Two more days and I will be back to work full time watching the grand babies. I had so many things planned for this break. I was going to go to Europe. I wanted to see New York City. I wanted to visit all my friends in a neighboring state. I wanted to go west and see national parks. It is doubtful that I could have done all of that, but some of it. I would have done some things.
The pandemic changed all of that. It stole my time. It made me afraid and depressed. It made people I know get sick and family members died. And it is still here. There is no end in sight. It has been a dramatic change in life.
But, we are in it together. We could all help each other more. We could all wear masks. I learned form this so many things. A few of them are, to be content with myself and my small circle. Not to shop so much. That my house is my home and my castle. That I long for Mass more than I ever thought possible. That prayer is comforting and provides answers to problems if I listen. That I can cut my own hair. That I don't like some quilts I plan. That moving furniture can be enough of a change to motivate me to do something. That my grandson is my best friend at the moment. And so many more things.....so many more.
Showing posts with label Monday memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monday memories. Show all posts
Monday, July 27, 2020
Monday, June 22, 2020
Monday Memories--Lazy Summer Days
My family moved to a farm at the end of my teen years. Since my parents worked in education, they were home a lot with us (my siblings and myself) in the summer. We traveled sometimes, camping was the preferred travel arrangement, but we also did things that seemed normal to me, but I have come to realize were by no means universal.
My parents usually planted a garden. After we were out on the farm, the garden got large. We had beans and tomatoes, always. Some gardens included strawberries, asparagus, peppers and other things. I never really thought about it until I was an adult planting my own garden. Mom froze or canned some vegetables and gave lots of it away.
We made weekly trips to the public library in the nearest town. It was important to find enough books to last at least a week or two. I liked to find a good series so that I could just load up on the next one. After we got home from the library, the house was quiet with everyone reading. We owned a lot of books because my parents were teachers. I read through dozens of Reader's Digest Condensed books.
We usually had pets and livestock that needed tending. At one time there were 17 cats on the farm. Old Doc Vol told us when he visited to see to the hogs or cattle to catch all the friendly cats and he gave them rabies shots. He said that any usually unfriendly cat that suddenly changed should be avoided. I liked to climb up to the barn loft. There were often kittens.
There weren't a lot of jobs that paid money out on the farm. There was help with the farming that Dad did. But, by and large there was a lot of free time, time to be bored or lonely. I learned to be self-reliant. I learned to entertain myself. I learned not to be bored.
My parents usually planted a garden. After we were out on the farm, the garden got large. We had beans and tomatoes, always. Some gardens included strawberries, asparagus, peppers and other things. I never really thought about it until I was an adult planting my own garden. Mom froze or canned some vegetables and gave lots of it away.
We made weekly trips to the public library in the nearest town. It was important to find enough books to last at least a week or two. I liked to find a good series so that I could just load up on the next one. After we got home from the library, the house was quiet with everyone reading. We owned a lot of books because my parents were teachers. I read through dozens of Reader's Digest Condensed books.
We usually had pets and livestock that needed tending. At one time there were 17 cats on the farm. Old Doc Vol told us when he visited to see to the hogs or cattle to catch all the friendly cats and he gave them rabies shots. He said that any usually unfriendly cat that suddenly changed should be avoided. I liked to climb up to the barn loft. There were often kittens.
There weren't a lot of jobs that paid money out on the farm. There was help with the farming that Dad did. But, by and large there was a lot of free time, time to be bored or lonely. I learned to be self-reliant. I learned to entertain myself. I learned not to be bored.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Monday Memories--Polio
By the time I was old enough to consider such things, polio was a disease that was largely on the ropes. The efforts of the March of Dimes led to vaccines that had largely wiped it out. I don't know if I had a polio shot in the 1950s and my mom no longer remembers. But I do know that in the early 1960s I lined up with my family at the gym of a local junior high school to consume a sugar cube that had a pink dot on it. That pink dot was the oral polio vaccine.
Polio was a disease that had touched my family. My uncle, my mom's youngest brother, had polio when he was about 12. One leg was shorter than the other after that, which gave him a rolling gate. He recovered and was strong, lifting hog carcasses at a meat packing plant for most of his life. But in the cruel twist of fate, polio returned to take away his strength and cripple him more in recent years.
When my son, Moose, was a baby he received the oral polio vaccine from a little plastic vial that was cut open and placed in his mouth. The nurse said that it had a nice taste, but I remember that Moose screamed bloody murder when he tasted it. Still, a very small price to pay to avoid such a cruel disease.
In a recent television report on the polio vaccine I heard that polio became a scourge in modern times because babies were less likely to be breastfed and were more protected from exposure to disease. When not exposed to polio while they had some immunities the disease had terrible consequences. The arrival of the vaccine seemed like a miracle of modern science.
I am thankful to live in these days with cleanliness and furnaces and hot water and vaccines. But, I know that the blessings I receive are not those of the triumph of man and modern science. Polio may be one scourge that has passed me by, but there will be others. There are always others. I know that my salvation is not in modern science and that total healing, total perfection will not be achieved heree and now. In this world there will be troubles. I know where my salvation rests.
Polio was a disease that had touched my family. My uncle, my mom's youngest brother, had polio when he was about 12. One leg was shorter than the other after that, which gave him a rolling gate. He recovered and was strong, lifting hog carcasses at a meat packing plant for most of his life. But in the cruel twist of fate, polio returned to take away his strength and cripple him more in recent years.
When my son, Moose, was a baby he received the oral polio vaccine from a little plastic vial that was cut open and placed in his mouth. The nurse said that it had a nice taste, but I remember that Moose screamed bloody murder when he tasted it. Still, a very small price to pay to avoid such a cruel disease.
In a recent television report on the polio vaccine I heard that polio became a scourge in modern times because babies were less likely to be breastfed and were more protected from exposure to disease. When not exposed to polio while they had some immunities the disease had terrible consequences. The arrival of the vaccine seemed like a miracle of modern science.
I am thankful to live in these days with cleanliness and furnaces and hot water and vaccines. But, I know that the blessings I receive are not those of the triumph of man and modern science. Polio may be one scourge that has passed me by, but there will be others. There are always others. I know that my salvation is not in modern science and that total healing, total perfection will not be achieved heree and now. In this world there will be troubles. I know where my salvation rests.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Monday Memories--Dollhouse
When I was 4 years old I received a dollhouse with furniture for Christmas. I can remember that magical moment. It was a metal dollhouse with painted scenery. My next brother promptly sat on one of the little plastic chairs and broke it all to smithereens--like Golilocks. I still remember being so mad. That's more than 50 years of mad. I have gotten over it, really, but I remember being so mad!
When I was recently up at Q cleaning my mom's basement she offered me the remnants of the dollhouse furniture and some little dolls. Some of it had been my sister's so it is maybe 5 years younger than mine, but a few pieces of the old furniture from over 50 years ago remained. It was played with by me and my sister and our little nieces who are now grown. It is pretty ragged.
Seeing that original kitchen and even one of the original characters really brought back memories. It seems that little girls still play with dollhouses but often the furniture isn't as loose and moveable as mine was. It is a reminder of a different time.
And SHH in a little plastic egg I found a treasure that never was mine--Barbie shoes. I think that they may have been the niece's. Gin or Es, if you want them back, just give send me an email. I will save them for you, unless I find my Barbie somewhere.
When I was recently up at Q cleaning my mom's basement she offered me the remnants of the dollhouse furniture and some little dolls. Some of it had been my sister's so it is maybe 5 years younger than mine, but a few pieces of the old furniture from over 50 years ago remained. It was played with by me and my sister and our little nieces who are now grown. It is pretty ragged.
Seeing that original kitchen and even one of the original characters really brought back memories. It seems that little girls still play with dollhouses but often the furniture isn't as loose and moveable as mine was. It is a reminder of a different time.
And SHH in a little plastic egg I found a treasure that never was mine--Barbie shoes. I think that they may have been the niece's. Gin or Es, if you want them back, just give send me an email. I will save them for you, unless I find my Barbie somewhere.
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