Tag Archives: Found items

Mom — Please read

Emotions, Memories, Things, ,

Another item not in a box from the attic knee walls — an apology note to my mom apparently after having a teenage temper tantrum.

It happened again, didn't it? 

I thought that that would never happen again. I know now that I caused it. I was a spectator watching my body move about the familiar pattern. I would be looking forward to something, or not expecting something -- in this case looking forward to a long lazy afternoon. Then the having to work, then not finding you. Then -- the final blow not getting my way. I had fully expected you to come get me -- to drop what you were doing and pick me up.

Why do I expect something as foolish as that?? Because I usually get my way -- and not getting it results in this scene.

Bob will have a story to tell you if you care to pry -- I'd rather you wouldn't -- it's just the usual screaming and swearing and throwing things around.

I really thought I had grown up -- I guess I haven't.

Again, I'm sorry for not being able to handle my emotions properly.

Dona

I’m thinking that this was written when I worked at Zayre discount store. I remember that the manager of the jewelry department where I worked called in sick most of the time and I covered for her. it turns out that she was stealing money and was fired, but not before I was called into work much more than I wanted.

I relied on my mom to pick me up and drop me off, otherwise I guess I might have taken the bus or maybe walked. It seems that my mom was not able to pick me up this time.

Bob is my cousin who was living with us at the time. We didn’t get along very well.

I still have the occasional screaming, swearing and throwing things tantrum, but mostly when no one is around.

Found Items: Playing Now…

Memories, Series, Things,

We’ve cleaned out the knee walls so the debris from the roof replacement won’t be so hard to clean up. Everything that was in the knee walls is now in the two attic rooms. I’d post a photo but it’s too depressing.

Between now and some near point in the future it is my job to go through dozens of boxes to see if I still want to keep the items in them.

This brochure/flyer/playbill? from one of my flights to or from England in the 1970s was not in a box, so it has priority in my not-so-defined rules.

Back in the olden days we were given head phones that plugged into the arm of the airplane seat and we had a choice of things to listen to. We also had films to watch, but if I remember correctly they were on high screens located throughout the airplane, not on the back of the seat in front of us. I don’t think I listened to much of this music, but maybe I did.

Since I have unlimited time today (that’s a joke) I sat down and made a playlist of everything I could find on Spotify for each section. Note you will need to have a Spotify account to access the playlists.

  1. Pop Rock
  2. Humour
  3. Just Jazz
  4. Children’s Hour
  5. Classical Concert
  6. Familiar Favorites
  7. Sentimental Journey

This will go in the recycling. There, one down and 999,999 to go.

Breakfast Picnics

Memories, Things

One of the unique things that my family did when I was growing up was to have breakfast picnics at a local forest preserve. We never did this with just the four of us, but as a planned event with extended family or friends. I remember having a breakfast picnic with my Aunt Ginny and Uncle Jack — perhaps that was the last one. I think it was when Jeremy was visiting us one year.

Anyway, we’d load up the car with bacon, eggs, coffee, cast iron pans, an aluminum stovetop percolator, flatware, dishes, tumblers and cups. We’d drive the 10 minutes or so to the forest preserve and unpack it all. Since the breakfast was being cooked over an open flame, the men did all the cooking. The kids ran around and played on nearby swings, the women set the tables.

Dad always made “egg coffee”, claiming the egg helped keep the grounds out of people’s cups. I don’t remember ever tasting it. My Aunt Ginny would not drink it — I don’t exactly blame her.

A quick Google search suggests my dad had a point about the egg keeping the grounds out of people’s cups.

Adding the egg helps clarify the coffee, allowing the grounds to separate from the water easily. The egg white extracts the bitterness from the grounds and enhances the caffeine. The result is a light, clear brew with absolutely no bitterness or acidity and a velvety texture that’s easy to drink.

The Spruce Eats: Traditional Swedish Egg Coffee

I think my dad learned this from his mother who was Danish — so maybe the Danes also made egg coffee.

These occasions were so special — a lot of work, but also a lot of fun and the food tasted better eating at a picnic table outside. (Now that I think about this — lots of people had this experience, but it was usually during a camping trip. My family was not a camping kind of family, so this was special to me.

The impetus for this blog post are the dishes that we ate off. I have them in a box and should get rid of them, but just can’t bring myself to toss them. I won’t eat off the dishes or drink out of the cups or tumblers because they are probably packed with carcinogens. Below are a few plates and drinkware.

I even have the picnic basket that once held these plates and drinkware, but it’s full of other things somewhere in the kneewall.