Childhood Memories

After a long time working on projects, I decided to take a break and work again on a project started back in the summertime. It's a painting of my childhood woods, behind my house on Fairbanks Road. Looking back on the time spent there, many amazing and bewildering events occurred.

Most memories are miniscule, and only important to myself, but then other richly bizarre tales: Such as my black cat Magic appearing and disappearing from her grave. Our woods naturally had a pet cemetery, where our beloved pets and sometimes accidental drowned chipmunks were laid to rest. Magic, after suffering an extremely bad broken leg, was put to sleep, and then placed in our family plot. About a year after, my best friend and I were taking a walk through the back woods and noticed that the cat's grave had been... dug up! But, there was no body to be found. We though this must be some strong nosed animal and dirt was filled back into the tiny hole. Well, what followed were several months of the grave being dug up again, and occaisionally the body being seen in other parts of the woods. Each time, we'd quickly rebury the poor creature, pour bleach and other noxious smelling chemicals to deter what we though HAD to be an animal. Me thinks... there was more at play here.

The woods near my old house lies in a very spooky section called the Bridgewater Triangle. Many odd occurances have caused the locals to name this area as a very supernatural swamp. There's quite a lot of documentation about it, so I welcome you to poke around. What I can tell you is I am also a beliver of this area's oddness. My woods were the home to many Wampanoag burial mounds, and I secretly hoped their spirits kept me safe as I played. My brothers and I made bark masks to keep watch of the woods while we were away.

They were very fun days, but incredibly imaginative days. But imagination can conjure up all sorts of playfulness... and wickedness. It was New England after all... a region rich with old lore.