Getting ready to go fishing,
Started the day before.
Dad would hook up the water hose
To a pump that pumped water
Out of the creek in front of our cottage.
He would water the lawn
So the earthworms would
Show there heads
Or
Tails...how can you tell?
As soon as it got dark,
My dad would say grab your Flashlight..
So out we would go
To find those earth worms.
Or as a fisherman would call them
Nightcrawler's...
I loved catching those worms
Almost as much as i loved fishing.
And i usually went out barefooted.
It was like finding a treasure
When my flashlight would spot one.
And i could snap that worm up
Faster than they could hide.
We would each have a can
To put our worms in.
When we had a few dozen
My dad would put them in a bait box
With moss.
Those worms had it made.
Until the next day.
We would get up at day break
And head on out on Lake Erie.
With my fishing pole, my snacks,
My book (in case fishing was slow)
And our worms...
Gone fishing...

Lake Erie THEN and NOW
as a child
summers were spent
at our cottage
on  the beach of
Lake Erie.
Clear water i could see the bottom.
as a child
i would take a bar of soap
into the clear water
and wash up,
shampoo my hair,
then take a swim.
i lived in the clear clean water.
collecting sea shells,
colored glass which washed up
on the sand.
when a storm popped up
we would have white foam
wash up along with a dead fish or two.
but the white foam came from
the angry waves.
the foam never lasted long,
and mom picked up the dead fish.
water was back to being clear and clean.
now we never drank that water,
or bathed in it when it was angry.
But it was a beautiful beach.

NOW...
Sad to say it is green slime.
i went out and took pictures of the water.
the beach is now Maumee State Park
and thanks to the stuff than
runs off into Lake Erie
it is green, and angry again.
Can't find a clean spot anywhere.
Warning signs are posted.
Seagulls still are walking the beach,
hoping for a crumb.
SAD....
Then and Now...

What ever happened to that dining room table?
As a child
The dining room table
Was my play house.
It was a big table
With legs on all four corners.
My dog Trixie and I
Would spend a lot of time
Under that table.
Mom was making drapes
On top of the table..
The radio was on with all the old shows.
But I was busy dressing
Trixie up in old baby clothes.
I even had room to pull
The little doll buggy under this table.
I had a dog that was
Quite content being lazy in the buggy.

What ever happened to that dining room table?
We always had that dining room table
Filled with family on holidays.
Lots of food on the top...
Mom was a great cook.
Her specialities were
Pork roast, tomato pudding
And plum cake...
Dad would have German music
Playing in the background.

What ever happened to that dining room table?
It was old, and traded in for a new model.
Which also had four legs on each corner.
Was blond oak, and very modern.
My memory of that one,
Is of my kids, playing games,
Eating snacks and also
Holidays filled with family,
Eating moms pork roast,
Tomato pudding, and plum cake.
And I added Pink Stuff.  

What ever happened to that dining room table?
Gone...
House sold...
Left, only the memories...

By Judy

Are we ever happy with
Mother Nature?

The Autumn leaves
So many
just fell off the tree,
With No color...
Color is what Autumn is all about
Mother Nature...
OR
What! It's 90 degrees out, this is fall,
When the weather should start to turn cold.
And you start a fire in the fire pit
Smell the Autumn leaves burning?
But no we are sitting here in shorts
Mother Nature...

Are we ever Happy with
Mother Nature?

Winter, oh my what a winter.
Beautiful Crystals of sparkly snow..
Lots of sparkly snow..
Schools closed..
Level three...
So cold...
Snow so deep...
OR
What a warm winter,
Please Mother Nature,
Send us some snow...
This is winter Mother Nature,
I want to make
Snow angels...

Are we ever happy with
Mother Nature?

Sunshine, thanks Mother Nature.
The buds on the trees
Are starting to pop.
The smell of the lilacs
Drifting through the air.
Spring has sprung...
OR
It was a bad winter,
Lost my rose bush.
The trees are late to bloom...
Spring, Mother Nature
Where is spring...

Are we ever happy with
Mother Nature ?

It's Summer time,
When the living is easy.
So Hot....
So much rain...
Scorched flowers
To Hot...

OR

It's The
Lazy, Hazy, crazy
Days of summer.
But it been so cold,
No rain,
Dried up brown grass.
Water bill goes up.

Are we ever happy with
Mother Nature?
To hot, to cold...
But that's Nature
I'm told...
And
Mother has nothing to do with it.

Time passes...
While sitting on the steps
Waiting for the water company
To come and turn off the water.
My old home.
The one I grew up in...
Mom and Dads place,
Then my sons place.
Now sold..
Everything removed
But the memories...
Hard to turn off the tears.
I look at the iron railing
My dad made,
With marks pounded in it .
A curled end, with little rings
Between every other rail.
At Christmas I would tip toe down
And peek through the rails
To see if Santa arrived yet.
Dad made a bar in the basement.
On the front of it still
Are My initials JK
He cut them out for me.
I can't remove them now,
Because he used wood glue
To fasten them to the bar.
There is a shelf to devide
The dining room and front room.
Growing up we had a large fish bowl
On two of the shelves.
Angel fish,
And guppies...
Now shelves are bare.
A lot of stories to be told,
Created in this old house.
Giving me a lot of great memories.
Leaving this house
Is like leaving my mom and dad
Behind...
But I know they are
With me in my heart.
Thanks mom and dad
For giving me a great childhood.
Life changes,
As does the place to live...
Good bye
To my childhood home..

I was A little girl
Who loved dolls
I had a collection
Of storybook dolls
Some with beautiful dresses.
Also a cowgirl,
Whose name was Irma.
Whenever my grandma
Went on a trip,
She would return
With a special doll,
Just for me.
One time my dad
Stopped at a bar
On his way home from work,
And the bartender
Was a lady
Who made a doll
With a beautiful crochet dress.
Yellow, and full.
I was so excited
To think that my daddy
Would buy me a doll
At a bar....
Mom not so happy...
My collection grew.
The only disadvantage
Was
Every Saturday morning
Before noon
I had to take them off my large shelf
And dust them...
But the advantage
Was
I listened to Buster Brown,
Fibber Magee and Molly,
And many other radio shows.
But I still hate dusting...

SHY ~ BASHFUL....
Do those words still apply?
It seems that the words now are,
SMART ~ BOLD.....
Children are so amazing
With there knowledge.
They have baby computers,
To learn there A,B,C's
A Kindle to play learning games
Or to read a book...
Dora the Explorer
To learn a foreign language.
There is T-Ball, baseball, soccer
For exercise.
BUT....
Will they know how to sign their name?
And now there is on line education....
WHAT???
What some and I say some
Children lack is IMAGINATION...
RESPECT....and the freedom to give a HUG...
Nothing is,
SIMPLE...
Anymore at least to
Some and I say some grandmas...
Because we grandmas lost the freedom
To give a  SHY ~ BASHFUL child
A HUG...