Rosie’s Diner

There is this wonderfully entertaining and cute show on Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr.  called The Backyardigans.   Its about 5 computer animated animal characters (who are actually children); Austin, Pablo, Tyrone, Uniqua and Tasha.   Every episode has a theme where the kids imagine themselves as pirates, vikings, jungle explorers and castaways on a deserted island. Each episode ends with the imaginary setting turning back into the backyard with the kids going back to one of the kid’s home for juice and a snack–the last episode I watched, "Castaways", they had Apple Sauce after their castaway adventure. 

The best parts of the show are the musical numbers which are so good, even adult viewers are tempted to clap and sway in time to the music.  Hehe, I do, did.

After watching an episode sometime last month, I suddenly wished that we had a common backyard where Maxine and other kids can get together and play the same way the Backyardigans do.  There was something about watching that episode that reminded me of something but I couldn’t place what it was.  Then I remembered…I was a Backyardigan, too!  Except we didn’t have a back yard, we had a front yard with a swing and that was my yard….I was a Front Yardigan!  How could I have forgotten? 

I may have been all by my lonesome (didn’t have anyone else to play with most of the time, sniff, sniff) and I didn’t really break out into hip and entertaining song and dance numbers but I certainly transformed our front yard into the coolest, most fun places I could think of back then (well, if that were now, my front yard would perennially be set up as Kalye back in 1992 when Coco Jam played on Friday nights, The Breed on Wednesday nights and Razorback on Saturday nights and I could still stomach Red Horse…).  A high rise apartment building where I lived and owned the coolest condo where my friends and I concocted magic potions and spells that were meant to save the world, a school building where I was in command of my own classroom and happened to be the coolest teacher on earth–maybe nothing as adventurous or colorful as a deserted island but still, I was anything and anyone I wanted to be.  So what if our maids used to make fun of me for talking to myself (or so they thought) whenever I was on my swing out on the front yard.  I was a Front Yardigan being anyone and being anywhere I imagined I wanted to be!  Hurray for those days…!

I hardly use my imagination anymore and I scold my daughter when she does.  I don’t want her to wake up and have reality hit her in the face the same way it hit me.  Well, the things I always imagined would happen to me, never did, but the things I never ever imagined did happen…so I guess there is a balance to this sad tale…I guess, when I look back I’m happy that I was a Front Yardigan.  It was fun and perhaps even better than experiencing the real thing…Let’s all be Backyardigans again…we can come back to my house afterwards for some Apple Sauce