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Posts tagged ‘childhood’

Reblog #4 – Nostalgia

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

NanoPoblano2022 has invited us to reblog an old post each day during this month of November. I’m having fun going back through some of my first posts… Here is one from our vacation in southern California in 2014. The roadrunner picture in the original post was not available so I borrowed one from Pexels. Thanks!

January 27 2014

There was a Time Magazine article by Lily Rothman in which the author quoted artist, Brendan O’Connell, “Nostalgia makes memory warm.” O’Connell stopped to say parenthetically, “That’s actually a significant thought,” and I paused. Hmm – memories, nostalgia, warmth. Yes, it’s true. Not all memories are warm, but all nostalgic memories are warm. Do you agree? When you think of warm memories, what comes to mind? Here’s mine:

Childhood

Climbing
Hillsides
Into
Lands
Dense with
Hidden
Occupants
Ordering Hot
Dogs.

Hah! That’s my whimsical acrostic for today – looking back on yesterdays.

But, how about Making Memories Today?

Image

There’s no better place to make memories than where you are right now today! For me, whether it is in the warm desert on vacation in the southern California sun with roadrunners scampering by and sun casting spakles on cactus, or back home in the cold snows of Montana, each day is a memory in the making. The climate doesn’t determine the warmth of the memories. The people I am with, the events we choose, the lessons I learn, the visions I absorb: those are the nostalgia of tomorrow. I am making warm memories today – wherever I am!

Nov. 5, 2022 – our snow is almost all melted now. With today’s winds, the rest of it will blow off the roof of our house (peeking through the trees there).

That acrostic up there was mine back in 2014… but I have no idea how that could have been true. We lived in the flat central valley of California. No hillsides to climb! If I were looking back at my childhood and creating an acrostic today, it would say:

CHILDHOOD

C hasing
H ounds
I nto
L ittle
D ugouts
H aving
O odles
O f
D ead animals

Oh my! That one is reality! My dad owned a Tallow Works and one of his jobs was picking up dead animals from ranchers and farmers and bringing those animals back to the “plant” where we lived. We always had at least one dog as a pet… and they were always “hounds.” No money for pedigrees!! In our bare fields behind our house, my neighbors (cousins) and I would dig holes and create pretend worlds. That 2014 acrostic must have come out of that pretending. Sometimes our best memories are the imaginary ones, don’t you think?

If you were to write a childhood acrostic today, would yours be real? Or would you pretend?


I hope your real world is full of happy memories – warm nostalgia.
Have a great day today, my friends.

.

I had a warm, huggy, loving daddy. My memories of him are certainly warm nostalgia!!

Thanks for visiting
JanBeek
See ya tomorrow

Category:

Animals, blogging, children, Family, Love, Memories, Montana, Poetry, Sharing, writing

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Bloganuary #4 -Favorite Toy

Today’s topic on #Bloganuary is:
“What was your favorite toy as a child?”

Mother-Daughter

Here I am as a young mom with my daughter, DeAna.
I don’t have available with me here on vacation
Any photos of myself as a child at her age.
I’m think my toys were part of my education.

DeDe was born during Barbie era.
She had boyfriend Ken and their playhouse.
She could play for hours with them
And be as quiet as a mouse.

Here is our son, Ty, as a child.
I know what he liked most at a young age:
“BamBam” – his bouncing horsey!
Quiet wasn’t a word on any Tyroneee page!

I didn’t have those kinds of toys!
It was World War Two and we were poor.
We tore our napkins in half to save paper.
We knew the soldiers needed it more!

I was content to play outside.
Rocks and dogs and imagination
Kept me entertained for hours.
No need for a Play Station!

I didn’t know at that time
That we weren’t rich as can be!
I had all the love in the world –
And that was enough “play” for me.

My parents never failed to provide
For all of the things we needed.
If a parent’s goal is to raise happy kids,
Mom and Dad certainly succeeded!

I may have had a doll or two –
I really don’t remember.
What I envision when I think of play
Is our “wedding” in September.

My friend, Frankie, and brother, Aldo,
Lived on our same property.
We dressed up in some cloth we found.
He wrapped it all around us three.

Cousin Bobby was a little younger.
We convinced him to be preacher.
He walked ahead of us down the “aisle”.
My dog, Jumbo, was best man. What a creature!

Our pretend house was a large hole
We dug in the old cow field.
We fixed it up with pretend furniture,
And covered the entrance – truly concealed.

We often climbed down to that “house”.
It worked just fine as a place to play….
Until a cow fell in and broke its leg.
I remember the lickin’ I got that day!

So, what was my favorite toy?
It was probably the neighbor boy!
Eventually we both got accordions –
Music was the “toy” that brought us joy!!

The accordion still is one of my favorite toys!
What’s your favorite childhood toy??
Thank you, Mom, for helping me
know that imagination and creativity
are the best “toys” ever!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
See ya tomorrow (God willing).
Are you enjoying the daily WordPress prompts?



Category:

Animals, children, Family, friendship, happiness, humor, life, Life's Challenges, Love, Memories, music, pets, Poetry, relationships, writing

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Where the Deer and the Antelope Play

What did you do today?

We spent the day in Bozeman, Montana. Bob & I had much-overdue dental appointments to get our teeth cleaned. Then we did our grocery shopping, bought a tree to plant at our church where a tree died and needs to be replaced, and then had “linner” (lunch + dinner) before heading home.

It was a rainy drive home.

rainy drive home.JPG

Got rainier as time went by.

Raindrops on window.JPG

When we arrived home, our neighborhood antelope were there to greet us.

Bob w antelope in field.JPG

Look carefully – there’s mama antelope followed by her two babies in the field.

Yesterday I watched them out my living room window.

antelope doe w 2 babies.jpg

A second antelope joined them. She has little ones, too, but they weren’t with her. Probably hiding in the grasses – not too far off.

2 does w 2 baby antelope.jpg

It is such fun to watch them.

A Fun Place to Live

In the picture below, our house is behind those trees… a wonderland for birds – and a haven for us. That field on the left is where the antelope were today.

Home - golden field -Mallards Roost.JPG

Isn’t it fun to live in a neighborhood where the deer and the antelope play? You know that song, right? Home on the Range, a favorite from my childhood.

“Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.”

Sing it with Roy and me:

Do You Remember Roy Rogers?

You may be too young to remember this cowboy – or you’re living in a different part of the world. Roy Rogers was my favorite when I was a child back in the 1940s. As a real treat, my sister and I would go to the Saturday matinee at the little theater in Newman, California. I loved Roy Rogers even more than the Micky Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Popeye cartoons! That’s really saying something.

Roy’s sidekick was Trigger, his beautiful palomino. His wife, Dale Evans, was his singing partner. As a child, I was sure Dale Evans would grow old and die – but Roy Rogers would never grow old. And after is wife died, then I intended to marry him!

Did you ever have childhood fantasies like I did?

Photo by Donald Tong on Pexels.com

Did you dress up and pretend to be a princess when you were a child? Or did you imagine yourself to be Roy Rogers’ wife and ride away into the wild blue yonder?

Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com

Well, if you dreamed of being a princess on a horse riding off into the wild, blue yonder, come to Montana. This is the place where such dreams come true!

Join us where the deer and the antelope play!

Hope you had a good day.
Tell me about it...
or share a childhood fantasy.


See ya tomorrow.
Hugs, JanBeek

Category:

Animals, children, Living in Harmony, Love, Memories, Montana, music, Travel, trees

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I Remember by Annika Perry

It’s three o’clock in the morning and I can’t sleep, so I am up reading and commenting on some of the blogs I follow. One of them is Annika Perry’s Writing Blog. The picture above is linked to a delightful collection of random memories beautifully written. Treat yourself by clicking on the link below.

I guarantee it won’t put you to sleep, but will prompt you to create a list of “I Remember” vignettes of your own.

Originally posted on Smorgasbord Blog Magazine: Welcome to the current series of Posts from Your Archives in 2020 and if you would like to participate with two of your posts from 2019, you will find all the details in this post: New series of Posts from Your Archives 2020 This is the first post by …

Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives 2020 – #Memories – I Remember by Annika Perry — Annika Perry’s Writing Blog

Category:

blogging, children, Family, friendship, Life and Death, Love, Memories, relationships, writing

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Add a Tsp. of Kindness

Welcome to Day #11 in the A-Z series,
“Add Meaning and Purpose to Life”

Today’s letter is “K”
The word is
Kindness

img_0129

Here is my prayer for today,

“Lord, teach me to love
with compassion.
Let me pass no one
without a KIND word,
thought, or deed.”

I have that poem inside my kitchen cabinet door.
Prayer in cabinet

Nothing sweetens life like a teaspoon of kindness.

pexels-photo-1194429.jpeg

Photo by Toa Heftiba Şinca on Pexels.com

Nothing settles ruffled feathers faster than an act of kindness.

close up of eagle

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Nothing is more powerful than returning anger with a kind response.

man and woman wearing brown leather jackets

Photo by Vera Arsic on Pexels.com

These truths were drummed into me by my mom when I was a child growing up. On the inside of her kitchen cabinet door, she had a cardboard tacked up. It was covered with poems she had cut out of the local newspaper back in the late 30’s. That was back in the days when it was typical for newspapers to post poetry on a daily or at least weekly basis.

I have that cardboard inside another cabinet door in my kitchen now. The words are faded and hard to read, but they remind me of my mom – her love of poetry, her positive philosophy of life, and the lessons she taught me. With a magnifying glass I can read some of them still.

Mom's poetry

One of my favorites is this one titled

Friends of Mine

Good morning, Brother Sunshine!
Good morning, Sister Song!
I beg your humble pardon
If you’ve waited very long.
I thought I heard you rapping,
To shut you out were sin.
My heart is standing open –
Won’t you walk right in?

Good morning, Brother Gladness!
Good morning, Sister Smile!
They told me you were coming,
So I waited on a while.
I’m lonesome here without you.
A weary while it’s been.
My heart is standing open –
Won’t you walk right in?

Good morning, Brother Kindness!
Good morning, Sister Cheer!
I heard you were out calling,
So I waited for you here.
Some days I keep forgetting
I have toil or spin
When you are my companions.
Won’t you walk right in?

The poet’s name is obliterated – all I can see is a “Ja”
But,  love the idea that

  • sunshine,
  • song,
  • gladness and
  • smiles,
  • kindness and
  • cheer

are right there waiting to be invited in.

opened brown wooden french door

Photo by Dmitry Zvolskiy on Pexels.com

What a better world we’d have,
what a better life we’d live,
if we invited them in each day…

beating-heart

Open your heart’s door to them –
And then spread that kindness
wherever you go today.

 

Category:

friendship, Living in Harmony, Love, prayer, Serving One Another

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Mom’s Messages


We all carry messages our mothers gave us.

Here are some of mine:

Eat your spinach
Clean your plate
Mind your manners
Don’t be late

Watch for danger
Stay off streets
Hold your chin up
Limit treats

Smile at strangers
Mind your father
Hold your tongue
Don’t be a bother

Save your pennies
Chase the blues
Never give up
Look for clues

Change your panties
Brush your teeth
Don’t judge others
See the good beneath

Happy Mother’s Day!
What are your Mom’s Messages?

Mother-Daughter

Category:

Love

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