Friday, October 21, 2005

Detective Agencies

While walking my dogs today I stumbled across a piece of cardboard in the grass.
Something caught my eye so I took a closer look. It was an advertisement for a detective agency. (2 years experience. Call now! $.25 per case. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. )



It really tickled me. As I finished my walk I thought about the "make believe" games I played as a kid. The memory that stands out most is riding bikes with my sisters. We pretended we were on fast stallions racing against the wind speeding down hills. We attached a piece of string to the handle bars for reins. Go Thunder! Go! Ride like the Wind!

(I also recall that we buttoned up our sweaters and then pulled them over our heads so they looked like long flowing hair!!)

A flood of other stories came back to mind. One of my sisters setup an adoption agency. She registered the names of make-believe kids on index cards. Each card had a name and their story, and notes indicating successful adoptions.

Several years ago my nieces came to visit. They too setup a detective agency. It was pretty impressive. They sat in the truck bed parked in the driveway watching cars as they drove by recording details and license plates. In their pads of paper they dutifully recorded their observations. They had a blast and played for hours and hours.

Imagination...a wonderfully delightful thing.

2 comments:

ANewAnglican@gmail.com said...

This is great! I, too, ran my own "detective agency" when I was a kid. I had case files, a briefcase fashioned out of an old travel suitcase, etc. I remember once I got everything set up, based on some books I got at the public library (a delightful little series for kids on "detecting") I was desperate for a case. I needed a mystery to solve. I asked my dad if there was any suspicious activity he wanted me to look into. I remember clearly what he said because I wrote it down in my notebook: "See if you can find out who is tracking all these sticker burrs into the house."

Small Glimpses said...

That is great! Thanks for sharing about your detective agency. It truly made my day. Btw...did you solve the mystery of the sticker burrs? :)

I just recalled another rememberance. My sisters and I used to play "acolyte" in our house. No kidding. We used the piano bench for the altar. We got out my mom's candle sticks and then pretended that we were serving at the alter. I totally forgot until this minute that we did this.