1. A recalling to memory; recollection.
[Greek anamnsis, from anamimnskein, anamn-, to remind : ana-, ana- + mimnskein, to recall.]
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A friend of mine recently was laughing at some stories of my childhood. She told me I should write a book. I was thinking about some of the MANY things I have fond (and not so fond) recollections of, they are things I cherish about my life, and they ARE pretty amusing.
So, before I get soooo old that I can no longer remember them, I thought I'd post a few ... and especially since I plan on making my blog posts this year into another blogbook, it may be fun reading for generations of my kids and grandkids who may read that book or my blog long after I'm dead?! Sooo, for your reading enjoyment, or for a sleep-aid, here are some sharings of my past, as I recall them....
BREAD-BAG SNOBS
When I was a kid, our family was not rich. In the snowy months, we had snow boots that we wore for several winter seasons, and they would, in turn, get passed down to the next child to use. Even though I was the oldest child (of 8), I too had hand-me-downs at times from family friends who had kids older than me. So often, our boots had small holes and they leaked. To alleviate that problem, we wore plastic bags in our boots so our socks would remain dry. The bags we used were bread bags.
I remember how slippery those bags were inside boots that were a bit too large, and how embarrassed I was at school to take off my boots and have other kids see I had to wear bread bags over my socks.
The kids in our family were not the ONLY ones however who wore bread bags. I was relieved to see that there were several kids in my class who had bread bags inside their boots....however, I found out that even among bread-bag wearers, there was still some snobbery that went on.
Our family had GENERIC bread bags, cheaper bread brands ... and the other kids all had WONDER bread bags, so we were not only laughed at because of the bread bags, but also because of the generic labeled bread bags...ohhh the shame! *L* I can remember begging my Mom to buy Wonder Bread but to no avail. Somehow, I lived through those episodes, and still laugh when I recall my own kids protesting wearing bread bags in THEIR boots, even though I went to the trouble of buying WONDER Bread! Talk about ungrateful kids, eh? *G*
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SKYFLIERS & KOOL-AID & CLOVERS
Summertime was always a fun time. We had neighbors close by to play with, a large wooded area behind our property where we often went and made "forts", climbed trees and spied on neighbors from those lofty heights.
We had a "sky-flier" swing that was the envy of kids from miles away. Dad hooked a large cable between two trees that stretched the length of our backyard, he added a large pulley, with a rope swing attached. There was a metal stopper at the end of the cable, far enough from the tree to allow us to hit the stopper and swing up in the air without hitting the tree. At the other end of the cable was a high wooden platform with a ladder that we climbed up onto to get into the rope swing, and then jump off the platform, slide down the cable, hit the stopper and swing back halfway up the cable, and back down again, several times.
We played on the skyflier everyday, for hours... it was especially fun when Dad would oil the pulley and make us go faster and swing higher at the end! We had so many kids there one summer, my sister and I tried to make some money and charge the kids a nickel per ride, until my Mom found out and put a stop to THAT! Dang! We could have been millionaires!! *L*
The Skyflier is STILL in operation. It's been made quite a bit shorter (due to one of the big trees dying years ago), and it's not at all as high as it once was, but now our grandkids are enjoying it every chance they get at Nana and Papa's house too... and they will have fun memories to share as well!
One of our regular summer time treats was a glass of ice cold Kool Aid each afternoon. Mom would call us in to get our drink, and we'd head out into the yard to find the small white clover flowers (that we hoped hadn't been peed on by our dog Tipper - *L*).
I'd pick about a dozen or so, and then spend the next 15 - 20 minutes laying back at the foot of the swingset slide, dipping the clovers into my Kool Aid and eating them one by one, while looking at the clouds and savoring my afternoon snack. Ahhh, the joys of childhood...and CHEAP snacks too! *L*
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