Childhood Summers

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a semi-tongue-in-cheek and rather snarky piece about hating summer ("Why a Woman of a Certain Age Hates Summer").  Though I am not going to take any of it back, I thought I should mitigate that view a bit by sharing another side of me that has some fond memories of summer.

Childhood.

Summer for a woman of a certain age is one thing, but I was also once a little girl and have some fond memories of summers past.

My birthday was in June and it was usually right when school ended, so my birthday heralded the beginning of summer for me, and though I liked school and was a good student, I liked having the summer off. I mean, who wouldn't? (Kind of like retirement except now I have an endless summer).

I am just back from my 50th High School Reunion and a family reunion which took me back to my hometown.  I will write more about that next week, but that trip back to Michigan also included a circle tour of Lake Michigan that included towns and sights that I saw over 60 years ago with my family.  I particularly remembered Charlevoix, Petoskey and Mackinac Island so seeing those places again after so many years brought back many happy memories.

This year I sat on the porch of the Grand Hotel and thought of that trip with my parents so many years ago.

My family didn't vacation very much - in fact I only remember three or four road trips that we ever took together - so those trips are vivid and happy summer memories from my childhood.

As a little girl, I was madly in love with horses. 

I subscribed to horse magazines and would spend hours thinking up really cool names for horses.  I read "Black Beauty" and all of the ponies of Chincoteague books by Marguerite Henry, reveled in movies like "National Velvet" and went horseback riding at the local horse rental place with my brother whenever I could.  I never made it past riding western and hanging on for dear life to the saddle pommel but my dream was to have a horse of my own one day. 



Alas, the closest I ever got was owning and driving a Mustang.

I grew up in a beach town and believe it or not never learned to swim.  I also had freckles and freakishly pale skin so I risked third degree burns every time I ventured to the beach.  But despite those shortcomings, I have many happy memories of beach outings.

My Dad always wore a hat and a tie - even at the beach!

When talking with my son who has young children and comparing notes about the differences in my, his and their childhoods, we get a laugh out of what was OK back in the day and frowned upon today.  For example, I had a worry wart of a mother but I ran all over the neighborhood during the summer and didn't come home until she rang a big bell and called out my name.  Likewise, everybody ate peanut butter and dogs roamed free. 

And remember sandboxes?

When I was young, there was always a sandbox in the park and almost all kids had sandboxes in their back yards. We never thought about cats soiling our play areas or whatever else modern parents worry about.  Sandboxes used to be a fun source of summer fun when you couldn't get to the real thing - the beach.  Having a sandbox was a thing.  Now not so much.

Like most towns of 80,000 people we had a robust Fourth of July Parade in our downtown and all kinds of summer celebrations.  

My recent trip back home was jarring when I discovered there was no longer a downtown (more on that next week), so seeing this picture was a happy reminder that we actually had one once.  My Dad played trumpet with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, even though he was not a veteran.  I guess they needed trumpet players. and here my sister was the flag bearer.  I always liked parades when I was little. Now not so much.

I guess the point of all of this is a bit of nostalgia.  I am back from my 50th High School Reunion after all.  Did you hear me?  I am back from my 50TH High School Reunion.  That means it's been 50 YEARS SINCE I GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL!!!

So I am still in a bit of shock about that. But being back there in my old hometown in the middle of summer, my childhood summer memories returned and reminded me that I was once a young girl who enjoyed all that summer had to offer...and not a bitchy old lady writing snarky blog posts about hating summer.

I have decided to be grateful for every summer that I live through!

Enjoy the rest of your summer everyone!

Thanks for Reading!

 
See you Friday

for my review of

  

"Florence Foster Jenkins"

and 

  

The Week in Reviews

(What to See or Read and What to Avoid)

  

and the latest on

"My 1001 Movies I Must See Before  

 I Die Project."

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Were The Good Old Days Really Good? - What I Miss (and What I Don't)!

I am starting to make plans to attend my 50th High School Reunion this summer.

 

I know, that's what I'm thinking too.  Geez.

As I make my plans, my mind wanders back to my past and it's very easy to sugar-coat it all.  Our minds have a way of remembering the good and forgetting the bad stuff.  It's easy to be wistful about the past, thinking things were easier then.  I guess maybe it's because for some of us things seem harder now.  We wish for The Good Old Days.

The Good Old Days.  Were they really that good?

To put things in perspective, here are some things to think about.


Would you be happier without access to the Internet?

As a librarian, I actually have a really good frame of reference for this. When I went to library school, I actually had to learn all of those reference books that no longer exist so that when someone asked me a question I would know what BOOK(S) to search.  We librarians had to do all of our searching by hand.

Every year about this time, I would get questions about stock prices from ten years ago or so because people were doing something tax related.  I had to search the "Wall Street Journal" by hand or via microfilm.  It could sometimes take hours, depending on the accuracy of the information supplied by the questioner. Today, because of the Internet it would take about 20 seconds to get that information.

So no matter what you think about the evils of the Internet, you have to admit, if you know how to distinguish good information from bad information, and you stay away from the porn, the Internet has definitely been a good thing.  I mean, think of all those old friends you've found on Facebook, those emails from your grandkids and those cute kitten videos on YouTube.

(See, you feel better now, right?)

Remember party lines?

No, I am not talking about a conga line at a party.  I am talking about cheap phone service back in the day.  If you wanted to save a bit of money, you had what was called a "party line," where you shared a phone line with several other houses. My parents needed to save money, I guess.  Though as a kid it used to be fun to sneakily pick up the phone and listen in on other people's conversations, you also might want to make a phone call and would have to wait until your neighbor's interminable conversation was over.  Imagine what that would be like today.




And speaking of phones. 

Remember when a long distance call cost a fortune?  Never mind ever calling overseas, just calling within the United States was really expensive.  My parents lived in Michigan and I lived in California.  When I was first starting out, I would call my parents "collect," meaning they would pay the charges.  I am sure that didn't help our long-distance relationship.  But even after I was paying my own way, my mother would always end a conversation with "Well, I don't want to run up your phone bill."  Click.  For some reason my mother never said "Good-bye."



What did we do without cell phones?

If I am in my car at night and realize I have forgotten my cell phone, I fantasize about all kinds of horrible things that could happen to me if my car broke down.  What would I do?  Because there certainly are no pay phones anymore. 

However, that reminds me of driving home from college one time and I had a flat tire. A man stopped to help me...and he not only didn't rape and murder me but he changed my tire!





Speaking of cars, I remember taking my car in for either a tune-up or repairs constantly.

Forty years ago I drove a little British sports car for about two years and it was either constantly needing repairs or leaving me stranded at McDonald's because it wouldn't start. 

Today I drive a 13 year old car that other than oil changes, new tires and brakes, has probably only been in the shop two or three times. The engineering on cars these days is so much better...what's a tune-up?



Did you enjoy people smoking in restaurants and on airplanes?

People used to stub their cigarette butts into their plates.  Yuck.  And on airplanes, did they really think putting smokers in the back of the plane made any difference?




Only three TV channels.

Now we all know I am a TV junkie, and it started early.  When I was little, I could actually recite the entire evening's TV line up on all three channels for every day of the week! 

Only three channels could have been a problem for me, but since I didn't know any better I didn't know what I was missing.  But today, I don't know what I would do without Bravo!




And what's with some of the styles we wore?

Here I am sporting "Bobby socks."

I don't miss some of the styles we thought were cool back then.  Of course, here I am a junior in high school and probably didn't know what cool was anyway.



All in all, we are much better off today than we were in the 1950's and '60's, which I guess would constitute my "Good Old Days." 

We think bullying is new, just because it's easier to bully someone on the Internet and there are so many talk shows that highlight that.  We think there is more crime but crime is actually down.  It's just that "the news" is no longer THE NEWS, it's more like showbiz with a never-ending litany of death and destruction to make us scared to go out and scared of our neighbors.  But child abductions, rape and all of that bad stuff was all around us 50 years ago.  It's just that nobody talked about it and dwelled on it.  We live longer now and, for most of us, we make more money and live better than our parents did.

As I said, I am making plans to go back to my hometown, a place I have not lived for 50 years, to attend my high school reunion, the only reunion - high school or college - that I will ever have attended.  And I can't help but get nostalgic about the past and think about those "good old days."

It is going to be a trip down memory lane for me. 

I am going to drag Hubby to my old neighborhood and to the house I grew up in.

We are going to walk my usual route downtown from there, tour my high school, visit my parents' graves, and reconnect with my relatives who are still there and with my old school friends after 50 years.

Hubby and I are also going to drive around the coast of Michigan, retracing a trip my family took together almost 60 years ago up the coast of Western Michigan to Traverse City, Charlevoix and Mackinac Island. 

This year, though, Hubby and I are going to continue on down the Michigan's Eastern Coast, all the way around "the thumb," a part of Michigan I had never explored.  We will create some new memories.

In hindsight, as I think back on those days in Michigan, I have to admit that I had a good upbringing, an almost idyllic, middle America childhood and happy school years. 

I was not particularly popular in middle school and high school, by any means, and faced some of the usual traumas, but I had a tight circle of friends, a boyfriend, and I got to go to dances.

I had academic honors and created a niche for myself as an actress (I was voted "Best Actress" my senior year).

For me, those were "The Good Old Days," though at the time I didn't appreciate them and just wanted to get the hell out of town and on with my life.

So as I think about the reunion, I can't help but cast my mind back to those days, especially now that I am retired, live far away from where I was brought up and feeling some of the loss that comes with retirement, an empty nest and getting older.  I have happy memories of my growing up years and my school years.



So there are things I DO miss about those Good Old Days.



Soda fountains.

Whatever happened to the old soda fountain?  Every drug store and dime store had one when I was growing up.  In my town THE meeting place for my friends and I - the Walgreens soda fountain.  Cherry coke anyone? 

Where do kids go today to stay out of trouble and hang out?




Only 3 TV channels.

I know I mentioned it earlier as one of the things I didn't miss about "The Good Old Days," but in contrast to the hundreds of channels we have today, maybe having only three would be better.  I mean, these days, how can we possibly decide what to watch?  And even with so many channels, is there really much on that is worth watching?

Remember Bruce Springsteen's song "57 Channels (and nothin' on)? 

Now we have way more than 57 channels and there is still "nothin' on," so I could do with fewer channels, except one of them would have to be Bravo!




The News was really THE NEWS

Families used to gather together to watch the Six O'clock News and we  believed what Walter Cronkite told us.  News coverage was less biased and more serious.  During the Vietnam War, the network showed actual war footage. I had a husband over there and I used to be afraid I would be watching the news and see him get killed right before my eyes, it was that real.  Reporters would report from the frontlines and every day the number of casualties would be reported. Today we have pretty boys and airhead women talking about things they know nothing about and even though it seems like we are always at war, we hear little about the casualties and destruction.




Vinyl records

Going to the record store to buy the latest Beatles or Rolling Stones record was an event.  Music stores even had listening rooms so you could listen to the record before buying it.  How civilized that was.  And it was fun to read the liner notes.  It was bad enough when CDs came along because there were no liner notes to read, but the way we get our music today not only deprives us of all of those extras we used to get with a record album, but we are deprived of the actual sound.  Just ask Neil Young.




Taking a picture with a camera, developing the film and having a picture you can hold in your hand, frame or put in an album.

It's a bit hard to put together a photo album with pictures from my cell phone. I am glad I have all of these old pictures that my Dad took.




Hats

Both men and women wore hats.  Oh, I know we wear hats today, but not like they did when I was growing up.  My Dad always wore a hat to work, to church, on outings.  And my mother had quite the collection.  My Dad must have liked seeing her in hats, because he bought her most of them.

Those are small things that I think about when I think about the past, but if I am being really honest, I don't really miss "the good old days" in that sense.  I try to live in the present and look forward.


If I were to miss "The Good Old Days," it would be missing my loved ones and friends who are gone.

It would be missing being young with my whole life ahead of me. 

(However, if I could I would like to give my younger self some much needed advice).

But that ship has sailed.  It's not about the past.  It's about what is yet to come.  It's about looking forward.

I am looking forward to my 50th High School Reunion. 

I can reminisce with my old friends about "The Good Old Days," with the knowledge that we are fortunate to have made it this far with those days behind us and the future ahead.

So here's to making some more "Good Old Days" to remember 50 years from now!

 

What about you?

 

Do you miss anything about

"The Good Old Days?"

 

Thanks for Reading!

 

See you Friday

 

 

for my review of the new movie

 

"The Big Short"

 

and 

The Week in Reviews

 (What to See or Read and What to Avoid)

  

 and the latest on
  

"My 1001 Movies I Must See Before

 I Die Project."

 

 

 

 

 

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A Baby Boomer's Christmas Eve Memories

 

It's Christmas Eve and we are spending it alone. 

That's life, as my sister would say.

When you get old and your children have their own lives, this happens.

Growing up, Christmas Eve was always special. 

My family opened presents on Christmas Eve, Santa came the next day and we spent Christmas Day either at my grandparents house or they came to ours for the big Christmas feast.  I never realized we did it this way, because it's the way they do it in Scandinavia, Germany and other European countries.  Since my mother was Swedish, it makes sense.

So when I had my own family, I followed that same plan. When you start on Christmas Eve, it drags the holiday out in a delightful way. Why crowd Christmas day with all of the fun?

But now our children have their own families and will have their own traditions, and we are navigating that time of our lives when we need to get used to that.

But we have our happy memories.

My first Christmas.

My 5th Christmas.
(Animal fur didn't seem to be an issue in the 50's)

My 7th Christmas and Echo the Dog's first.

(Motorcycle jackets were big for 12 year old boys, I guess. I am surprised my mother let him wear it in the picture)

Childhood memories include the tree falling down every year, sleeping with my brother as we awaited the arrival of Santa (not sure how that hastened his arrival), homemade Parker House rolls, snow falling on Christmas Eve, worrying Santa would leave a lump of coal in my stocking (a threat my mother used) and my Mother's delicious pies.

Somewhere across the world in Turkey my Hubby-to-be was celebrating Christmas too.

My son's first Christmas.

My son's second Christmas.
(The tree was in the playpen for its own protection).

First Christmas with Hubby.

  

First Christmas for our daughter



The carol-playing bell-ringing Santa from Grammy that played carols and rang his bell over and over and over and over...fun gift for the son, not so much for the parents. 

He disappeared mysteriously.

 

All the grandchildren received Blaze the Horse from Granddaddy.

 

  

 

As they grew, so many more memories:

Visit from Aunt Posy (my sister) with Twinkle the cat.

 

Traditional Christmas Eve dinner:  Pizza

Traditional Christmas Eve activities:

• Singing Christmas carols in the car while riding around looking at Christmas lights and the kids whining about when it would be over so we could open presents
• Presents - 10 each and we all had to watch as each one was opened so it would go on and on
• Reading about the birth of baby Jesus, followed by "Twas the Night Before Christmas."  Kids yawning.
• Bedtime for the kids - never easy
• Party time for the parents, thus making putting up basketball hoops and putting bicycles together all the harder.

Christmas Eve 2012

We are all older now and on different paths. 

But, hopefully, our happy memories hold us close.

Now us old folks are making some new happy memories!

 Mildred

 Frederic

 Tarquin

Happy Holidays Everyone. 

See you Friday!

Thanks for reading!

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