Thursday, April 7, 2016

I Remember When

Age has been on my mind a lot lately.  I have an aunt who just turned 97, my mother will be 92 on Monday and I am facing the big seven-oooh in a couple of months. 

Every day in almost every way I am reminded I’m getting old.  There are the aches and pains that suddenly appear without warning, each haircut shows more thinning, the new wrinkle that was not there last time I washed my face. How Hubby and I spend more time each year visiting the doctors building.  Where did all these good, not so good and downright bad days come from?

 We are starting to feel guilty about the number of times lately we have canceled some event at the last minute because one of us was not feeling well enough to attend. Lately, we hesitate accepting an invitation to anything for fear it will fall on one of our bad days.

The biggest reminders of how much time has passed is all the stuff in the media, on facebook and the young people in our lives going on about something that never existed in our youth and has now been around for thirty, forty or even fifty years.  So let's talk about some of the things that make me feel old.

….my parent brought home our first television ---- it was in a mahogany cabinet with a “ 14-inch screen.” was black and white and a person had to actually get up and cross the room to change the sound or channel.  
.... the day our first telephone was installed.  It sat on a small table in the hallway so everyone could use it and yes, it had a dial hence the term “Dial Tone.”  It was also on a party line so half the neighborhood could listen in and you knew if the call was for you by the number of long and short rings it made.  
....I was twelve in 1958 when the first McDonalds opened in st. Louis.  It had a  walk up window and you ate in your car.  I was in high school before I ever got to actually sample any of their products.  
....we would go through not just days but weeks or even months without taking a single photo of anything.  Cameras were for special occasions only.  
       .... all of us kids (in my Elementary school) were sent home for lunch and Mom often had a bowl of hot soup waiting.  Everybody walked, even when the weather was bad and feared the Nun's wrath if we were late getting back.
       .... most of the adult women I knew did not know how to drive.
       .... music came from the radio or a record player.  The 8-track player, walkman, and i-pod were all still a seed in the inventors dreams.  
       ....  produce was kept in a fruit cellar dug underground and the meat was in the smoke house out by the barn. And, the city folks kept their food stored in an ice box-- with real blocks of ice delivered to the house in ice trucks.
       ... we hung out at the Woolworth’s soda fountain.
       .... we played with tinker toys, hula hoops, and hopscotch.
       ....we watched Art Linkletter,  Howdy Doody,  American Bandstand, Make room for Daddy, and Gunsmoke.
       .... the DOS based computer on my desk at work.
       .... the countless vacations to far away places using only a paper map picked up at the gas station for directions. 

Heck, I'm so old I remember when Spam was something you fried for a sandwich.  I also remember we had to leave the room when adults wanted to visit. We had to wait to speak until we were given permission. 
I remember we had clothes for every occasion (church, school and play) and you didn't dare go out to play in the wrong ones. Also, girls were not allowed to wear pants to church or school and shorts were only worn by boys. 
   
But, mostly I remember running out the door after breakfast and not having to be home until suppertime.  Every kid you knew left the house with all the items they might need that day. When we lived in town you would see baseball mitts hanging from the handlebars of bicycles and baskets with baseballs, roller skates, and Barbie dolls cases.  We never missed picking up the castoff pop bottles we found because if we were lucky we might have enough to redeem for a Slowpoke, Tootsie Roll or ice cream cone.    When we moved to the country, roller skates disappeared and the boys carried fishing poles and BB guns.  I remember picking cherries and apples from the trees or tomatoes from the vines for lunch and curling up on a blanket in a den created under the lilac bushes to read Nancy Drew books, or carving rings from peach seeds, or weaving pot holders.  

One thing I have learned is that while the gadgets, toys or events may change people not so much.  I remember hearing my parents and grandparents making these same kinds of lists.  Back then it might have been airplanes, automobiles, or vacuum cleaners on their list but they marked getting old by how the world changed and the actors, statesmen and events that came and went in their lifetime. 

How about you?  

Monday, April 4, 2016

Firehouse Good and Bad


Yesterday I posted about the noise in my neighborhood that disturbs our sleep.   I left out the major cause of noise and that is our local fire dept.  The firehouse sits across the street and all the action can be viewed from our kitchen window.  When they get a call (any time of day or night) the traffic from all the volunteers arriving, to answer that call, plus the sirens and whistles are enough to wake the dead resting in the cemetery at the end of the block.  Fortunately, this is something that does not happen very often and we have learned to ignore it over the years.  

This fire house just happened to be a very lucky break for one young lady last fall.  She was speeding down the street while talking on her cell phone.  Just as she reached  our corner she realized she was about to hit a car parked in front of our house.  Somehow, In the process of trying to miss the parked car, she managed to upturn her vehicle onto its side. 



We heard the crash and so did the only on-duty firefighter who soon sent out the alarm.  Before long the street was filled with firefighters, police, paramedics, and looky-loos and the traffic their vehicles create.     



I photographed the entire event from our kitchen window.



To save this young lady the embarrassment of having someone local stumble on this post and recognize her I have faded out her face. 


 

As these photos show, she must have been injured.  Her arm was wrapped  and her pants show blood stains.  


After her car was towed this girl had to wait a long while for someone to come and get her.  We asked her to come wait inside but she refused.

 Safety Yellow can be a good thing. 
































Sunday, April 3, 2016

Noisy Neighbors

I suppose everyone has had to put up with a lousy neighbor at some point in their life.  I have certainly had more than my share over the years.  There has been the next door apartment leased to college kids who liked to party late into the night, and the family whose yard was an obstacle course of broken machinery and wrecked automobiles.  Then it seems every neighborhood has that one couple who had to always be spying into everyone's business with occasional calls to 911 just to make things even more contentious.   

More times than I care to count over the last fifty years of living on my own,  I've had to knock on a neighbor's door about a problem with their kids, pets, noise or some infraction of normal neighborhood behavior. 

I will admit that since hubby and I retired we have had to be more understanding of things like noises that wakes us up, only because we no longer have a set routine.  We have gravitated toward a nocturnal life and can be caught sleeping at almost any time of day or night.  So, a neighbor repairing their roof in the mid afternoon has to be overlooked. When I was a day sleeper due to work I used white sound, ear muffs, and heavy curtains to make my bedroom into night but now it seems like too much effort.

Over the last few weeks, we have had many odd things in the neighborhood rousing us from our needed rest, all of which we were helpless to change.     




These blackbirds settled into the tree behind us and decided to stay for a few days feeding on whatever it was they were finding in the field between us and the church behind us.  Their noise was remarkable.  They could be scared off but they kept coming back.  




Another day we were awakened to both the phone and cable companies doing repairs on the street by our house.  This pole is only a few feet from our kitchen window. The hard hat in the bucket just had to shoot the breeze with the guy on the ground which required him to speak loudly. The two of them had a lot to talk about.



A few days ago we went to bed during a heavy rain and woke up several hours later to what sounded like a plane load of golf balls hitting the roof.  The hail stones ranged from pea to nickel size chunks that melted rather quickly. 


I do hope the neighborhood will settle down for a while.  It is only eight weeks until school will be out and all the kiddies will be waking us with their play. I will admit hearing children having fun is not the worst thing to have to endure in our retirement.


Stop by and see what others have to share this week. 

 

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Shadow Shots

This was my lucky week for photos of shadows.  They are not something I have had many opportunities to photograph lately. Not sure if it has been due to the lousy weather or my not being observant. But, today I have a twofer to share.   

  

The crabapple tree that sits in front of our living room window has just gone from full blooms to being leafed out.  I opened my front door one morning to find its shadow on the front walkway.  



We went to our favorite local cafe for lunch.  It is always a busy place at that time of day.  As we were waiting to be seated I looked out the window into the sallyport and noticed the shadow of the front door reflected on the opposite window blinds.  I even managed to get hubby's profile in this shot as well.  


Linking up with Shadow Shot Sunday 2
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Friday, April 1, 2016

The last of Spring

Spring is my favorite time of year.  I love taking drives with my camera at this time of year.   Sharing a few more of my snaps of spring blooming around town.



Forsythia on Main Street 

Below is the crab-apple that is in front of my living room window. 
Above is the crocuses blooming right below the crab-apple tree. 



This is Bridalveil 

A Bradford Pear 


This is my favorite shot of all.  Taken in my cousin's yard. 

I hope your spring has provided lots of cheerful blossoms. 



Linking to the following:

http://www.photofriday.com/buttons.php
This weeks photo challenge is "Blossom"
You can link up by clicking here


To check out what others have to share click here.