1. What's a word that describes your life? A word you wish described your life?
The word to describe my life is happy, the word I wish would describe my life, productive (and happy).
2. Back in my day we played outside with the neighborhood children because there were dozens of Baby Boomer kids all around. We entertained ourselves for hours by playing simple games. We played badminton, croquet, a game we called Indian ball with a batter, a pitcher and a couple fielders--you hit the ball, the person who fielded the ball rolled or threw it aiming for the bat which the batter laid on the ground in front of "batting box." If the fielder hit the bat, it was his/her turn to bat and the batter took the field or became the pitcher. We had large games of Kick the Can or Hide and Go Seek when the Oklahoma cousins were visiting in the summer. Our hiding territory stretched over multiple backyards. We got mayonnaise jars from our moms and hammered holes in the lids, then we spent all evening catching lightning bugs and putting them in our jars. When it was time to go inside, our mother made us release the trapped lightning bugs. When fall arrived, we went Trick or Treating at Halloween with no fears or hesitation as to our safety. In the winter, we went ice skating on frozen ponds in our neighborhood, we went caroling to the neighbor's houses at Christmas. Childhood play was more free wheeling then and less circumscribed and facilitated by adults.
3. When it comes to takeout are you more likely to opt for Italian, Mexican, or Chinese food? Does a typical week at your house include takeout?
If we do take-out, it's usually Chinese, occasionally tacos from the small Taqueria on the edge of our neighborhood. We eat out quite a bit, more often at lunch, and mostly dine-in places.
4. Think about the people you most respect. What is it about them that earned your respect?
Their authenticity--they are comfortable with who they are and are kind and caring toward others. I also like intelligence.
5. What's something your friends might see and say is 'so you'?
Probably a book or something vintage.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I don't exactly know what I'm doing on this blog hop. I'm still trying to figure out the rules. That's mainly my thought process at the moment, nothing very deep.
Other random thoughts: I'm thinking about my niece Emily's new website,www.halfnhalf-life.com, where all her blog posts are archived and her new ones will appear. She writes about her family's life living in the Czech Republic while returning to the United States a couple times a year to visit family and ground herself and the kids in American life and culture. The website is so professional in its appearance, the photography is gorgeous, and I even read some blog posts that I somehow missed when they originally appeared in the Prague Monitor.
I'm wishing I was going to be in Paris with her, her family, and my sister and brother-in-law this week. They are going to have adventures that I can enjoy vicariously when I talk to my sister or read about them on Emily's website. Our trip last weekend to New Orleans is the closest I'll be to France this year. We stayed at an AirB&B near Magazine Street so we spent a lot of time roaming in that fun and funky part of town. Our B&B was only a block from LaBoulangerie on Magazine Street with its delicious pastries. We bought our breakfast pastries and brought them back to our hidden courtyard to eat.
The rain here in the northwestern corner of Louisiana has finally stopped--and it's started up again. We've been getting inundated the last couple of days. Tomorrow I need to unload the five bins of Mardi Gras throws we brought back from our friends' house in NOLA.
:) The sun is out now--I didn't expect it as it was still raining early this morning! I love a good rainy day, but only every once in a while.
ReplyDeleteYour description of childhood is so spot on, Teresa. I guess it is a time that has passed for a number of reasons, but it was wonderful to be "free range"; mothers cared, but weren't as involved in our lives. My mother was always there if we needed her, but she didn't organize our activities. Play dates? We had neighborhood kids and cousins and no calendars were needed to map our days. :)
We recorded almost 5 " of rain in our rain gauge in a day and a half. I stayed in and read during the rain, which was nice, but we also were out in it some. The wonders of technology do not adequately compensate for what today's children are missing in freedom. I'm sometimes amazed what my strict parents let us do. We only got in trouble for sitting next to US Highway #11, then a busy and major thoroughfare in Virginia and waving at tourists and truckers. Sometimes we would climb these natural stone columns at the entrance to our neighborhood and wave from there. We lived near the highway. We also lived within walking distance of a motel, and we weren't supposed to go over there to the vending machine but we sometimes did with other kids.
DeleteYour description of your childhood describes mine to a t! I feel sad that today's kids will never experience most of that. We had the best times. I've bookmarked your niece's blog to check out later. You, by the way, are doing a wonderful job at Hodgepodging!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stacy. I was confused because the person whose name was above mine just linked back to the original post so it was a "do loop." No place to hop as it were. I finally saw that not everyone who responds has a blog. I loved the question about "Back in my day..." because I had such a bucolic childhood in a small town in the mountains of Virginia. I hope soon you and your husband can start doing all the fun things. I'm a firm advocate of retirement, LOL, when the time comes. My husband was a nurse in a cardiac care unit before he retired so I know about time restrictions. He also was on call a lot. When he wasn't working or on call, he liked to stay close to home. Last year we really hit the road, staying closer to home so far this year. It's all good. You will love Emily's website once you have time to look. It's fascinating and attractive. Look at some of her old Prague Monitor HalfnHalf articles. They're interesting and not just because she's my niece. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI'm going to check out her website, also.
ReplyDeleteI grew up not far from here in central Louisiana. We had 25 acres of farm to play in and there were few restrictions. I loved to carry a book outdoors and hide away to read. I have seven sisters so games lasted till darkness. We had enough creativity among ourselves to make up the games as we went along. Ahh, childhood...
My husband is from Alexandria, LA. I wondered when I saw the Fleur de Lis what your Louisiana connection might be. I can't even imagine having seven sisters, but my mother was one of nine children although one of her sisters died in infancy. Thus, on my mom's side of the family I have cousins galore. I know we sound old but we enjoyed so much more freedom in our childhoods than kids today. I guess part of that for me is growing up in a small town or on a farm in your case. There was room to roam. My mom was the fifth girl and there was one younger than her, so she told stories about growing up with five sisters on a farm in Wytheville, VA.
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