7. As an adjunct to number 6, I couldn't put my head under water until I was about 7 years old. My poor mother had a heck of a time trying to wash my hair.
8. When I was 8, I kicked the neighborhood bully in the shin and tore off on my bike. I've been kicking bullies ever since. I wonder if that makes me a bully?
9. I have serious inner struggles between creativity and freedom on the one side, and responsibility and productivity on the other. Responsibility and productivity usually win. Unfortunately.
10. I'm a follower. I like for other people to arrange my adventures, and to be able to partake of them but not have to plan them.
11. I danced for 12 years, and defined myself by that ability. I still feel a dance-sized hole in my life.
12. My father liked to adopt new roles and identities as often as he changed his socks. My favorite was finding a business card after he died: "Gordon D. Leckenby, Western Photographer". It was in a box of blurry, dark snapshots of 13 year olds on horses competing in some sort of rodeo show. Funny stuff. Again, not so much about me, but maybe informs who I am more than I'd like.
13. My best friend and I buried our childhood treasures under a bush in her front yard when we were 8 or 9 years old. When we were 25, years after her family had moved to another house, we dressed all in black and made a midnight pilgrimage to the bush, hoping to dig up our treasures. We found that the bush had been removed and replaced by a driveway.
14. I collect moments like they’re little movies. When a moment is really incredible (remarkable doings, gorgeous surroundings, wonderful food, great kisses, etc) I tell myself to remember it. I mark my surroundings, the feel, the colors, the smells, the sounds and I make a point of storing it all away for later enjoyment. Sometimes when I recall them later in life, I wonder if I've fabricated some parts of the moments. They seem too shiny and wonderful to have been true. True or not, I love being able to travel back to those places in my life.
15. I called my mom “Moomashbladahbladah” when I was little. Sometimes just “Moomash” for short. I have no idea why.
16. I fall in love HARD and I stay that way for far too long. Long after any hope of reciprocation has passed. It makes no sense, and I wish it weren’t so. My friends would probably also add that I fall in love with the wrong sort. Which compounds the problem.
17. My son’s middle name is “Chapter” because he’s the biggest chapter in my book.
18. I have a wandering eye. I mean, it’s a lazy eye and it wanders around at it’s own bidding. I’ve been able to get control over it for the most part, but when I’m exhausted, it’ll still sometimes just do its own thing.
19. When I was 9 I started down a huge hill on a tiny tricycle, hit gravel and slid the rest of the way down the hill on my lip. I got to drink milkshakes for a week and have two tiny scars below my lip as a remembrance.
20. I can’t spell for beans and am constantly and eternally grateful for spell checkers. Cruelly enough, my 11-year-old son is a spelling genius.
21. I’ve watched all the Harry Potter movies and the Lord of the Rings trilogy more times than I care to say.
22. I’ve done number 21 because I’m ever so slightly compulsive. Repetition soothes me. Repetition soothes me.
23. I sometimes go to the Rose Theater solely for a bag of popcorn.
24. My mother told me that while the idea for my name came from a jar of pickled artichoke hearts (Cara Mia pickled artichoke hearts), in the end, the reason she chose “Cara” was so that I’d spend every day of my life being called “Dear One”.
25. I have a sixth sense that makes no sense. I’ve always been able to tell when an ex-boyfriend is dating again. And worse, I can always tell whom it is that they’re dating, even if I’ve never seen or met the girl before. I can see a stranger in the street and say: “that’s so-and-so’s new girlfriend”. And sure enough, it’ll turn out to be true. One time I spotted one in a car driving by (NOT with the ex-boyfriend, which would have been a dead giveaway). It’s a useless gift.
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