Yesterday in the mail came a nondescript manila envelope.  The return address was from my uncle.  It was then I remembered him asking me for my address as he wanted to send me something from my distant past.  I opened up the envelope and in between pieces of cardboard were several drawings and coloring book pages from when I was 5 and 6 years old. 

Now I feel bad, because I know my uncles birthday was in the last two months, but when I went to wish him happy birthday I discovered I didn’t have his phone number or current email address…

I’m not sure how my uncle came to posses these pieces, but he’d kept them for over twenty years in mint condition.  It is kind of strange discovering something that is completely yours, something you made and ought to take ownership of – but can’t remember it at all.  There was even a drawing of the Challenger blowing up, which was quite strange.  I say strange because my generation is the generation that supposedly sat around in school and watched the whole thing happen.  For the longest time I was under the impression that my school (I would have turned five years old and been in kindergarten at Warren Elementary)  did not show the launch because I had no memory of it (I do have other memories from that age).  Perhaps this is still true, but the fact that I made a drawing of it calls that long-held belief into question.  Some other drawings raise some interesting psychological questions, which we’ll explore below.  What I didn’t scan and won’t post were the coloring book pages, which were done very deftly, always within the lines and with watercolor no less.  Leaves me wondering why I never attempted watercolor again in the last 25 years….

In fact, since the Challenger exploded in January 1986 when I was technically four years old, that means many of these drawings were probably made at a younger age than that noted.  The challenger drawing was noted as being done when I was 6.  However, I wouldn’t have been 6 years old until March 1987…. that would have been an eternity at that age and so I’d probably have forgotten all about the Challenger by then.

Scary guy in forest?

I like how there are four astronauts with smiley faces… then an arrow and kaboom!  Perhaps I didn’t quite connect the explosion with their deaths; maybe I thought they were still up there somewhere and the explosion was their jump to hyperspace like the Millenium Falcon. 

 

A dancing silver dog catching a fisbee… and apparently I placed a value of $0.ee on the piece.  Note the pre-emo dual ear piercings and collar.

At first I thought this was some magical Michael Gondry house, then I realized it was a helicopter.. I even put arrows to show what goes where.

I’m guessing this is a shriner asking for money with his pockets pulled out to show lack of funding…

This is some sort of vehicle.  Not sure if the thing in the front is a pine tree or a giant uncovered engine (tractor pull style).  It sure does pollute though – a young Andrew was obviously very concerned about the environment.

I couldn’t figure out what the heck this was … a “rat-poodle-toad” getting run over by a “six door” school bus?  Byron had the brilliant observation that maybe I was just drawing a license place on a bus.  What is the animal for though?

play-doh acrobat?

the description on this one is pretty accurate (“using snow tube”).

No description on this one because, well, I’m sure they were just as confused as I am now.  Clearly there is a woman with red boots and something else.  A man with a beard?  PacMan?  My contention is that this is an early Zoidbergconcept and I ought to sue the pants off of Matt Groening.

…imagining Matt Groening pantsless… maybe I better rethink that plan!

 

I have to get my uncle’s information to thank him for this faux nostalgic,  mildly disturbing and thoroughly hilarious birthday gift.