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What's your most vivid childhood memory?

Posted on Jul 2nd, 2009 by mimi : MOONCHILD mimi
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for June 21, 2009:

Kids_in_sprinkle
SUMMER ---growing up in a tiny perfect little town, not even a town, too small to even be a town.   But it had everything a kid like me needed. My sister Helen  and I still talk about how lucky we were to have grown up where and when we did.  When everything was uncomplicated and  just there. 

  Some things were big and wonderous - like the giant weeds along the railway tracks where we played and took the shortcut to Grandma's house.  We'd look on and under the leaves and find snakes, grasshoppers, praying mantis, cacoons, butterflies.  We had instant stuff for science projects. 

There were wild strawberries to collect, and hickory nut and walnut trees, plum, apple and cherry trees in neighbours' yards, and vegetable gardens where kids could just pick a hot tomato off the vine, or pull up a carrot and rinse it off under the outside tap.   We had creeks to explore and knew when the polliwogs arrived, and we watched the red-winged blackbirds building nests in the bullrushes.  We hated when the boys would pick the bullrushes and use them as a weapons, almost as bad as the chestnuts on strings they whipped at us.  
 
 We  could sit in the shade of a huge chestnut tree at Kathleen Tronovsky's house across the street , or climb the walnut tree next door and hide on the lower limb.  There  were roses in everyone's front yard that climbed sparkling white trellises.   People washed their porches and steps with garden hoses and then washed the sidewalk in front of their house.   
 
 After the supper dishes were done,  kitchen counters cleaned and the floor swept, the mothers would go out for a walk around town and stop and talk to the other ladies doing the same, or talk to people sitting on their front porch.  I liked when  I got to go with her and we got invited up to sit on the porch.  Usually, the ladies would open their front door, go in and bring out a drink and some snacks for visitors.  In the evening, we kids could hear the grown ups laughing as they gathered on each others porches and talked till sometimes 10 at night.  

I remember the hot hot summers when I was about 5,  trying to walk barefoot on the scorching  sidewalk, after putting on my stretchy bubbly blue bathing suit and getting to the grassy patch in our tiny back yard.  My dad made a sprinkler for the hose out of vinegar bottle cap.  He punched some holes in the  bottle cap, and attached a wire e to it to stick in the ground.  My sister and I would run through the cold water and scream in delight.  We'd get sunburned and not complain....   

The day would end, and the  air was always fresh with the  smell of flowers and the sounds of insects singing late into the night -- Moths banged on the windows outside  as we fell asleep, the dark green blinds banged softly inside with each soft  breeze.   
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Who would you really like to get to know?

Posted on Jul 2nd, 2009 by mimi : MOONCHILD mimi
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for July 02, 2009:

Ancestors

Ancestors - stories of their lives.
That is why I am gathering family information, documents, pictures.  I have found long lost relatives in Belarus, and over 100 second and third cousins in Canada.
 
I am printing some of my blog pieces and putting them in a binder for my grandchildren.  They are really interested in what I was like and what I did when I was a kid and I enjoy reading my stories to them. They liked the one about "getting the strap".

Anyone I want to know now, I just give it a try and see what happens.  Whatever happens, happens.  Sometimes nothing happens.  That is something too.



Google image

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Funeral Home Serves up Free Drive-thru Coffee

Posted on Jul 1st, 2009 by mimi : MOONCHILD mimi
Free_coffee

Watch out, Tim Hortons!

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

CHATHAM - It's not unusual to sip coffee served in a funeral home, but to get a cup of java on a drive-thru is another story.
 

Beginning July 1, a Chatham funeral home is providing free coffee every Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. for anyone who drives up to get a cup.

James MacNeil, managing funeral director at Bowman Funeral Home in Chatham, said the promotion, which runs until Aug. 26, is a way to help raise awareness about the upcoming Senior Games in September, being hosted by Chatham-Kent, and to raise the profile of the funeral home.

"I'm trying to think of different ways to reach out to the community," MacNeil said.

Members of the Seniors Games will also be on hand with banners to promote the event, which will feature participants from throughout the region, he said.
 

"There's very few free things in this world," MacNeil said, noting a portable sign advertising the promotion was gaining a lot of attention.

MacNeil said a Facebook page promoting "Chatham's only free coffee drive-thru" is also getting some good response.

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Are you good at accepting compliments?

Posted on Jun 27th, 2009 by mimi : MOONCHILD mimi
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for June 27, 2009:

Compliments1

Yep, because a compliment is a gift and there  has to be a receiver to make it complete.  I accept graciously without making a big fuss or making the giver feel uncomfortable about what they said to me.



Photo credits:  (Google images) ""I support compliments" by Lexnger
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How did your grandparents meet?

Posted on Jun 27th, 2009 by mimi : MOONCHILD mimi
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for June 26, 2009:

Russian_grandpa_mikhail_1918
My paternal grandparents were from what is now Belarus.  My grandfather Mikhail  was Russian and my grandmother, Elana Polish.  Evidently, my grandma was very desirable - she drove a horse- driven beer wagon.  He met her on one of her deliveries. They came to Canada in early 1900's.

.  My grandmother was a kitchen maid for some rich people.  My grandfather was a military man in the Dragoons in what at that time was the Austro-Hugarian Empire.  He was quite dashing in his uniform.  The rich people had a son in the Hussars too.  When my grandfather  was invited to dinner and spotted my grandmother, Anna, he thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  She said she had had lots of suitors because she WAS so beautiful.  My maternal grandparents were from what is now Ukraine.

I urge everyone to find out their family history NOW..  Your children and grandchildren will want to know - some of them will.  Ask you grandparents about their lives, and their parents' lives.  Right now my 90 yr. old aunt is still wanting to know her grandmother's maiden name.  One of my cousins may travel to Belarus to find the church records in a small town called Malech. 
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Michelle Obama's Father's Day Message

Posted on Jun 21st, 2009 by mimi : MOONCHILD mimi
The_white_house


Happy Father's Day,

I’m writing to share a special video of Barack talking about fatherhood, but first I want to share some thoughts of my own.

My father, Frasier Robinson, was the rock of our family. Although he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his early thirties, he was our provider, our champion and our hero.

He worked tirelessly through good days and bad to make sure my brother and I had every opportunity he didn't -- to go to college and pursue our dreams. His example continues to guide me every day.

Barack didn't have my good fortune -- his father left when he was just two years old. But he has always been determined to give our daughters what he never had, and he values being a good father more than any other accomplishment in his life.

On Friday, Barack brought some men (and a bunch of kids!) to the White House to talk about fatherhood. Check out a video of the event:

Happy Fathers Day

We all know the remarkable impact fathers can have in our children's lives. So today, on this 100th anniversary of Father's Day, take a moment to celebrate responsible fatherhood and the men who've had the courage to step up, be there for our families, and provide our children with the guidance, love and support they need to fulfill their dreams.

Thanks,
Michelle

The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111

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Why and how are you an inspiration?

Posted on Jun 20th, 2009 by mimi : MOONCHILD mimi
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for June 20, 2009:

Don_t+give+up
I don't give up. 
I might give in.
I re-invent
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What keeps you from being present?

Posted on Jun 20th, 2009 by mimi : MOONCHILD mimi
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for June 19, 2009:

Pay_attention
Just me not paying attention, mind drifting, imagining stuff, making up scenarios that will never happen, making assumptions....
instead of paying attention to the fine details of what I am doing Right Now - washing the dishes, the bubbles, the warmth of the water, the smell of blue Dawn,  the speck of egg still stuck to the frying pan, the bird singing outside. I'm squinting, how beautiful the colour of my Assam tea is in the clear glass cup. 

Be here now.  Be someplace else later.
 Is that so complicated?” 


~~~Zen Judaism:  For You, A Little Enlightenment  - David M. Bader
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Tagged with: QaR, peace, calm, presence

Parrot Genius

Posted on Jun 11th, 2009 by mimi : MOONCHILD mimi
Pet Star- Eintstien the Genius Bird


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Tagged with: talking parrot

Foraging Fruit in the City

Posted on Jun 10th, 2009 by mimi : MOONCHILD mimi
Foraging_fruit_in_the_city
What a great idea! foraging for the fruit in the city.  This made me think of Martha's oranges in Arizona.  When my friends visted a friend in Arizona, they were shocked to see oranges and grapefruits just lying on the ground under overladen trees.  They actually went and asked the neighbour if they could pick some of the fruit off the ground.  They did let these Canadian seniors gleefully harvest some of the fruit. We usually pay about $.50 to $1 per orange.

Besides the rise urban gardening,  more and more families are planting  vegetable gardens in their back yards.  The great surprise is that the kids are more interested than adults in watching and maintaining the gardens. Everyone loves the taste of fresh picked food they grow themselves.  I remember my grandkids checking daily on the 3 strawberries in a patio container.  They were so thrilled the day the 3 berries were ripe enough to pick and eat.

 READ THE WHOLE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/dining/10Fruit.html


Article from http://www.dailygood.org/
You can subscribe and receive daily worthy stories. A very nice website.
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