Horcruxes

Carolyn, my niece wrote about horcruxes (think Harry Potter)in her blog and challenged her readers to think of and write about their own horcruxes - places where your soul has rubbed off. Although Voldemort used his for evil, like Carolyn said, the idea is actually pleasant - kind of a legacy we all leave. So here is my list:

1. The rock down by the creek in the cow pasture at the farm in Lake Elmo. It was a giant rock when I was a little girl. I could barely crawl up on there but when I did I could sing and think and talk to my pretend friends with out being teased by my big brother (guess who). I saw the rock later on a trip to MN after I had moved away to California. Of course it was not nearly as big, but it was still very special.
2. My doggie blanket. My mother made it for me and I always loved it and still do. She made a blanket for Catharine and Chris too. Catharine's is with her at school; it is pink and has kittens on one side. Chris uses his in his room here, it is green on one side and has Christmas elves on the other side. Appropriate for a holiday (Jan 1)baby.
3. A red and black wool jacket my mom used to wear raking leaves. Now I wear it raking leaves.
4. An ID pin from the World Dairy Expo Judging contest in 1981. That contest was a turning point in my life because I met my first boss there - Richard Denier from World Wide Sires in Hanford, CA.
5. Cayucos on the beach - in recent years when we visit there I feel more and more at home. The ocean and the water remind me of my past relatives who left everything - family, friends, land, and thier country of Sweden to come to the US. When I am there I fell like I have somewhat come full circle.
6. Our cows - Cows here are on a strictly two year or less revolving path. They don't stay here long, but just having them here is nice. Nothing better than going out late at night and giving them one more flake of hay or cleaning up the hay they tossed out of the trough and having them thankfully tear into it. Never thought I would say it was good to scrape up the hay at night! However, I don't have to go out in the extreme cold to do it. Rather, I like to do it on summer evenings after the scorching sun has set and the air is cool in the hollow where we keep them.
7. In the car/truck - I spend so much time driving - an hour to work, a half hour to baseball games, three and four hours to volleyball games plus all the little trips to town, school , practice. Sometimes I just drive with no radio, no CD to just be quiet for a while.
8. In the Fresno Convention Center, at the ball diamond, in a volleyball gym - These are the places my kids are at, and I spend so much time cheering them on, I work hard to inspire and I never criticize or compare one to the other.
Those are my horcruxes for now. As we grow and change, they move along with us, but like you said Carolyn, a part of us rubs off and remains.