Time is an abstract

I'm sitting at my computer, and it's almost midnight....but  for some reason I feel anticipation.   Maybe not eager anticipation...but a feeling that we're entering a new year...and what that will bring.


The world is moving faster than my mind....and maybe Shane knows more than I do already about technology.   It blows my mind what that computer chip can do.


Would I like to go back to the old days when on the back of our school tablets, the alphababet and multiplication tables were listed.


We had no television but we did have wonderful radio with great performers, and we knew all the lyrics.    I couldn't imagine Jeff and Paul getting older and becoming grandparents for Paul, two of the most adorable male babies.  I'm so grateful that Ryan and Eric and Jeff picked wonderful wifes   I'm 90 years old now and on the down side of life...but I'm still curious what has to come. My car is acting up and since our flood I can't use the remote to open the doors and 3 doors only open.


Is it time to hand over my keys or should I get a new used one.   I like the idea of going to a super market when I feel like it.


The greatest thing I have in my life is Skype....and already Shane is growing out of that phase...he sid no more Hilda.   Can't blame my baby...it must seem very strange to him...and then I wear headphones.


All in all....I'm very fortunate.

It can't get any better!

I'm beginning to feel more complete.   My little family is growing.   To brag a little, I'd like to mention that my son Jeff and his wife Donna just moved to Florida, just 15 miles from me.  Just knowing this is such a comfort to me.


They moved from Virginia and drove in two cars, a small caravan, carrying 2 dogs.


Now they wait for their furniture to arrive so they can settle in and enjoy life down here in the sunny south.  The house they bought is really very nice and has a lot of features, including in the backyard an orange, lemon and banana tree.


My next big brag is I have a brand new great grandnephew whose name is Davis and his mom and dad are Ryan and Daniela, two of the most wonderful parents.


You all know about my little 21 month old Shane, and his mom and pop are Eric and Becky.


Thank God for Skype.   I get to see these two darlings and I watch them as they grow.   Shane is now throwing kisses my way before we hang up.


I'm so fortunate to have all these wonderful people in my life.    Paul, my nephew is coming to visit me and we have so many stories to tell one another.   We go way back.   His mom was my sweet sister who had a very short life, but she loved Paul dearly.


I'm so blessed!

It's a living breathing thing!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

It's a living breathing thing!

A salamander was running alongside the top of my fence on my patio. I believe I sat about half an hour watching this tiny specimen creature, one of God's creations.

A little red thing would energize every couple of seconds from his throat area and I didn't know if it was his breathing, catching bugs, or a sexual thing.

One thing I do know! It reminded me of how a dynasaur must have looked a billion years ago except a lot diminished in size.

Is this part of the reptile family? Is it a bug? Whatever, he was so cute that I would never dare deliberately take him out of this world. Some people refer to them as geicos...others as lizards.

Little children when they visit from the north want to take them home with them...but I explain that it's a tropical creature.

Some people meditate...others do yoga. Me...I watch salamanders.

Time to forgive!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Time to forgive!

I'm of an age where I remember World War 11 extremely well. I do have to admit that I had never heard of Pearl Harbor until we were bombed. I actually had a wonderful uncle killed in Hawaii....

Why I'm on this tangent tonight is because I had a Japanese tasting party in my home today and it was really culturally interesting.

The hostess of our party, a charming middle-aged Japanese woman who came to visit for one week.

She wanted to shop, cook and feed us for a tasting party. Some of the ladies enjoyed the food...othes didn't.

I had the pleasure of collecting the plates with soup and noodles designed to enter my trash bag.

Most of it was very good...very healthy cooking with soy and beans mixed into interesting concoctions.

We all asked Kuniko different questions about her family life and her government. She admitted that she doesn't care for the emporer. I didn't know that he is the grandson of Hiroshima.

They watch CNN in their country and she drives a 17 year old small car. Gas is $7.00 a gallon..so I guess we shouldn't complain.

Everytime we asked her something, she thanked us over and over.

It was an enlightening day..and one I want to think about for some time.

The world has become very small...very global...and I guess we're all sisters.

Guard your chargecard!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Charge Card

The year was 1967 and Mastercard came into being.

Is this a friend or foe? It's ruined many people who haven't the faintest idea of spending.

It's helped me out a lot. My husband Allen insisted I use mine every so often so that I could always have good credit.

And to this day, I carry very little cash. When I go into a restaurant or a small business, I pay cash.

For everything else...that plastic card is slid into the place where it checks to see if my card is usable.

Time was when it wasn't done electronically. When we had our toy store, we had an enormous thick book about the size of our Yellow Pages, and we had to check the number by looking.

I never told my husband Allen that I couldn't see such close print so I made a pretense of looking...then I accepted.

It worked! Never did we stumble on an over-extended card.

Some customers asked if we would give them the 4 percent discount if they paid cash.

It didn't matter to us...we agreed.

I just love my credit card and if you're in a pinch the ATM machines.

It's done much harm...but much good! You gotta weigh the card or the person using the card.

The Written Word!

Saturday, November 24, 2007

The Written Word!

We are so fortunate.


  When I go to the library, it's like a magnificent buffet...so many books just to entertain me and also to make me a little smarter.



I just got to thinking about books because when I was very young, my first enrollment was in our free public library.


  Also my son's first connection with the outer world was his library card.

When I pick up a book, I hold it reverenly in my hands. I look to see how heavy it is...how many pages...and then I wonder about the author. Did the author think long and hard about the storyline...or just sit down and begin writing. Did he spend much time searching for the perfect verb or adjective to give the sentence the punch desired. Was it put there for shock value.



So much to wonder about and what a thrill it is to open the flap and read a little bit about the story. If it's a thriller, I immediately return it to its shelf.



After I've finished reading and digesting a good book, I love to discuss it with someone...I like to lie in bed or in the bathtub and think about it some more...such enjoyment.



The earliest dated printed book known is the "Diamond Sutra", printed in China in 868 CE. However, it is suspected that book printing may have occurred long before this date.


In 1041, movable clay type was first invented in China. Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith and businessman from the mining town of Mainz in southern Germany, borrowed money to invent a technology that changed the world of printing. Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press with replaceable/moveable wooden or metal letters in 1436 (completed by 1440). This method of printing can be credited not only for a revolution in the production of books, but also for fostering rapid development in the sciences, arts and religion through the transmission of texts.




So..thank God for the printing press. The Egyptians used hierglyphics which is still preserved in the pyramids today.



I believe this is the greatest time in history for upcoming authors.



First of all...they can do all their research on the internet which really lightens their load. Now, all they have to do is weave a delightful storyline around it...and there you have a novel.


I make is sound so simplistic. Who am I kidding!! And I'm also grateful for paperbacks...so much easier to hold.

Number Please!

Monday, May 26, 2008

My telephones

Our first phone was installed when I was 3 but I remember it.

No more running next door to make a phone call or receive one.

It was one with 2 pieces...you spoke in the speaker part and listened with the the ear phone.

When you lifted the handset, a very pleasant, non-computer voice said 'Number Please.

We had a 4-party line and if we were on too long, we heard about it from the other parties...and then we hung up fast.

Later, we got a circular number dial phone and I thought that was really 'up there'. The word high-tech did not come into being yet.

When Jeff was on vacation from college on Chanukah, he said we're all going to Sears and he was going to buy us a 'push button' phone.

Well, I was against this but I went along. That meant he had to un-install the one we had and re-install the new one.

I really thought I would never have telephone service again...but Jeff and Allen worked on this project and when they were finished, we had a dial tone and I knew we were back in business.

Now I have 3 phones...land phone, remote and a cell phone, which Jeff and Donna have charged for me every year....and every year I have tons of minutes on it ... but I forget to use it. I just don't like the quality of it....seems like a toy phone to me.

The phone I have in my bedroom is really snazzy....it's an 'answering machine' which I think is a miracle in itself.

I have 'caller ID' which interrupts me if I'm using the phone.

I also have a 'speaker phone'....and an ID feature which lets me screen calls if I want to.

It also tells me what time the caller has tried to reach me and the day.

I think that even Alexander Graham Bell would be overwhelmed by the wonderfulness that he invented.

What a sensationl invention. And one other feature, I get to use a web-cam and to see and talk to my kids every Sunday when they give me computer lessons...all the things I screwed up with during the week. Because of the phone I have high-speed internet service...all for reading ythe silly jokes.

I'm not complaining...I JUST LOVE IT1

Our front porch glider

Thursday, May 1, 2008

lazy days on the front porch

One of the favorite pieces of furniture when I was growing up was our glider on the front porch. More interesting conversations took place there and that is the spot where we were able to feel complete happiness and delight with the world.

We would swing back and forth, either alone or with a member of our family and we would just enjoy.

My Sister and I bought song sheets at the 5 & 10, about 20 all different colored sheets...and with our girlfriends we would sing by the hour.

Now that I think about it, it's a wonder the neighbors didn't complain. I'm sure that it couldn't have been that enjoyable to them....hearing silly girls giggling and singing.

We really knew every lyric to every song. This is how we spent the depression years...sipping lemonade and singing ballads. One day a boy came a callin' and we were just sitting on the glider talking and laughing. Somebody's mother sewed me a broom stick skirt that was just the rage. I was about 16 and I was all dressed up entertaining on my glider.

I got up to serve him a glass of lemonade and when I got up, little did I realize he was sitting on part of my skirt...so as I arose, the skirt just slid down and I was in my panties.

I was too embarrassed to come out again. Eventually he left...probably giggling!

How I long for my glider sometimes. When nighttime came, it never occurred to us to turn on the porchlight. We just sat in the dark and rocked back and forth. People took walks and neighbors would stop in and swing on the glider.

That was an era gone by....but the memory lingers on.

Original thoughts brought back!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

I wonder if anyone else remembers..or am I too old?

Thoughts drift in and out of my mind at no particular time of the day. These musings just appear.

Like for instance...the little slot that used to be on bathroom medicine cabinets for men to drop their razor blades in. Wonder what happened when it all filled up.

Did anybody's Mother make 'orange candy' out of the pealings of naval oranges and I don't know what the other ingredients were...but I loved it.

We used to take a clove of garlic and rub it on a piece of toasted rye bread...and so delicious.

We used to take our tablets or notebooks and drop ink on it and create Roarch Tests and see if we could identify what it appeared to be.

We didn't use a kazoo to make music...took a comb with a piece of tissue paper or toilet paper...and if it didn't tickle your lips to much...compose our own beautiful music.

I wonder if anyone had to wear 'snuggies' on cold days...tops and bottoms...embarrassing but oh so warm and cozy.

Just thoughts and more thoughts. My Sister Elayne and I changed our dresses when we came home from school and put on playclothes.
I wore her hand-me-downs since she was 3 years older.

We used to lie on our stomachs with the radio on to do our homework. It was such a natural position for us.

I can still smell the musty smell on trains from the upholstered seats.

Comfortable...but smelly! I can still see the conductor with his gold buttons on his vest and jacket.

Wonder why they always made men's suits with vests. Most men never wore them.

What makes these thoughts clutter my brain at this time in my life...I haven't the faintest....

Can't wait till I can buy Lego for Shane and Ryan's little unborn son

Thoughts from Hilda

hildag3@gmail.com...it would be nice to know someone reads it I would be thrilled to hear your comments. Thanks

Sunday, May 13, 2007

This helped to pay our rent!

This is a Lego brick. My husband Allen and I had a toy store in New Kensington, Pa. I would say that about 25%

of our store was allocated to Lego...motorized and manuel. We carried a complete line, in fact, the only toy we ordered direct from the manufacturer...and it was made by the Samsonite people.

One brick fit inside the other and a child's imagination could conquer anything he wanted to create.

People would walk into our store and say....I have a 6 year old who has no attention span, although he's brilliant. What would you recommend I buy him.

We were considered the specialists. That's why they came to us instead of K-Mart. We gave individual attention even though our prices were competitive.

Well, we ushered them right to Lego...and weeks later, that same customer would return just to give us rave revues.

Actually we were such a good customer that the Lego People put a big motorized windmill in our big front window. It almost caused accidents.

People did a double take....was that really moving around???

Downtown Orlando has a massive building called Legoland....and it's really magical.

All this was a long time ago, in my life, but the memories are all so very clear.

I just loved that part of my life ... making kids happy~

Beautiful A1A

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Beautiful A1A

 

My husband Allen only had 2 years of living in Florida. He loved it...but he particularly adored driving on A1A. He called it the never-ending garden..but this was his particular spot. If you've driven north...you've gone through this bountilfullness. There's no such word..but it's a lushness that spreads across the top of the road.

We would drive to Manalapan for an ice cream cone. We would window-shop the beautiful windows of the stores...and then we would feast.

Now that I have a GPS...I must drive up there once again.

Another repeat...I'm getting lazy

Sunday, February 8, 2009

We Buy Ugly Homes

Was it just about a year and a half ago that we would see billboards all over the highway...we buy ugly houses.

Well, now I would expect a sign to read....we'll even buy beautiful homes for very little money.

But no....these signs are non-existent...because times have changed. Yep. it all started with the housing market.

Everybody'sgreat American dream...homeowner. But who can blame. We all like to have a covering over our heads.

They made it so easy to own a home...no down payment....no nothing...just interest. That sounds so great.

But now our country is in doldrums. Banks have run out of operating capital...and they're not really interested in owning homes..that's not their business.

Maybe if I was young and had some available cash...I would fall for some of these schemes....but I'm too old to even consider for a second.

Obama has surrounded himself with some of the best heads in the country.

Can they come up with a solution...or do they know just as much as you and I.

I'm glad I own my little villa here in High Point...I have no debt. Thank G0d.

I pray every night that the unemployed with find jobs...that's so humiliating...and frustrating...and makes a person lose confidence in himself.

I would like to set the calendar back to the 90's when technology doubled and tripled our portfolios.

I guess just plain old greed got in the way...and I'm part of it. What would really make my day is to see a giant billboard.....WE buy Ugly Houses. I often wondered what an ugly house is...was the kitchen where the bathroom should be...were the stairs in the wrong place leading to nowhere. Did they still have coal burning stoves....did they have ice boxes instead of refrigerator.....rabbit ears on their tv...if they had tv.

Did you have to go thru one room to get to another one. Was it painted bright purple? What could make it so ugly. Anyway...I want to see that billboard one again...and then I'll know that times are stable.

I'm repeating myself!

Monday, December 2, 2013

Replaying in my head!

Hiding from one's shadow is an impossible task...as hard as  trying to escape from one's thoughts, being as they're not channeled in any particular direction, but floating uncontrollably out into the world, only to be thought by me. 

Shadows and thoughts are a part of us that have  nothing to do with one another, except they're attached to us.   Memories may fade and shadows may alter, but they're always there.   My thoughts have been taking over my subconscious making me aware of how many people used to be an active part of my life.

Little by little, as I age, I'm losing my friendships.  These ladies have moved into retirement homes to be cared for...having  their meals cooked and served to them,  and reminding them to take their medications, and making sure they're using their  walkers, canes or wheel chairs.

My innermost thoughts are always there, swaying  and crawling to a place that only I can reach, and  enhancing  images in my mind that tend to enter and leave at random.....   coming and going on and on!

I can no more control what I'm thinking than I can of breathing.

Was it always this way, or am I just by myself so much that I'm living within my consciousness.

Am I reliving my life to make sure I remember, or these so-called thoughts just keep tumbling out, causing me to have too much time and not enough to occupy me.

Now it's time for me to take charge and get rid of all this foolishness.    Yes, indeed I can, and I will!    I'm enrolling at our Palm Beach Public Library, where they're offering a course helping seniors cast their hand at creative writing.

This way, I can focus on what's really important to keep my memories alive.

 I'll take a few of my blogs to be shown the way to improve my writing so  more people might want to visit my site..

 My blog is about my best friend.   I confide all kinds of quirky things about me in it and I do laugh at my own shortcomings.

My grown-up children have no idea what they created.

Can't take credit for this one

This was sent to me by my dear friend Ethel Wainer....and how true...and how I relate.

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were truly recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks.

This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling's. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right.

We didn't have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart-ass young person.

My fever running Shane Boy!

I just had a conversation with my nephew Paul and he told me that Shane was taken to the hospital on Tuesday with a very high fever with seizures.    My body underwent a series of heartbreak for my darling little boy.  Just the night before, I was skyping with him and he was fine.


Shane's home again but he's still running a high fever which is common in pre school children.  Becky, him mom is a pediatrician which makes me feel better.   She knows what to do.


And all this brought back a memory of  Jeff when he was about 3 years old.   He was running 105 degrees and he was admitted to the hospital.   We never did find out what was wrong with him but he was mighty sick.   I remember his coming into our bedroom to say  the sky was falling on his feet.   He didn't know how to say he was dizzy.


This was such a bad time in our lives.  We knew our baby was terminal and we rushed her up to Allen's mother to baby sit while we took our other child to the hospital.   During that same day she phoned and said the baby was crying and we had to get her because my father in law was recooperating from a heart attack.

Where to go first.   Jeffy did not want me to leave him.   I recall the nurse asking him if he had pooped that day and he didn't understand what she was talking about.   That's not what we called it.


We were a little more baby sophisticated.


Anyway, the fever passed and all was well.....for a little while.   We still had our sick baby and that you don't get over.


And now here I am at this old age remembering....

Beware of Hilda

 The news the last 3 days has been about how inefficient the Secret Service is.   Nine different ways they should have been warned about the intruder who was after The First Family. 


The man who jumped the White House fence this month and sprinted through the front door made it much farther into the building than previously known, overpowering one Secret Service officer and running through much of the main floor, according to three people familiar with the incident.


An alarm box near the front entrance of the White House designed to alert guards to an intruder had been muted at what officers believed was a request of the usher’s office, said a Secret Service official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.


Last January I entered an area to board a cruise ship....my friends were admitted but me they detained.
 
They made me spread my legs and arms....examined my entire being.  It appeared that I made a metallic sound going through.


The ringing was a metal tube of lipstick in my pocket so that I would look presentable after we had a buffet lunch.


All this fuss about a little old lady.....and President Obama could have been assassinated.


What's happened with our almighty Secret Service, or is it so secret that we don't even know.


Did I look so suspicious to the security on the cruise ship?


I dunno????


I do know one thing though....I'll always think of the Secret Service in a different light.


They flunked....gotta fix it.

It's not just about having to hem pants

I'm old!!!!   I'm very old!!!  Yep it's a fact!   I can't reach places that I used to...and just when did all this happen?


When I try to put dishes on the lower shelf I must stand on my tiptoes.  I didn't used to.


One of my big problems now happens to be my closets.   I'm having trouble hanging up and removing clothes from the clothes rod.


So finally I must admit my limitations and I hired Randy, a really nice guy who works here at Highpoint.


He's coming to adjust and lower and to make my life much easier.


When I'm no longer living here, the new people will say I think a dwarf occupied this house.


I never was tall...would have liked to have been...but  I'm happy to settle for who I am....I'm grateful for still being alive and able to write this blog.

Life's Annoyances

To be denied access to my car for  6 weeks was  a real hardship for me.    It meant having to have friends pick up food for me and some pharmacy items.


I had cataract surgery and was refused permission to drive.    Well, the time finally came and I drove just as far as Winn Dixie which is very adjacent.


While I was shopping, someone put a large sticker on my windshield, the size of a postcard, and it had adhesive on it, which meant I just couldn't just peel it off.  It was advertising.


At home, I got a razor, WD 40 and some cooking oil and worked very hard scraping, and finally it came off.


That evening when I went to use the car, the residue from all that junk was keeping me from seeing...very foggy.


It was terrible.   Anyway, next day Virginia called and asked if I minded if she used alcohol on it to take it off.  My arthritic arms don't work well.


This sweet lady has been so good to me, and I really hated to say yes, but I did, and she came right over with an old dishcloth.


The alcohol bottle I handed her was dated 2003 ... but it worked.   She rubbed very briskly and  it's shining.


She looked at my wiper blades and said they were all worn out...so I got in my car with my dazzling windshield and headed right to Auto Zone.


Now, I think I'm in pretty good shape to start our Jewish New Year.


My car's old and so am I .... what to do.... what to do!

Written in 2008 countries unheard of

day, August 10, 2008

Have I been Rip Van Winkle?

I went to our clubhouse to watch the opening of the Olympics on a larger screen than I have at home. It was spellbinding and I really appreciated the time spent constructing this magnificence.

However, when the countries marched in...it was like I was on a different planet. Half of the countries I never heard of. Did the ocean open up and form more islands and then they became countries.

Did I flunk geography? Was I sleeping when the countries were formed.

Did they change the names to protect the innocent like in Jack Webber?

I can't figure it out. The folks sitting behind me went to a school in New York and they never heard of them either.

When did all these changes take place? I have an old world globe...these countries don't exist on it.

I used to collect stamps...never heard of them and I had them from all over the world.

I'm old...is it possible that I have forgotten their names. They're not so primitive....they know about the Olympics because they sent representatives.

Some countries only had one. Most of them were black. Was Africa all divided up.

How do they earn a living in these countries....are they a happy people. We know so little about them.

The longer I live ... the more confused I become.

Are our children aware of these names. Do they ever visit the United States....are they friendly.

It's like they're from another planet. Maybe I need to go back to school?

Today we see China promoting the Olympics for grand propaganda purposes, reintroducing itself to the world for what it expects to be its dominant century. But in 1958 China wanted nothing to do with the rest of the Mao Zedong's People's Republic withdrew from the Olympics altogether that year in an ideological snit over the refusal of Brundage and his IOC cohorts to ban Taiwan, which called itself the Republic of China and was run by Chiang Kai-shek, Mao's old antagonist. In retreating from the Olympics, China denounced Brundage as "a tool of the imperialistic State Department of the United States."
The context was different, but the central political question as the Rome Olympics neared was the same as it is now: how should the world deal with China? The issue was debated that year by Vice President Richard Nixon and Sen. John F. Kennedy during the presidential campaign, and Brundage and the IOC became embroiled in it as well. The United States did not recognize Mao's mainland .

All I ever learned about China was from Pearl Buck and it wasn't very flattering about their girl babies.

Today...half of all the products come from China....and that's shame on us!

This was written 2 years ago...comments will have to go to hildag3@gmail.com

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Our starter-up home but we stayed over 30 years!

This is where our young-married life began...and I loved our little home. I remember carrying Jeff who was 18 months old to his own room...and telling him that this is his very own.

Well, it appears Jeff had a different idea. He wanted his crib in our room, just like it was in our little apartment.

He screamed and screamed ...and then wanted to join us in bed.

Every day I carried him and said this is Jeffy's room...all yours. Your toys are here. We have our room--you have yours.

He still cried for a month. Then Dr. Spock said you just have to let him cry...and don't give in...and finally after 4 days we had peace in the house and the bed to ourselves.

That is, until he learned to crawl out of his crib and he would go to Allen's side to get in and he was never refused.There were many times that I ended up sleeping in the crib because I couldn't sleep 3 in a double bed. Triple beds were rare in those days and it never even entered our minds.

Anyway we had big retaining walls in our driveway and in the back to hold back the 2nd terrace. The street above us was being excavated...and every night after dinner, the 3 of us would go to gather big rocks. To this day the wall is still standing.....a labor of love

.Retirement came and everyone said maybe I could buy Allen an extra couple years down in florida. No more urging...I wanted my husband to live....so we moved....and here I am.

I'm truly glad we made the move...life is so much simpler here..

Whipping at Schools

In the news tonight on all the cable stations, it was announced that whippings with a switch were illegal and the recipients were children.


What could they have done that was so horrible...talk harshly  to a teacher.   But when I went to school in the 30's, whipping boys with a rattan was a common occurance by a principal.   I believe he must have had a meaness in him....or maybe he was taught to do that in a college...or perhaps that's how his father treated him.


We could all hear the boy getting punished...screaming.   I used to shake and my stomach would make me nauseous.    It wasn't pleasant and these were my schoolmates.   But only to boys.   my heart would break and it cut into my soul. What kind of people does this.


At home, my sister and I were treated with loving kindness.


We've come a long way and that was a very long time ago...but I still remember.


And all this media publicity brings it to my mind as clearly as when it happened.   His name was Mr. Berkey and when I would see him, I saw ugliness..    Is that how he got his jollies.   I wonder if the boys who felt that strap come down on their rear ends remember how it felt....did it affect the rest of their lives.    I wonder.


I think the kind thing today is 'time out'.

Different times call for different measures

Making ready for hurricane season, I'm gazing out my bedroom window and my beautiful tree is being clipped to prevent any damage from its powerful branches, that are really trees in itself.


And I'm reminded of a poem we learned in elementary school.

The First American Environmental Protest Song? MIDI - "Woodman Spare That Tree!" MIDI files often differ in sound, depending upon your software. This is a Standard MIDI file. Woodman Spare That Tree! This may well be one of the first environmental protest songs ever written. This song was very popular for its time. "Woodman! Spare That Tree!" (1837) A Ballad The words were taken from a poem published in the New York Mirror, written by George Pope Morris, 1802-1864, The music was composed by Henry Russell, 1812-1900. 1. Woodman spare that tree! Touch not a single bough; In youth it sheltered me, And I'll protect it now; 'Twas my fore father's hand That placed it near the cot, There, woodman, let it stand, Thy axe shall harm it not! 2. That old familiar tree, Whose glory and renown Are spread o'er land and sea, And wouldst thou hack it down? Woodman, forbear thy stroke! Cut not its earth, bound ties; Oh! spare that ag-ed oak Now towering to the skies! 3. When but a idle boy I sought its grateful shade; In all their gushing joy Here, too, my sisters played. My mother kiss'd me here; My father press'd my hand-- Forgive this foolish tear, But let that old oak stand! 4. My heart-strings round thee cling, Close as thy bark, old friend! Here shall the wild-bird sing, And still thy branches bend. Old tree! the storm still brave! And, woodman, leave the spot; While I've a hand to save, Thy axe shall harm it not. This poem and song and the conservation sentiments they embodied were in fact so popular (we know of at least 12 printed editions of the sheet music), that it spawned numerous other compositions and variations based on Russell's music. For example, here is a MIDI of the "Woodman Spare That Tree Quickstep" composed by Alan Dodworth in 1848. Stay tuned for our next episode, where we will present the Woodman Spare That Tree Polka, and Variations On Woodman Spare That Tree. The poem itself was so popular, that other composers also tried their hand at creating scores for the poetry. Here is the first part of a choral composition by W. J. Wakelam composed in 1840 for the poem Woodman Spare That Tree. I am still working on transcribing the rest of this unique work. Explore the Amaranth Publishing pages.................... Explore - the world's most mysterious book, music composed by a Renaissance alchemist, the Amaranth Publishing CD collection, the oldest song in the world, the world's oldest love song, the music of the Illuminati, unique sheet music, the world's most haunting melodies, the music of the spheres, a way you can become rich if you can solve a historic cipher, a way you can compose music just like Mozart, the 19th Century American X-Files and much more.... Amaranth Publishing Home Page © Copyright 2003 - Amaranth Publishing - All Rights Reserved

I've lived a lot of decades!

Is age only a number?   People like to think that but I don't believe it's true.   I've seen brilliant friends of mine who are showing sharp signs of dementia.   I wonder if these cells ever get to be regenerated.


It's a fact of life that as we age, we lose ability.  Like me, I used to be able to hear better than I do...and when I try to adjust my hearing aids, they whistle, which annoys my friends and me included.


I've fallen a few time, so now I'm using a cane  and I feel more sure of myself.    I've also shrunk since I fell on a cruise ship 6 months ago and broke my back.


But I'm one of the very lucky ones.   I still drive and do my own shopping.   I go to dinner once or twice a week, and when I do that, I bring enough home for another meal, they give such gigantic  portions.


I still can carry on my end of a conversation and people do like to talk to me because I listen to what they have to say.   We don't talk over each other.


I'm grateful for so much...and for living in this electronic world.    Wonder what's coming next.

Back in the day, before we had refrigerators,  we had an iceman.   A home would put a card in their window informing how much ice was needed for that day.   To my recollection this information was on a diamond shaped  cardboard with various numbers listed on it, and it would point at the top to how many pounds of ice was needed for that day.


I know all the icemen had very good hearts and backs.   Ice was very heavy.  It would be carried with heavy tongs on the man's shoulders.  I wonder if he later had a bad back or arthritis.   I mention a good heart because he would cut off chips and leave it on the floor of his truck, and this, we children gobbled up.....so delicious.


Icemen became another thing of our  past when every house got an electric refrigerator.


I remember our brown icebox well and how we had to keep emptying the bottom tray as the ice melted.


Were those really the days?   Life is so much easier today for which I'm grateful.  


Our first GE Refrigerator had a  pedal on the bottom, so that if you had a handful of  food to refrigerate, you would just push down on the pedal.


This too became a thing of the past, although even today, it seems like a good idea.


We had this refrigerator after Allen and I married and new refrigerators became available again.


The memories are good....but I really like cold food.    And we don't even need ice trays because we have ice makers--100 cubes a day.