A new Winnie the Pooh movie is set to be released. I've read it's the old-school-new Pooh, for which I'm very pleased. Winnie the Pooh is a fond memory from my childhood... what little time I was actually able to be a child anyway. I can barely remember care-free moments growing up.

-Playing at the corner with my sisters in the dirt searching for horny toads. People would drive past and yell, "Those things will give you warts!" We didn't believe them. I don't know if that is a myth or truth, but several years later, we all had to have warts frozen off our skin. That was painful. The second part of that is not really a happy memory.

-Running down to the creek by the school to catch tad poles. My dad had a tank big enough for us to swim in that, during the warm months, he'd fill with water, and we'd fill with tad poles in hopes they'd become frogs before our eyes. I can't remember if they ever actually did. I do remember the joy I felt running around, and getting dirty with my sisters.

-My first black eye. I was playing catcher for baseball. Let's just say my hand-eye coordination was weak. I was proud of that black-eye, though. I didn't cry. I was about 5 or 6, I think.

-Learning to ride a bike without training wheels. I have two older sisters, and wanted desperately to be just like them. I had my dad take off my training wheels at three years old. I remember him saying, "Are you sure?" I said, "Yes, Daddy. Take them off." Only a few hours later, and several falls, I asked him to put them back on. It was a few days later I asked him to remove them again. He said, "I'm not putting them back on this time." I guess it was difficult to do. My sisters helped me to balance, and I was riding like mad in no time.

And, Winnie the Pooh. My mom had an old copy of Winnie the Pooh stories. I remember the inside cover had a map of the 100 Aker Wood where Christopher Robin would visit Pooh and his friends. I used to study it. I loved Winnie the Pooh... "Oh bother," I would sigh sometimes, just like Pooh. His best friend was Piglet, and they were so sweet together. Tiger was bouncy, Owl was wise, Eeyore was sullen, Ro was young and energetic and Rabbit was obsessive. There were so many different characters with whom I identified. Most of all, it's one of the few times I remember my mom reading to me... sitting down and spending quality time with me. When I was young, my parents divorced. I had only just finished kindergarten when she started college. She didn't have time to help me study because she herself was studying to make a better life for us. I developed ways to learn on my own. It made me an efficient learner and student, but I think I lack other things because of it. I guess that's the way of things, though. You're always going to be heavy on one side or the other of everything life has to offer. If it can be offered, it can be taken away.

I digress... It wasn't long after my parents divorce that my mom became highly distracted by school/work and the general business of being unhappy alone. Then, my teenage years seem to converge on me like a hurricane. So, Winnie the Pooh... it makes me feel young again. It makes me remember the times when Mama read to me. I'm definitely going to see this movie.

"I wonder what Piglet is doing," thought Pooh. "I wish I were there to be doing it, too."