2. S u m m e r o f 1 9 6 6
As I brushed my teeth and climbed into bed, my
mother told me that tomorrow was going to be even
better than today. Today was loads of fun, I can¡¯t wait
for tomorrow. She tucked me in, kissed me on the
cheek then, like any other night, told me to blow out
the lights. They never went out on the first try. Those
lights are hard to blow out. Now it¡¯s dark. I¡¯m not
afraid.
I hear the sound of our neighbors lawnmower. It was
Mr. Jordan a very nice man. The sound of the
lawnmower makes me sleepy.
Tomorrow I¡¯m going to build a fort. A big fort. Only my
best friend Scott Jordan and I are allowed in the fort.
No one else, not even Billy Parker. We may have to tie
Billy up again, even if he cries.
Billy¡¯s older sister, Elizabeth asked Scott and I to play
doctor with her today. We said ¡°no¡±, she said ¡°why?¡±
We said ¡°cuz we¡¯re not sick¡± that¡¯s why!¡±. Elizabeth
Parker always wanted to play doctor.
I like to fly in my dreams, I hope I fly tonight.
3. A crack in the curtain let the sun in. I can hear the birds
outside my window. I am so happy that I can fly just like
them. They are very busy, talking to each other. Grandpa
Ladouceur taught me how to catch a bird by shaking salt on
its tail. It sure was fun trying. I miss Grandpa.
I am going outside to make popcorn with my tricycle. It¡¯s
fun. I turn my tricycle upside down then fill the fender up
with small gravel stones from the driveway.. Then I grab the
peddle and turn the wheel really fast until the gravel
magically turn into kernels and start to pop as they fly out
of the end of the fender. Popcorn tastes good.
I hope Scott is awake. I¡¯m going next door to ring the bell.
Can Scott come out to play? Mr. Jordan said ¡°sure, let me
go get him¡±.
¡°Let¡¯s go climb the apple tree¡± I said. ¡°OK¡±, said Scott, ¡°no
one will find us there¡± not even Elizabeth Parker. ¡°Wanna
build a fort? ¡° I asked. Scott said ¡°that would be great but
were going to need some nails¡±.
We looked everywhere but could not find any nails.
4. ¡°I have an idea¡± . ¡°What is it?¡± said Scott. Let¡¯s
draw a picture and sell it to Mrs. Smith down the
street. Last week I saw her give money to a boy who
had some cookies. ¡°OK¡± said Scott, ¡°That¡¯s a good
idea, then we can go and buy some nails with the
money¡±. What kind of picture do you want to
make?¡± asked Scott. ¡°I dunno¡± I replied. ¡°I like
clowns¡±. ¡°So do I¡± said Scott.
We took our picture and walked down to Mrs.
Smith¡¯s house. Scott pushed the doorbell and we
waited. Scott pushed the doorbell again, and we
waited.. It seemed like forever but Mrs. Smith finally
opened the door and asked ¡°can I help you?¡± ¡°Yes,¡±
said Scott. ¡°We made this picture (which I proudly
held up) and we need to buy some nails so that we
can build a fort. Would you like to buy this from
us?¡± Mrs. Smith smiled and said, ¡°How much are
you asking for this picture?¡± We both said ¡°Fifteen
Cents¡± ! This was a price Scott and I both agreed
would be a fair price well before we arrived at Mrs.
Scott¡¯s house.
¡°Fifteen cents huh?¡± said Mrs. Smith, ¡°very well
then I will buy your picture for fifteen cents. Wait
here and I will be right back with your money.¡±
Scott and I looked at each other, smiled then stared
at the door until Mrs. Smith returned with our
$0.15.
5. We ran home to tell anyone who would listen about our
recent transaction. My mother was the first to greet us;
¡°What are you boys up to?¡± She asked. In-between
breaths, Scott and I explained our situation, ¡°we need to
buy nails for our tree fort¡± Scott replied. Then Scott held
out his hand and produced the fifteen cents Mrs. Smith
gave us. My mother smiled, congratulated us, but with a
confused look on her face asked us why we were still in
possession of the painting if it was sold to Mrs. Smith.
Scott and I looked at each other and started to laugh. We
laughed so hard it made my mother laugh too. We were
so excited to sell our picture to Mrs. Smith we forgot to
hand it over. I guess Mrs. Smith does not like clowns.
Scott¡¯s mom called out, supper is on the table. I said
goodbye to Scott and went inside to wash my hands. My
mother is a good cook. We are having spaghetti tonight.
The painting never made it back to Mrs. Smiths house but
we built a really neat fort in the apple tree.
You can buy a lot of nails for fifteen cents.
6. Title: ¡°The Clown¡±
Medium: magic marker on wooden cabinet door
Date: Summer of 1966
Artists: Scott Jordan & Leslie Mann
Age: 5&6
Original Selling Price: $0.15
Patron: Mrs. Smith
Footnote: On November 22, 2009 I ran into Scott
Jordan while I was visiting our old house in
Guelph, Ontario. Scott just happened to be
visiting his parents that weekend. We talked about
the 5 or 6 years that we shared together growing
up as neighbors and best friends. I mentioned the
painting and Scott was quick to point out that he
was still in possession of it. A few days later Scott
sent me a photo of the ¡°Clown¡±.
42 years have passed by since Scott and I hung out
in our tree fort. Apparently clowns had seven
fingers back then.
? The Clown by: Leslie Mann 2002 Original 12 ¡° x 28 ¡°