A Boat Ride Down Memory Lane

I was reminded of a childhood memory as I was looking out the window a while ago. It must be the rain that brought it on. I  quite suddenly remembered that when I was little, and it was pouring outside, I would pretend that my room (or our house) was a boat. I can't remember the last time I "pretended" anything, and it was weird to remember the feeling of doing it so vividly. Maybe it's like riding a bike, once you learn you never really forget?
Being raised in a Christian house, I would imagine the rain as the beginning of a flood, and my room as my own little ark. Similar to the one Noah had, but you know....smaller. I'd designate one corner of my room as the galley and stock up on dry cereal, or whatever else I could get my hands on, another spot would be my sleeping quarters, and another area for my animals (mostly stuffed I believe, although there may have been a real cat (unhappily) involved at times). I would corral the animals in with pillows if they were stuffed, and flipped over laundry baskets if they were real. I'd make sure everything was organized, survey my handiwork with a great amount of satisfaction, and then stare out the window and feel totally safe and happy in my ark as I imagined the rain water rising up past the windows and launching our house off it's foundation and floating away on the crest of huge waves.
( Side note: I guess I always imagined the whole house as the ark. My reasoning was otherwise Mom would drown while she was cooking dinner, or Dad would be washed away while making phone calls in his office, and even though I didn't care for him much, I supposed I'd feel pretty horrible if my little brother were somehow to be lost in the deluge. But since I wasn't allowed to make a mess everywhere, I usually kept my game, and my imaginings in my room.)
This all must have been when I was pretty young, before I had developed any real sense of reason, before I had a fully developed ability to think things through. Because when I was reminiscing about it earlier I concluded that now I'd probably choose drowning over being stuck in a boat with two of every living thing on the earth, especially the ones that fall under the "creeping" category. Just thinking about being in the same space with wolf spiders and cockroaches (under overturned laundry basket or no) totally creeps me out.
But back then, every living thing didn't (as far as I was concerned) involve insects of any kind, or bears, or wolverines, or alligators, or bunnies with red eyes, or anything else scary. There were only kittys, and giraffes, so it was cool. But at the same time the fact that  my make believe had to contain provisions for my family, shows the beginning of my ability to think critically. How my general lack of reason could coexist so peacefully with the few rational thoughts I had and make total sense to me, will alas, forever remain a mystery. But it made sense then.
Anyway, this is sort of a random trip down memory lane, but one I enjoyed embarking upon this afternoon. I think I miss the fact that I don't pretend anymore. I had sort of forgotten about it, but in the same way certain smells, or special songs, bring the past screaming into the present, I can suddenly recall with such clarity how much FUN it was. Now days I am pretty stoked to stay home and do laundry when it's raining, but when I was little I had real adventures. In fact, now that I think about it, they were probably the greatest adventures of my life.
Hmmm....OK, here's what I'm gonna do. I am going to spend the rest of the afternoon pretending that I am folding laundry on my houseboat....NO! wait....my yacht. Yesss...My sweet yacht that has a fireplace! And I am going to imagine the rain turning into a flood and my little apartment floating away on some adventure, maybe to the Amazon, with me safe and warm inside. It can't be that hard to do, after all I did it when I was 7 right?
Well, I've got to go. It's time to raise the planks (whatever that means) and cast off. Wish me luck!