From the Archives...

Loobylu is going through her creative past every Friday...


Years ago, Emma and I decided we had too much stuff - not just big stuff but piles of birthday cards, school reports, diaries, letters, primary school drawings, ticket stubs, love letters (;). Before the last move from the city to the country, we bought two huge plastic boxes - one each.

This was our chance to cull the past and whatever didn't fit into our box, well, it got tossed. It was a hard thing to do and handling, reading over every piece of the past wasn't always easy.

Finally the boxes were full. We sealed them up and packed them away in the dark...until Saturday. I found mine on the shelf in the garage and in a fit of nostalgia, I lifted off the lid (which was covered in dust) on this box of memories.

I had totally forgotten what was in there but what I did come across was my swap card collection (circa 1973), some old dolls and books. The covers of these books hurled my memory back in time...

I'm pretty sure I go Jumbo from the school book club. Every now and then a form would come around and we could each select books - then the form was posted away and weeks later (always felt like years) - the books would arrive in plastic bags and the teacher would hand the orders. I think this was one of the first books to move me to tears...maybe that's why I remember it so clearly.

Storm Boy! I was in Grade 5 and I hatched a plan. I nagged my older sister to agree to not only buy me this book but walk it up to my school, meet me at certain spot at play-lunch and throw it over the school fence! She did it! I have no idea why I would have been so intense about this book but it was pretty nice of her to do it.

I got Tim and the Sea Captain when I was really little so I have very few memories of actually getting it but I know I was in a bookshop in town - it was in a little arcade and I was with my eldest sister. Still a great read.