…. so, it has been awhile since I have done a blog
entry. I have been thinking about
it. I even had a lead in for one,
but every time I shared it with someone, they were grossed out. I still like it and have finally
decided that I am going to use it.
If you don’t like it, I am pretty sure that you know what you can do
with it.
It really has been awhile. Some of you have actually mentioned that you have missed my
blog. Don’t go there John, Mike,
and Kate. I am stating up front
that you were not among that group.
The reason for that is that I have been looking for a
picture. To date, I have not found
it. Using the educational research
of Madeline Hunter I will create an Anticipatory Set. When I find the picture, I will share it. It is a picture of me in all my
glory. Not THAT kind of
glory. However, my objective in
sharing the picture will be to make you smile and I am 100% confident that I
will achieve that objective.
It is my cousin Carol Kelly’s fault that I got started
again. Yesterday morning, she
posted a picture of an old time soda fountain on Face Book – asking if anyone
remembered one like that……………..That made me think of something I had wanted to
include in my blog……………
This summer, I was reading a mystery by Karen Slaughter and
there is a chapter where – skip the next few sentences if you are ‘faint ‘ of
heart – one of her characters is involved in a scene where they are discussing
slicing off the retinas of a person and inserting them into a television like
machine which would then show every moment of that individual’s life – in color
– but I do not think it was living color. Can you believe that I read stuff like
that?
 |
| John in glasses. |
Thankfully, I am still in possession of my eyeballs, but
recently I have felt as if the various events of my life are passing before
me. The hunt for that picture
yielded many other pictures – if not that desired on. I found pictures of many of my family members wearing glasses
– don’t ask me why. I seldom
understand why we do the things we do.
Summer is rapidly drawing to a close and I always hate
that. During the last five years I
have been driving Route 12 along the river on a daily basis. Each day I think I should bring my
camera and take pictures of some of the beautiful sights that I always drive by
in a hurry. I have seen several
things within the last couple of weeks that have made me want to stop and take
a picture…. and I did not have my camera.
There is a plant in my sister’s yard that she bought for herself and
within days, it withered. I brought
it home and nursed it back to life.
She is sure that I replaced it.
I did not. It is amazing
what tender, loving care can do for all living things. The plant is beautiful, but birds have
helped it along. There are two
gorgeous sunflowers rising from the side of the plant. Each time I water it; I mutter a bad
word because once again, I have forgotten my camera. I AM going to take that picture…
At the end of August, my cousin Tracey came to visit her New
England relatives. She brought her
camera with her. Watching her take
pictures with a sense of excitement was like looking at pieces of my life
through her eyes – eyes that had not seen these things for 40 years.
We walked around the village. I could remember where almost everything was ‘back in the
day’. So many things are gone – or
changed. I practically grew up in
the Bellows Falls Trust Company.
Whenever I looked nice, the outfit came from Tidd’s, which later became
A.J. Hinds. We never bought any
jewelry that did not come from Cote’s – mostly because it always came with a
healthy dose of humor. My famous Easter outfit – one of those times that I did
not look nice came from the Franklin Shop. It was not their fault. (That is the picture I am still looking for.) I could always get help from Mary
Managan at the Reliable Bargain store.
Passing the old Fire Station – at least one of them and the
old Police Department and seeing how that area has changed was amazing. Kathy, your store was not open, but the
display of glasses was beautiful.
We walked down to Waypoint. …and it still seems strange not
to have Sparky standing across the road at the Depot. We looked in Fletcher’s and it will never be the same
without Bertha and the soda fountain.
It was odd to look through the eyes of my hometown with an older
lens. We then walked up the hill
past the paper mill. I am the only
female in my family who never worked there. Coming back around towards the Post Office I pointed out
where the old Island Hotel used to be – and the Kelly family lived in that area
for many years. There were always
stories about running out to the tracks after a train would go past. Coal would fall off and the Kelly Kids
would pick it up, as that was often their source of heat for the winter.
We took a quick peek at the mural that depicts Bellows Falls
‘back in the day’. Tracey clearly
remembered the stairs and the old Stairway Restaurant where I used to
waitress. I frequently had lunch
there as well. Dora Walsh made the
best pea soup! It was sad to see
the Miss Bellows Falls closed again.
We talked about the various locations where Dick’s Shoe Store had been. I bought my wedding shoes when it was
just below the stairs and across the street. One of our last picture taking stops included Saint Charles
School – now the WNESU office.
Both Tracey and I attended grade school there. Our final picture was the Dairy Joy and we joked that she
used to visit me there when I was one of “Joe’s Girls”. I did not take pictures - but THOSE pictures are all stored in my head.
Her visit reminded me that there 
were things that I had said
I wanted to do. She got me
jump-started. One of the
things that I have been putting off is a trip to Minard’s Pond. Check. I have done it.
Table Rock is on my list – and I am going to get there before snow
flies…right, Kate? Tracey got me
started and now, my cousin Carol has fanned the flame. I am going to look at more things – and
try to see them through the eyes of others. To support the objective that I stated – which was to make
you laugh, I have embedded some pictures of my family in glasses. I am also going to give myself a
closing activity. There is a
picture that I have said I was going to take for about two weeks now. I have not done it. Before this day is over, I am going to
do that – and I am going to make it my Face Book cover picture. You will know if I have succeeded or
not. I know I am going to do it. I want to see the world around me and know that the world around me is looking back, but liking what it sees!
Here's looking at you.
Thanks Tracey and Carol. Relatives are wonderful things!
