It's almost like I can't remember it not snowing - it has snowed every day for the last seven days. At least the kids can enjoy it, I thought, until I read in the paper yesterday some states are actually considering banning sledding. Or at least making it the law to wear a helmet while on a sled. Can you believe it? The best memories I have of winter are sleigh riding, especially at night.
Beacon had designated certain streets as "play streets". These were usually steep hills and as a play street were not plowed and were closed to car traffic. We were lucky that Master's Place, one of the play streeets, was right near by. It was at the end of a series of less steep hills that snaked down from Falconer Street to Liberty. As soon as we had a heavy snow, we all met at the corner, bundled up, pulling our sleds, ready to go.
There were two ways to ride down the hill. You could sit up and steer with your feet, kind of clumsy because this was a job your feet were not used to. Or the preferred way, on your belly, steering with your hands. Also, this increased the speed of the trip, or at least it seemed that way. Sometimes, especially at night, the older kids would make a "train", attaching all the sleds (each sled how a rope on it to tow it back up the hill with) and making one hell of a dangerous ride. You could catch your fingers or feet between the sleds. Also, as the sleds gained speed, some one would turn over, causing all those sleds in back of it to tip as well.
Sometimes you rode two or three to a sled, sitting one behind the other, the designated driver the only that could see where you were headed. The ride was fast, and the walk back up the hill seemed to take forever, as you had to keep dodging the sleds that were coming down.
Yankee magazine had an article about sleds, saying that sledding goes back centuries to when the Roman soldiers would use their shields to go down hills in battle. In our country sleds were mostly used to haul timber, ice and supplies until the mid 1800's when sleds were manufactured for recreation.
Our kids had sleds and a tobaggan that was a family Christmas gift for all four of them. They sled over at Mimi's, off of Boyd road. Good thing there was not much traffic, because the hill shot them right across Clay Hill into the woods. The tobaggan was used in back of Mary's house, now Tink and Irene's. They would go off with our neighbor Tony for hours on that hill. I remember one time when they were sledding, Tony knocked on the door and asked for Joel. Joel listened to him and quickly got on his coat and followed him up the hill. Tony had told him that Maria was hurt, not talking, but was all right by the time he reached her - just had the wind knocked out of her. Oh yeah, it had its dangers, bloody noses from bumping the head in front of you, black and blue marks from hitting the snow hard, but that was all part of it.
Rereading this post, I am beginning to see the point. Maybe it is too dangerous. Like diving boards. All the high diving boards have been removed from local pools. But those diving boards, and the fast sleds were "rites of passage" moving you from little kid to big kid, little hill to big hill. Building your confidence, your self esteem. So go on and sleigh ride. Tomorrow's March and this snow can't last forever.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
As Death Month winds down, I thought it would be fitting to recall my memories of one of the month's victims, my father's friend from childhood, Cap Hancock, aka Lawrence Hancock and Judge Hancock. I remember vividly Cap at my father's funeral. He was a tall man, over six feet, and he put his arm around my much shorter Uncle Ed and walked out of the church with him. A year later he read a poem at my father's grave. He and his wife were frequent guests of the O'Leary parties and I also remember one time he and his wife had traveled to Clermont State Park and approached for a tour just at the closing time. I was standing behind the guide that answered the door as they were told the house was closed, they couldn't come in. I had to smile as he grandly remarked "I've been thrown out of better places than this", as he and his wife walked away. But I got to know Cap best the last two years of his life, when we were pen pals.
Cap was in a nursing home in Beacon. My brother was a frequent visitor and coveyer of books for Cap to read. He loved to read and had read his favorites Dickens and Doyle over and over. I gave my brother some of Anne Morrow Lindberg's Diaries to read and that's how the correspondence began. From February 2002 until late in 2003 we exchanged letters. I received 16 in all.
At first he just talked about Anne's books and the Lindberg's and what he remembered of that time. But every now and then he added something about his childhood and a clue to what my own father's life was like in those years. "Glenham boys don't cry or wear hats in the winter'', he wrote. "They never learn how to dance", although he said he had to learn how to waltz when he was in a play in his senior year. And he did admit to a tear reading Dicken's Dombey at the death of poor little Paul Dombey. Also, he confessed to reading a "girl's book" Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking glass although he said he never told his friends he read it. Mark Twain had been a childhood favorite and Cap wrote that he imagined Hannibal (Twain's home that he wrote about in Tom Sawyer) seemed a lot like Glenham in my youth.
He would recommend books to me that he was reading..Mornings on Horseback, a biography of Theodore Roosevelt. He admired Teddy and said that Teddy had been heartbroken when he learned his father that he idolized had hired a substitute to fight for him in the Civil War. Books were his passion and his pastime in the years in the nursing home. As they seemed to have always been - he told me he had read Oliver Twist when he was 9 years old.
Some of his letters contained information on his years as Judge in the Glenham Courthouse. He said lawyers were "lots of talk" and he kept himself awake by doing isometric exercises and repeating silently the Avogadro's Hypothesis, "Equal volumes of all gases....". He recalled one time when he had poison ivy from his waist down and he couldn't stop squirming on the bench. My brother told me once that Cap had told him about a young person who came before him with a ring in her nose. He thought her nose was running and handed her his handkerchief. He was a judge longer than any one else in the state as I recall.
He wrote a little about being in the war, had he had earned M-1 rifle medals and then added "my dear wife let my Robert (his son) have the medals to play soldier with. For all I know they are now on the bottom of the creek" and added "crick" as they say in Glenham.
I once was at the nursing home visiting Aunt Lillian who was there for only a few days. He wasn't in his room, but I peeked in and saw piles of books on the window sill and on the floor. He had a reputation as a "ladies man" and the nurses warned Aunt Lillian to beware of him. Not the picture I had of him reading Dickens aloud in his very theatrical voice. He died on February 10, 2004. I am happy I was able to share a little of his history those last years. He liked to write that we shared several things, both Bard graduates, both Leos (his birthday a day before mine) and both readers. Rest in peace, Cap.
Cap was in a nursing home in Beacon. My brother was a frequent visitor and coveyer of books for Cap to read. He loved to read and had read his favorites Dickens and Doyle over and over. I gave my brother some of Anne Morrow Lindberg's Diaries to read and that's how the correspondence began. From February 2002 until late in 2003 we exchanged letters. I received 16 in all.
At first he just talked about Anne's books and the Lindberg's and what he remembered of that time. But every now and then he added something about his childhood and a clue to what my own father's life was like in those years. "Glenham boys don't cry or wear hats in the winter'', he wrote. "They never learn how to dance", although he said he had to learn how to waltz when he was in a play in his senior year. And he did admit to a tear reading Dicken's Dombey at the death of poor little Paul Dombey. Also, he confessed to reading a "girl's book" Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking glass although he said he never told his friends he read it. Mark Twain had been a childhood favorite and Cap wrote that he imagined Hannibal (Twain's home that he wrote about in Tom Sawyer) seemed a lot like Glenham in my youth.
He would recommend books to me that he was reading..Mornings on Horseback, a biography of Theodore Roosevelt. He admired Teddy and said that Teddy had been heartbroken when he learned his father that he idolized had hired a substitute to fight for him in the Civil War. Books were his passion and his pastime in the years in the nursing home. As they seemed to have always been - he told me he had read Oliver Twist when he was 9 years old.
Some of his letters contained information on his years as Judge in the Glenham Courthouse. He said lawyers were "lots of talk" and he kept himself awake by doing isometric exercises and repeating silently the Avogadro's Hypothesis, "Equal volumes of all gases....". He recalled one time when he had poison ivy from his waist down and he couldn't stop squirming on the bench. My brother told me once that Cap had told him about a young person who came before him with a ring in her nose. He thought her nose was running and handed her his handkerchief. He was a judge longer than any one else in the state as I recall.
He wrote a little about being in the war, had he had earned M-1 rifle medals and then added "my dear wife let my Robert (his son) have the medals to play soldier with. For all I know they are now on the bottom of the creek" and added "crick" as they say in Glenham.
I once was at the nursing home visiting Aunt Lillian who was there for only a few days. He wasn't in his room, but I peeked in and saw piles of books on the window sill and on the floor. He had a reputation as a "ladies man" and the nurses warned Aunt Lillian to beware of him. Not the picture I had of him reading Dickens aloud in his very theatrical voice. He died on February 10, 2004. I am happy I was able to share a little of his history those last years. He liked to write that we shared several things, both Bard graduates, both Leos (his birthday a day before mine) and both readers. Rest in peace, Cap.
Monday, February 15, 2010
I've been treating myself on Saturday morning to a soft boiled egg. You may wonder why that is special, but I buy these jumbo brown eggs at Adams that are delicious and a soft boiled egg is the best thing in the world. You prick the large end of the egg with a needle, place in boiling water, and boil for five minutes gently. Some say four minutes, but with the jumbo you need to do five. Then crack the top, open and expose the yolk and dip in.
I use a safety pin to make the hole. I usually have one pinned to my underside of my shirt, a habit I got into years ago. My mother always had a safety pin on her clothes so somehow I figured it was good luck. Bucky used the pin to remind herself which breast she had used to nurse the last time. Bucky had four kids in six years, Bob, then the twins, then Diane. With the twins I guess she didn't need the safety pin.
I wondered about safety pins. I don't think they are used much anymore. Timmy gets them at races because they come with the number to be pinned on his chest. When my kids were little we had great big safety pins for their diapers - they even came topped in pink or blue plastic, boy or girl. It used to be terrible when a pin wouldn't hit the diaper and get the baby.
I wondered why they were called safety pins and the internet explaned that the patent went to William Hunt in 1849. The clasp and spring action were designed to keep the fingers safe, and that's how it got its name - safety pin. During the punk rock period it became popular to use safety pins as fashion. I can remember Jer having big pins holding his torn pant legs together. Pins were used as earrings - ouch - or in other pierced places. The recent fashion shows reveal a return of the safety pin...calling it "recession friendly" ..pins decorate vests and are used as collars on shirts and suits.
Anyway, back to the soft boiled egg. This was a popular dish served by my parents to the little kids, we called it "eggie pop". A soft boiled egg was taken out of the shell, placed in a bowl with small cut up pieces of white bread, so that the bread soaked up the yolk. The kids loved it and it was a healthy and filling breakfast, lunch or supper. Take my advice and try it.
I use a safety pin to make the hole. I usually have one pinned to my underside of my shirt, a habit I got into years ago. My mother always had a safety pin on her clothes so somehow I figured it was good luck. Bucky used the pin to remind herself which breast she had used to nurse the last time. Bucky had four kids in six years, Bob, then the twins, then Diane. With the twins I guess she didn't need the safety pin.
I wondered about safety pins. I don't think they are used much anymore. Timmy gets them at races because they come with the number to be pinned on his chest. When my kids were little we had great big safety pins for their diapers - they even came topped in pink or blue plastic, boy or girl. It used to be terrible when a pin wouldn't hit the diaper and get the baby.
I wondered why they were called safety pins and the internet explaned that the patent went to William Hunt in 1849. The clasp and spring action were designed to keep the fingers safe, and that's how it got its name - safety pin. During the punk rock period it became popular to use safety pins as fashion. I can remember Jer having big pins holding his torn pant legs together. Pins were used as earrings - ouch - or in other pierced places. The recent fashion shows reveal a return of the safety pin...calling it "recession friendly" ..pins decorate vests and are used as collars on shirts and suits.
Anyway, back to the soft boiled egg. This was a popular dish served by my parents to the little kids, we called it "eggie pop". A soft boiled egg was taken out of the shell, placed in a bowl with small cut up pieces of white bread, so that the bread soaked up the yolk. The kids loved it and it was a healthy and filling breakfast, lunch or supper. Take my advice and try it.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The picture shows the four of us, Me and Laura in the front, Sabra and Maria in the background, between two fake palm trees with the sign " Carnival Ecstasy Feb 7 1994" written on the wall behind us. It's hard to tell who has the biggest smile. Yes, it was 16 years ago, a bad winter, lots of snow when I heard of a special offer on the Carnival, 2 full fares, one half fare and one free, but this offer was only good for a short time. I called up the girls, Sabra had to check with her boss, Maria had to get Mary to take care of Jer and Rachael. I think Laura said yes right away, but it wasn't more than a few hours that I called the travel agent and we got the tickets to go on our cruise in less than a week's time.
It was to be a quick four day cruise, leaving Miami at 4pm, first day in Key West, next day in Cozumel, a day at sea, and then back to Miami. Kevin drove us to Stewart Airport. It was snowing lightly but our flight left on time. Maria was a little nervous about flying and when we landed in Miami the pilot did that wing tipping thing, first one wing, then the other as he landed. Maria said loudly, "Just land the f..... thing" which got a few laughs. Before leaving port we had to Muster, where everyone puts on lifejackets and goes to a central area as if there was some sort of crisis. This put everyone in a good mood, as the jackets were bulky and hard to walk in. Then we were off - the adventure had begun.
Key West was fun, with a tour of Hemingway's House and some souvenir buying. Cozumel was hot and dirty and the best day of the cruise was the day at sea. We all went to a show The Newlywed Game with the contestants being other cruisers. We sat around the pool, and fixated on a little red haired girl that looked a little like Rachael, even taking pictures of her. Two events that stick in my head are of the casino when Maria hit the slots, winning over $150. The machine was roaring, flashing, and the coins were pouring out, with Ria yelling Ma, Ma. I have a picture of her grasping the container holding all her coins, and she has the same look on her face as she did at age five with a bag of Holloween candy. The other memory is of her ordering tea at the supper table and the waiter came out with a wooden box, that he opened grandly for her to select the type of tea. "Look, it's in a box, a whole box of tea, like a treasure chest." The most fun of all though was joking with the crew that took care of our room.
As is customary, the ship's crew would fold towels into animal shapes and leave them on our beds at night. After the first time they did it, Maria made some little animal and left it for them. Then they got fancier and so did we. The last night we planned a special treat for the men who were so polite, always smiling, but very hard to understand with their poor English. Sitting at the pool we thought of making a whole person for them to find. And then we decided where to put the dummy - on the toilet. We stuffed clothes, pants and shirt. The head was a coconut face I had bought in Key West. A hat was put on his head, and we turned off the bathroom light and went to dinner. That was when the men always came into the room to tidy and turn down the beds. When we got back to the room, the men were waiting for us. In broken English they said how scared and surprised they were to find the body on the toilet. They used pantomine to show how surprised they were and then they shook our hands and said this was "the best trip ever". For them!
Leaving the ship we heard some people talking about a snowstorm in the north. Is it snowing in New York? we asked and the man nodded his head and said "it"s been snowing for four straight days there." There was some delay, but we finally got on our first flight. Changing to go to Stewart, the plane to take us there was waiting, with all the travelers angry for having to sit in the still plane for over an hour waiting for just four people. The stewardess rushed us, not even letting us use the restroom, hurry, hurry, hurry. The other riders glared at us and off we took. You could see the snow as we got closer to the airport. It was early evening and Maria looked out the plane window and said nervously, "They have ambulances waiting for us. They think we're going to crash". But what she saw was the snowplows with flashing lights, clearing the runway. No one was waiting to pick us up at the airport. Kevin and Tim had been told no flights were able to come in. So we had to wait for Kevin to get there.
Taking Laura home to Kingston, the snow was piled high along the roads. Not wanting to risk her steep and slippery hill, Kevin dropped her off at the top and our last sight of her was her struggling in the snow with her suitcases. They were right, it had been snowing the whole time we were away. But what a wonderful vacation, like the crewmen had said "the best ever".
It was to be a quick four day cruise, leaving Miami at 4pm, first day in Key West, next day in Cozumel, a day at sea, and then back to Miami. Kevin drove us to Stewart Airport. It was snowing lightly but our flight left on time. Maria was a little nervous about flying and when we landed in Miami the pilot did that wing tipping thing, first one wing, then the other as he landed. Maria said loudly, "Just land the f..... thing" which got a few laughs. Before leaving port we had to Muster, where everyone puts on lifejackets and goes to a central area as if there was some sort of crisis. This put everyone in a good mood, as the jackets were bulky and hard to walk in. Then we were off - the adventure had begun.
Key West was fun, with a tour of Hemingway's House and some souvenir buying. Cozumel was hot and dirty and the best day of the cruise was the day at sea. We all went to a show The Newlywed Game with the contestants being other cruisers. We sat around the pool, and fixated on a little red haired girl that looked a little like Rachael, even taking pictures of her. Two events that stick in my head are of the casino when Maria hit the slots, winning over $150. The machine was roaring, flashing, and the coins were pouring out, with Ria yelling Ma, Ma. I have a picture of her grasping the container holding all her coins, and she has the same look on her face as she did at age five with a bag of Holloween candy. The other memory is of her ordering tea at the supper table and the waiter came out with a wooden box, that he opened grandly for her to select the type of tea. "Look, it's in a box, a whole box of tea, like a treasure chest." The most fun of all though was joking with the crew that took care of our room.
As is customary, the ship's crew would fold towels into animal shapes and leave them on our beds at night. After the first time they did it, Maria made some little animal and left it for them. Then they got fancier and so did we. The last night we planned a special treat for the men who were so polite, always smiling, but very hard to understand with their poor English. Sitting at the pool we thought of making a whole person for them to find. And then we decided where to put the dummy - on the toilet. We stuffed clothes, pants and shirt. The head was a coconut face I had bought in Key West. A hat was put on his head, and we turned off the bathroom light and went to dinner. That was when the men always came into the room to tidy and turn down the beds. When we got back to the room, the men were waiting for us. In broken English they said how scared and surprised they were to find the body on the toilet. They used pantomine to show how surprised they were and then they shook our hands and said this was "the best trip ever". For them!
Leaving the ship we heard some people talking about a snowstorm in the north. Is it snowing in New York? we asked and the man nodded his head and said "it"s been snowing for four straight days there." There was some delay, but we finally got on our first flight. Changing to go to Stewart, the plane to take us there was waiting, with all the travelers angry for having to sit in the still plane for over an hour waiting for just four people. The stewardess rushed us, not even letting us use the restroom, hurry, hurry, hurry. The other riders glared at us and off we took. You could see the snow as we got closer to the airport. It was early evening and Maria looked out the plane window and said nervously, "They have ambulances waiting for us. They think we're going to crash". But what she saw was the snowplows with flashing lights, clearing the runway. No one was waiting to pick us up at the airport. Kevin and Tim had been told no flights were able to come in. So we had to wait for Kevin to get there.
Taking Laura home to Kingston, the snow was piled high along the roads. Not wanting to risk her steep and slippery hill, Kevin dropped her off at the top and our last sight of her was her struggling in the snow with her suitcases. They were right, it had been snowing the whole time we were away. But what a wonderful vacation, like the crewmen had said "the best ever".
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Well February - death month - has claimed another victim, Alice Horton, Grams, of Days of our Lives, in real life Frances Reid who died this week at the age of 95. Alice was the matriach of the family. She started the role in 1965. I started to watch in 1997. It was after the car accident. I was getting around with a walker, able to take care of myself, when the phone rang and Maria asked if Rachael could hang out with me that day. Rachael wasn't feeling good, and Maria could not miss work. She assured me Rachael who was 11 would be no trouble. And she wasn't. We were watching television when she asked if she could watch a show called Days of Our Lives. And that's how I got hooked.
Days had at that time more than 8,000 episodes under its belt. Alice was well established as the grandmother who doled out advice and her donuts to an adoring family. Alice had been married to Dr. Tom Horton (MacDonald Carey) who died in real life in 1994 but they still show reruns of him and Alice and of course, each show starts with his voice saying "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives".
In 1997 when I started to watch the show was really going all out. One actress was playing four parts, Kristen Black (pretending to be pregnant to fool her husband), Susan Blake, a plain woman with buck teeth who actually was pregnant (impregnanted by Stefano who was dressed like Elvis because Susan was in love with Elvis Presley), Sister Mary, a nun, and Sister Mary's brother, who looked just like the other three but had a mustach. Who wouldn't get hooked on this show? Susan had Marlena (her husband's true love) locked up in the wine cellar. Bo was seaching the bayou for Swamp Girl and his wife Hope thought she was a Princess. Rachael patiently explained all this to me and I began to watch every day. In fact it became the highlight of every day.
I noticed last year that Alice hadn't been on since Christmas 2008. She was referred to often: Grams is taking a nap, or Grams is baking cookies, Grams is visiting a friend. But no Alice was in the show. Then the news of her death with a review of some of the early shows when she was really the star. All through the film the song "Always" was playing. This was Alice and Tom's song, many scenes of them singing together, "I'll be loving you always, with a love that's true always." I cried like a baby watching Alice grow old within minutes, going from young and beautiful to gray hair and feeble. That's what I mean by hooked. You get to really know these characters , as well if not better than your own family.
The thing that I love most about this show is the continuance of characters and of course the play with time. Elvis, Stefano's son who should really be about 13, is a regular character today, married with two children. And last year his wife faked pregnancy just like the one so many years ago. And the viewer accepts it. Accepts every terrible thing that they see: people buried alive, implants placed in their brains, poison apples and of course pregnancy after pregnancy. After watching this show for 13 years, day in and day out, I think you can accept almost anything life hands you. And that's why I watch Days and am proud to say it. But who will replace Grams and bake the donuts? I think Maggie who just lost her husband, runs a restaurant and has a drinking problem.
Days had at that time more than 8,000 episodes under its belt. Alice was well established as the grandmother who doled out advice and her donuts to an adoring family. Alice had been married to Dr. Tom Horton (MacDonald Carey) who died in real life in 1994 but they still show reruns of him and Alice and of course, each show starts with his voice saying "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives".
In 1997 when I started to watch the show was really going all out. One actress was playing four parts, Kristen Black (pretending to be pregnant to fool her husband), Susan Blake, a plain woman with buck teeth who actually was pregnant (impregnanted by Stefano who was dressed like Elvis because Susan was in love with Elvis Presley), Sister Mary, a nun, and Sister Mary's brother, who looked just like the other three but had a mustach. Who wouldn't get hooked on this show? Susan had Marlena (her husband's true love) locked up in the wine cellar. Bo was seaching the bayou for Swamp Girl and his wife Hope thought she was a Princess. Rachael patiently explained all this to me and I began to watch every day. In fact it became the highlight of every day.
I noticed last year that Alice hadn't been on since Christmas 2008. She was referred to often: Grams is taking a nap, or Grams is baking cookies, Grams is visiting a friend. But no Alice was in the show. Then the news of her death with a review of some of the early shows when she was really the star. All through the film the song "Always" was playing. This was Alice and Tom's song, many scenes of them singing together, "I'll be loving you always, with a love that's true always." I cried like a baby watching Alice grow old within minutes, going from young and beautiful to gray hair and feeble. That's what I mean by hooked. You get to really know these characters , as well if not better than your own family.
The thing that I love most about this show is the continuance of characters and of course the play with time. Elvis, Stefano's son who should really be about 13, is a regular character today, married with two children. And last year his wife faked pregnancy just like the one so many years ago. And the viewer accepts it. Accepts every terrible thing that they see: people buried alive, implants placed in their brains, poison apples and of course pregnancy after pregnancy. After watching this show for 13 years, day in and day out, I think you can accept almost anything life hands you. And that's why I watch Days and am proud to say it. But who will replace Grams and bake the donuts? I think Maggie who just lost her husband, runs a restaurant and has a drinking problem.
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