The Cottonwoods Will Always Whistle

I think I sang the song, Tammy, a thousand times when I was growing up. With a few of my neighbor friends we would put on talent shows on my front steps. I can't remember almost any of the other songs, but "Tammy" was always in the lineup. I loved Debbie Reynolds and followed her life through Screenplay and the other movie magazines of the day in detail. I wrote about going to see her speak in 2013 and after seeing her speak. 

I wrote that she was "funny, quirky and still so adorable." I enjoyed the evening immensely and I am so sad to write about Debbie Reynolds in the past tense. So many of the people I admired in childhood have passed from this earth and to my sorrow, Debbie Reynolds joins the list. But in my heart and thoughts the first words to Tammy drift through my mind and with them Debbie Reynolds is still and always with me.

 

It Might As Well Be 1959...

Hot dogs and beans for supper!

Source: cheeseslave.com via Carol on Pinterest

When I was growing meals were very routine. We ate dinner as a family and very often we had the same food for the same meal each week. Not always exactly the same, but generally Thursday was fish, Friday always  chicken and quite often Saturday night was hot dogs and beans. 

I've diverged from this model, but this afternoon I got the biggest craving for hot dogs and beans. Often in the winter I make baked beans in the crockpot, but I hadn't started them in time. Instead I got a can of baked beans -- the same kind my mother used -- and a package of turkey dogs and had a perfect Saturday night supper. I had an apple for dessert and for a treat for later tonight I have a single serving cup of my new favorite flavor of ice cream, Drumstick. This is a takeoff on the Nestle cones and I've just discovered it in the single cups. 

Do you have a favorite Saturday night supper? Inquiring minds want to know!

I had a quiet day. Slept unusually late and relaxed reading the NY Times.  Cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen, grocery shopped, got to the drugstore and had a good round of discarding paper. I also had a chance to visit lots of my blog buddies and loved catching up. Hope your day was as easy and relaxed!

It's Raining Reunions (2)

"Hail to Rawson, Hail to thee

We'll lead you on to victory...

A month ago reunion was a vague and hazy concept for "someday" and tonight I tore up my apartment looking for my elementary school yearbook. While my fortieth college reunion is still nearly a year away, my elementary school reunion is three weeks away. Members of classes from the Sarah J. Rawson School in Hartford, from 1963 to 1967, will be getting together. When a facebook buddy first suggested it I looked at August and decided it was too busy for a trip to Hartford. The weekend of the reunion is between Blogher and a trip to San Diego and K's son's wedding and a trip to the St. Lawrence and Vermont. 

But I got an email from my friend Lonni, my friend from fifth grade, who thought it would be fun for us to go together. She is moving into a new house, which I'd love to see and it would be great to spend time together. It's hard to say no to your best friend from fifth grade. When I saw the list of invitees it was impossible to say no. I was especially delighted to see my friend Gail, who lived around the corner from my family when I was growing up and was part of the jump rope and hopscotch group. Her family moved in the mid-sixties and I haven't seen her since then.   

I am amazed at how excited I am. I have kept in touch with a few of my childhood friends, but to see so many people from our old neighborhood is actually thrilling. We grew up in a neighborhood of small houses and one car to a family, but a neighborhood that was very safe and fun for kids. We trick-or-treated, walked to the drugstore to buy penny candy and played infinite games of kickball in the street. There was hopscotch, roller skating and evenings of walking over to the Little League field to cheer on the neighborhood teams. There was our beloved local movie theater, The Lenox, where matinees cost a quarter and a treat was a box of snow caps or a bag of popcorn. The older kids looked after the younger ones and I knew that any adult in the neighborhood would let my parents know if I was misbehaving. 

I took the safety totally for granted, but the ability to play without a lot of supervision gave me the independence that I enjoy now.  If there was one gift I could give to children today it would be the sense of safety and the ability to explore the world around them independently.    

This inquiring mind wants to know...Do you keep in touch with any friends from elementary school? What are some of your memories from growing up?

Sweet dreams and keep cool!