Little Audra was over the other day and we were talking about the "good old days" when we were in school. Joe told her that we didn't have ball point pens when we were students. She said, "I know...you used feathers!!!" That brought us a laugh. School starts next week and it seems that all the kids are grumbling about it. "Summer is too short...they say." I can remember when it seemed to last forever. Things are moving so quickly for the kids today...hurry, hurry, hurry all the time. It's no wonder they feel that way. We had a much slower life, time to just do nothing. We entertained ourselves in the outdoors. My Mom was always shooing me outside. I had a box, about the size of a shirt box, full of paper dolls. I would get them in a book and they had to be cut out. Sometimes I used figures from magazines or catalogs and would make my own. They were never as nice as my "store bought ones." My favorites were my bride and groom paper dolls. I would call my girlfriend, on our 4 party line telephone, (my grandson and I were just talking about these the other day) She only lived a couple of houses away, but I loved to listen in on our neighbors conversations...so I used the phone. She would come over and we would spread a blanket in the shade and play with these dolls all afternoon. Sometimes we would trade our dolls, but never my bride and groom dolls.
We could spend hours looking for a four leaf clover. I always had a jar with some type of bug in it. Grasshoppers, butterflies, even a homemade ant farm. Mom would make us some lemonade and chocolate chip cookies. She called them Toll House cookies. If we were lucky, sometimes we would be in the kitchen watching her make fudge. We lived in a new development and the sprinkler was on during the summer. We could get our swim suits on and run through the sprinkler. The water was so cold, but really refreshing on a hot day. A big galvanized wash tub was put out in the yard for our swimming pool. Hollyhocks by the garage would entertain us for hours. We made dolls out of them. They would be the bridesmaid's for our paper doll wedding. We had a big patch of daisies next to the house. We learned to make daisy chains. I was reminded of them in a recent email from Martha...she gave directions on how to make them.
How-To 1. Pinch flower stems to about 4 inches. Make a small slit in the bottom half of each stem with your nails.
2. Thread 1 stem through the slit in another. Continue, adding flowers to reach desired length. To finish, make a second slit in the stem of the first flower, and slip the last flower through it.
2. Thread 1 stem through the slit in another. Continue, adding flowers to reach desired length. To finish, make a second slit in the stem of the first flower, and slip the last flower through it.
Why did summer change so? We are traveling at such a fast pace, these things are being forgotten. I think that we older folks can keep these memories alive, by taking the time to tell our stories to our grandkids and little neighbors. My grandkids love to hear about what Grandma "didn't have" in growing up. I love telling them what "Grandma had."
Balisha
