It's almost the end of the year. What do I remember about New Year's Eve and New Year's day? Well, from the time I can remember anything I remember what we called "Watch night service".
"Watch night service" was a church event where the women would provide a pot luck, not to be eaten until after the 12:00 a.m. church bells rang on New Year's Eve. I never knew about the ball dropping in NYC until I got into high school because I was always at the church on New Year's Eve, not home watching TV.
I loved that time of getting together with other church people, including any children that came, and especially if I was able to stay awake, the after midnight prayer time (praying in the new year) fun, food, fellowship. The food especially. All those cookies. All those chips. All those other goodies. Yum.
The prayer time started at midnight after my father rang the church bell for about one minute. We had a short service of singing prior to the bell ringing. Early in my life while I was happy to be in the prayer time, it wasn't a part of my life, so I just sat with my head bowed and my eyes closed until the praying time was over and we could go to the fellowship hall and eat and have fun playing games with each other. If there was snow outside, we certainly had fun throwing snowballs at each other.
I don't recall when the praying became the central focus of my New Year's Eve, but I know it was before I got married. New Year's Eve for my husband and I is still a time of prayer for our country, family, and friends. So if you fit in one of those categories, expect to get prayed for this New Year's Eve.
Finally, I wish there were some pictures floating around of this service. Mom and dad didn't have any, so I guess the pictures will have to remain in my mind (and heart) for me to see.
ttfn
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Inspections and registration
Yesterday I wrote something about my first car, at least I think I did. It was 3 a.m. when I wrote my last BLOG. Who writes BLOGs at 3 a.m.? Only the sleep impaired.
I was thinking about that car some more and realized that I had to take it in for inspection every time I got my registration renewed. The car always failed inspection. The "little old lady's" car had definite balance problems. This "little old lady" also has balance problems due to new hardware in her knees.
I don't know and never did find out what caused my auto to always fail on wheel alignment/balance. I would go right from the inspection station to a gas station that could do the alignment and would drive straight back to Woodbury to get the car re-inspected, and fail again and again. Finally, after seeing me and my certification from the gas station three times in one day, they would finally let me through. I guess they figured it was a junker and I was doing the best I could.
Only the old gray lady wasn't a junker. She was a really nice car. Wish I had a picture of her.
Do they still have inspection stations in NJ? Here in KY they don't inspect autos. And in Ohio, when we lived there, the inspection system lasted for only three or four years and was set up only in certain cities concerned with air pollution. We never failed those inspections.
You all would love Ohio's system of registration, to which we were indoctrinated after the NJ system, and that is they send you a notice that your registration is up for renewal and could you please send the state $35 (back then, don't know what it is now) and they would send you a registration card for one year. No inspection until the mid-80s.
Here in KY we get a registration renewal notice each year and we have to go to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and pay an exorbitant amount of money to register any vehicles we own. They base what you owe for registration on the blue book value of your car. We usually pay around $400 per year to register our autos, and it does go down a few dollars a year for depreciation, but not enough. Also included in that registration -- I call it a tax -- is the public school fee, which is a little over $100 per vehicle, and other taxes about which I haven't a clue. Am I happy about how KY registration is conducted? It is certainly better than sitting in car in a line that make me cough because of the emissions from the autos in front of me. Now I just park the car and go into the building and pay the bill. And I usually don't have to sit or stand in a line.
This is the year for both Alan and I to get our licenses renewed -- they do that every five years here in KY. We have to pass an eye test and that's it. Alan will get his license renewed even though he isn't supposed to drive. I will get my license renewed even though I shouldn't drive. I'm slowing down, much to the chagrin of the folks behind me.
So, that's my tome about auto registrations and inspections.
ttfn
I was thinking about that car some more and realized that I had to take it in for inspection every time I got my registration renewed. The car always failed inspection. The "little old lady's" car had definite balance problems. This "little old lady" also has balance problems due to new hardware in her knees.
I don't know and never did find out what caused my auto to always fail on wheel alignment/balance. I would go right from the inspection station to a gas station that could do the alignment and would drive straight back to Woodbury to get the car re-inspected, and fail again and again. Finally, after seeing me and my certification from the gas station three times in one day, they would finally let me through. I guess they figured it was a junker and I was doing the best I could.
Only the old gray lady wasn't a junker. She was a really nice car. Wish I had a picture of her.
Do they still have inspection stations in NJ? Here in KY they don't inspect autos. And in Ohio, when we lived there, the inspection system lasted for only three or four years and was set up only in certain cities concerned with air pollution. We never failed those inspections.
You all would love Ohio's system of registration, to which we were indoctrinated after the NJ system, and that is they send you a notice that your registration is up for renewal and could you please send the state $35 (back then, don't know what it is now) and they would send you a registration card for one year. No inspection until the mid-80s.
Here in KY we get a registration renewal notice each year and we have to go to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and pay an exorbitant amount of money to register any vehicles we own. They base what you owe for registration on the blue book value of your car. We usually pay around $400 per year to register our autos, and it does go down a few dollars a year for depreciation, but not enough. Also included in that registration -- I call it a tax -- is the public school fee, which is a little over $100 per vehicle, and other taxes about which I haven't a clue. Am I happy about how KY registration is conducted? It is certainly better than sitting in car in a line that make me cough because of the emissions from the autos in front of me. Now I just park the car and go into the building and pay the bill. And I usually don't have to sit or stand in a line.
This is the year for both Alan and I to get our licenses renewed -- they do that every five years here in KY. We have to pass an eye test and that's it. Alan will get his license renewed even though he isn't supposed to drive. I will get my license renewed even though I shouldn't drive. I'm slowing down, much to the chagrin of the folks behind me.
So, that's my tome about auto registrations and inspections.
ttfn
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
As I try to sleep
I find over and over when I lay down to sleep I remember things and when I sit down to BLOG about them I forget them, so bear with me.
I was thinking about my first automobile. I was 21 when I bought it. It was the first car we had in our family. Daddy wouldn't have a car because he thought they were "murder weapons". He rode a bike.
The auto was a 1951 Pontiac, straight eight automatic, gray. I did have to "crank it up" every time I got in it. The crank was a small button on the dash and it was hard to press in to get the car started, but it eventually fired each and every time. I loved that car. I drove that car before I was married, and I have to say that Alan, my husband, murdered it. What did a kid who grew up in Kenya where there were no speed limits know about driving an elderly automobile no more than 55 mph as I had and the little old lady that had it before I did probably drove it even slower.
I am just realizing that when I get rid of my current car the person who buys it will say, a little old lady owned it. Thing is, this little old lady doesn't drive slow except in town. I push the envelope wherever I can.
Back to my car. Alan and I traded that car in just before we got married and bought a Chevelle. That was not an automatic, and I had to learn how to drive a shift car. My husband-to-be took me to Airport circle, pulled into GEX parking lot, and told me to drive. That car only lasted three years before Alan's coveting and my learning to drive a stick shift, pushed us to buy a snazzier car. I have always been the one who has said we should keep cars rather than getting a new one -- that is until recently when I began to see the value in not pouring money into a car when buying a new car would give us a few years of no repair bills. Alan has taken good care of our autos, getting them greased, oiled, and whatever else needs to be done on time and now we have a five year old car that only has 22,000 miles on it. We don't go anywhere except long-distance trips twice a year, if that.
So, that's the tale of my first car. Not too interesting, I admit, but it was one of the things I was thinking about as sleep overtook me.
ttfn
I was thinking about my first automobile. I was 21 when I bought it. It was the first car we had in our family. Daddy wouldn't have a car because he thought they were "murder weapons". He rode a bike.
The auto was a 1951 Pontiac, straight eight automatic, gray. I did have to "crank it up" every time I got in it. The crank was a small button on the dash and it was hard to press in to get the car started, but it eventually fired each and every time. I loved that car. I drove that car before I was married, and I have to say that Alan, my husband, murdered it. What did a kid who grew up in Kenya where there were no speed limits know about driving an elderly automobile no more than 55 mph as I had and the little old lady that had it before I did probably drove it even slower.
I am just realizing that when I get rid of my current car the person who buys it will say, a little old lady owned it. Thing is, this little old lady doesn't drive slow except in town. I push the envelope wherever I can.
Back to my car. Alan and I traded that car in just before we got married and bought a Chevelle. That was not an automatic, and I had to learn how to drive a shift car. My husband-to-be took me to Airport circle, pulled into GEX parking lot, and told me to drive. That car only lasted three years before Alan's coveting and my learning to drive a stick shift, pushed us to buy a snazzier car. I have always been the one who has said we should keep cars rather than getting a new one -- that is until recently when I began to see the value in not pouring money into a car when buying a new car would give us a few years of no repair bills. Alan has taken good care of our autos, getting them greased, oiled, and whatever else needs to be done on time and now we have a five year old car that only has 22,000 miles on it. We don't go anywhere except long-distance trips twice a year, if that.
So, that's the tale of my first car. Not too interesting, I admit, but it was one of the things I was thinking about as sleep overtook me.
ttfn
Monday, November 26, 2012
Aprons
As I was preparing Thanksgiving dinner this year I thought about an item that has become almost obsolete, unless one is a professional chef. I'm referring to an apron.
An apron was a mandatory item of outer wear for a woman when I was growing up. My first sewing project was an apron. My mother made aprons every few years for the women in her Sunday school class (for Christmas). My mother always wore an apron in the kitchen, but never in the other rooms or our tiny house. After all it was kitchen attire, not dining room, or any other room attire.
I don't recall seeing her put on her apron, but she was wearing it every time I saw her in the kitchen. And mostly she wore an all-over apron like the one pictured. In fact, my mom had this exact pattern for making her own aprons, and mostly she made them out of scrap materials. Mom didn't quilt, she made aprons. After all an apron was always an appropriate gift to give to a woman for any occasion. My mother also wore her apron when she was in the basement doing laundry, or in the back yard hanging clothes. She wore the short coverall pictured above in her garden.
I didn't like to wear an apron, and thus never got into the habit of putting one on when I cooked. Not even when I was first married and had many aprons in my hope chest from which to choose, did I wear one.
I don't know exactly when aprons became almost obsolete, but I'm glad that there is now a resurgence in the use of this attire and not just for professional chefs.
Martha Stewart, I'm not, but guess what? This Thanksgiving I did wear an apron. YES, I still have some really old aprons in my kitchen linen drawer!
ttfn
An apron was a mandatory item of outer wear for a woman when I was growing up. My first sewing project was an apron. My mother made aprons every few years for the women in her Sunday school class (for Christmas). My mother always wore an apron in the kitchen, but never in the other rooms or our tiny house. After all it was kitchen attire, not dining room, or any other room attire.
I didn't like to wear an apron, and thus never got into the habit of putting one on when I cooked. Not even when I was first married and had many aprons in my hope chest from which to choose, did I wear one.
I don't know exactly when aprons became almost obsolete, but I'm glad that there is now a resurgence in the use of this attire and not just for professional chefs.
Martha Stewart, I'm not, but guess what? This Thanksgiving I did wear an apron. YES, I still have some really old aprons in my kitchen linen drawer!
ttfn
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Storms along the coast
I remember a northeaster that occurred in 1962. It wiped out several towns along the south Jersey coast. The government wasn't much help back then because it wasn't expected as it is now. I'm not sure what I think about all that aid. In one respect it can be good, on the other hand those of us not fortunate enough to have a home by the sea -- a personal dream of mine, by the way -- have to pay for the rebuilding.
I recall the various towns rehabbing the beaches after that '62 storm. I remember the Corps of Engineers pouring tons of sand and water mixed onto the beaches to extend them to their former width. So I imagine the government paid for that rebuilding. Nothing like what FEMA is doing these days.
I remember another hurricane that occurred in 1944. I was 1-1/2 and mom, dad, and I were in the kitchen. Dad said to mom, "There goes a tree." He went out on the back porch to survey the damage. The tree miss the house, barely. Then soon after he came back in he heard another thump and let us know that another tree had hit the dirt, so to speak. It, too, missed the house, garage, and church building.
I remember the light in the kitchen coming from kerosene lamps. I remember sitting on my mother's lap in front of the oven which was being used to warm us. November can be a cold month. After that my next memory is the day my sister came home with mommy from the hospital-- I was three -- and life was back to normal for 18 months before my first brother was born. Then there was a brand new normal!
ttfn
I recall the various towns rehabbing the beaches after that '62 storm. I remember the Corps of Engineers pouring tons of sand and water mixed onto the beaches to extend them to their former width. So I imagine the government paid for that rebuilding. Nothing like what FEMA is doing these days.
I remember another hurricane that occurred in 1944. I was 1-1/2 and mom, dad, and I were in the kitchen. Dad said to mom, "There goes a tree." He went out on the back porch to survey the damage. The tree miss the house, barely. Then soon after he came back in he heard another thump and let us know that another tree had hit the dirt, so to speak. It, too, missed the house, garage, and church building.
I remember the light in the kitchen coming from kerosene lamps. I remember sitting on my mother's lap in front of the oven which was being used to warm us. November can be a cold month. After that my next memory is the day my sister came home with mommy from the hospital-- I was three -- and life was back to normal for 18 months before my first brother was born. Then there was a brand new normal!
ttfn
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Remember when?
Sometimes when I can't sleep at night I think about the days when I was a child. And tonight was such a night. First I couldn't sleep because I couldn't remember certain street names in Runnemede. Then I couldn't sleep because I was uncomfortable in the bed. Then I couldn't sleep because I had an idea for this BLOG.
So, now, it's 3:30 a.m. and I'm writing what I was thinking about remembering back when...
I was wondering if any of you who read this BLOG remember "skating" down West Third Avenue, toward the Pike between Read Avenue and the railroad tracks during the winter? No skates, just shoes. In the middle of the street.
You see, there were very few cars on the streets of Runnemede to worry about back then.
I can even remember sitting on the curb with Linda Lott watching cars come down East Clements Bridge Road, heading toward the Pike. Sometimes we would wait for what seemed like forever. We even had a lemonade stand one summer on my side of Clements Bridge Road and only a few cars passed us and even fewer bought our lemonade.
I remember riding my bike to school (when I attended Bingham) and enjoying the lack of need to pedal when I came home from school either for lunch or when school was out for the day. I would just let go of the handle bars and lean back and enjoy the ride. Yes, I was quite the dare-devil back then. Being small for my age didn't stop me from doing some things which I would consider quite foolish now, but I do like to see children riding bikes at break-neck speed without using the handlebars. I know their parents down enjoy that sight, but I do.
I remember skating (using the kind of skates that you had to use a skate-key on) and hoping my skates would stay on and not pop off. Some half-years my shoes were such that they [the skates] stayed on and other half-years they wouldn't stay on at all. I say half-years because I got two pairs of school shoes per year, so I would have each pair for half a year and beside riding my bike skating was a favorite thing for me to do. I would pretend that my roller skates were ice skates and do "tricks" like the ice-skaters did on TV. We didn't get much ice in the winter and you can't ice-skate on snow.
Which takes me back to "skating" down West Third Avenue between Read and the railroad. You see, there was ice in the middle of the street from where the snow had melted and then frozen again and by the time we were out of school, it was frozen because the sun had set far enough that it was in shadow.
How times have changed. You can hardly sit on the porch at 116 E. Second Avenue (our homestead) without a car whizzing by every few minutes, far more frequently than they were passing us on Clements Bridge back in the early 50s.
ttfn
So, now, it's 3:30 a.m. and I'm writing what I was thinking about remembering back when...
I was wondering if any of you who read this BLOG remember "skating" down West Third Avenue, toward the Pike between Read Avenue and the railroad tracks during the winter? No skates, just shoes. In the middle of the street.
You see, there were very few cars on the streets of Runnemede to worry about back then.
I can even remember sitting on the curb with Linda Lott watching cars come down East Clements Bridge Road, heading toward the Pike. Sometimes we would wait for what seemed like forever. We even had a lemonade stand one summer on my side of Clements Bridge Road and only a few cars passed us and even fewer bought our lemonade.
I remember riding my bike to school (when I attended Bingham) and enjoying the lack of need to pedal when I came home from school either for lunch or when school was out for the day. I would just let go of the handle bars and lean back and enjoy the ride. Yes, I was quite the dare-devil back then. Being small for my age didn't stop me from doing some things which I would consider quite foolish now, but I do like to see children riding bikes at break-neck speed without using the handlebars. I know their parents down enjoy that sight, but I do.
I remember skating (using the kind of skates that you had to use a skate-key on) and hoping my skates would stay on and not pop off. Some half-years my shoes were such that they [the skates] stayed on and other half-years they wouldn't stay on at all. I say half-years because I got two pairs of school shoes per year, so I would have each pair for half a year and beside riding my bike skating was a favorite thing for me to do. I would pretend that my roller skates were ice skates and do "tricks" like the ice-skaters did on TV. We didn't get much ice in the winter and you can't ice-skate on snow.
Which takes me back to "skating" down West Third Avenue between Read and the railroad. You see, there was ice in the middle of the street from where the snow had melted and then frozen again and by the time we were out of school, it was frozen because the sun had set far enough that it was in shadow.
How times have changed. You can hardly sit on the porch at 116 E. Second Avenue (our homestead) without a car whizzing by every few minutes, far more frequently than they were passing us on Clements Bridge back in the early 50s.
ttfn
Friday, October 19, 2012
Communism
What? What kind of title is that for a BLOG about growing up in a small town in South Jersey?
I shall tell you.
The first time I was introduced to communism was in second grade. At my class at Downing School we were taught to get under our desks if we saw a bright light outside that was not attached to a thunder storm. And we practiced diving under our desks. We did this periodically throughout the year.
Why? Well, the Russians had "the bomb" and might use it on us and we had to be prepared. The communists were out to get us and they were our enemies.
We were taught that the communists' children were in school at age two and that when a communist met a non-communist and they were having a discussion of any kind the communist would talk over the non-communist and but-in constantly so as to throw their opponent off their train of thought.
We were taught that our homes would belong to the "state", meaning the communist government.
Then in 7th grade we read 1984 -- which was quite the scarey novel for a pre-teen.
So when I was watching the recent debates I was thinking, wow, the debaters sure to interrupt each other an awful lot, some more than others, and I was reminded of the days when we were reminded of what to look for in a communist state. Dodn't get into a snit, folks. I'm not accusing either candidate of being communist. I'm just saying what I was taught in school.
Other things our teachers told us about communist Russia was that food supplies were low and what was available was very expensive. The very expensive part I can relate to. The land and farms were owned my the government, and even though the government now owned the farms, at least the people who had owned them previously were permitted to farm their own land for very low wages.
We were told that prices on most commodities (gasoline, heating oil, etc.) were very high even though Russia had plenty of resources right in their own country and they were selling the things their own people needed to other countries, thus pushing the prices higher.
The communist government took over whole companies including the auto companies, the trains, the banks, etc.
There were other things we were to look out for, but I can't remember them, maybe because they
haven't come up yet in our own nation.
How is this country leaning? Yes, it is the best and most wonderful country in the world, and I don't want to live anywhere else. But I see things I don't like that are happening in our country. Things I learned about as a child and hoped then would not ever happen here in our country.
Maybe these things I mentioned in this particular BLOG don't seem real to some of you, but think about these examples and be aware of what is going on around you.
ttfn
PS: I imagine I'll get quite a few comments on this BLOG.
I shall tell you.
The first time I was introduced to communism was in second grade. At my class at Downing School we were taught to get under our desks if we saw a bright light outside that was not attached to a thunder storm. And we practiced diving under our desks. We did this periodically throughout the year.
Why? Well, the Russians had "the bomb" and might use it on us and we had to be prepared. The communists were out to get us and they were our enemies.
We were taught that the communists' children were in school at age two and that when a communist met a non-communist and they were having a discussion of any kind the communist would talk over the non-communist and but-in constantly so as to throw their opponent off their train of thought.
We were taught that our homes would belong to the "state", meaning the communist government.
Then in 7th grade we read 1984 -- which was quite the scarey novel for a pre-teen.
So when I was watching the recent debates I was thinking, wow, the debaters sure to interrupt each other an awful lot, some more than others, and I was reminded of the days when we were reminded of what to look for in a communist state. Dodn't get into a snit, folks. I'm not accusing either candidate of being communist. I'm just saying what I was taught in school.
Other things our teachers told us about communist Russia was that food supplies were low and what was available was very expensive. The very expensive part I can relate to. The land and farms were owned my the government, and even though the government now owned the farms, at least the people who had owned them previously were permitted to farm their own land for very low wages.
We were told that prices on most commodities (gasoline, heating oil, etc.) were very high even though Russia had plenty of resources right in their own country and they were selling the things their own people needed to other countries, thus pushing the prices higher.
The communist government took over whole companies including the auto companies, the trains, the banks, etc.
There were other things we were to look out for, but I can't remember them, maybe because they
haven't come up yet in our own nation.
How is this country leaning? Yes, it is the best and most wonderful country in the world, and I don't want to live anywhere else. But I see things I don't like that are happening in our country. Things I learned about as a child and hoped then would not ever happen here in our country.
Maybe these things I mentioned in this particular BLOG don't seem real to some of you, but think about these examples and be aware of what is going on around you.
ttfn
PS: I imagine I'll get quite a few comments on this BLOG.
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