Facebook

Well, I've done it! Finally joined Facebook today & it's all Angus Reid Forum's fault! Have to blame someone. Anyway, Angus Reid Survey decide to open a fan site there, so off I went. Don't think will do much with Facebook, as I don't have much spare time to fiddle with it. Nephew's wife tried to get me to join a couple of months ago, but I begged off, saying I didn't have the time. Guess she didn't believe I didn't! Couple of other friends have been inviting me too. So far, have just uploaded 4 old pictures of hubby & me. Don't believe they're too scary! :D Also blocked showing my real birthdates. Besides not wanting that info. "out there", would be harder to say "39 & holding". LOL
Starfire

Still Alive...

I see I've been MIA for over 2 years. No excuse really... I do remember that I badly sprained my right arm May of 2007, which am still not 100%, but much better than I was for over a year. Anyway, here I am again.

What's happened while I was away..nothing unusual, just the regular day-to-day. Grandchildren are growing up. The two eldest graduated from high school, another half-way through high school, youngest almost half-way through public school. Hubby & I are quite proud of them, as we are with their parents & their uncle, our youngest son.

This Sunday will be Father's Day. I'm rather pleased with the card I bought for him. You can record a special message, which I did. Now, if he can just figure out what it says! Being he's on the deaf side, I did almost shout when I recorded my message, but do know he'll likely have to play it several times. Oh well, at least he's still around, deaf or not. He's 76, still working, & I don't see him retiring anytime soon. We have a small landscaping business & our youngest son works with him. The old landscapers seem to just hang in there. One of his buddies Bill is well into his 80s, still working. I've said about Bill that one of these days his employees are going to find him in his nursery, pushing up daises! One nice thing about our business, we close it from end of November until end of March or first of April. During that time, hubby & I are camping in our motorhome in Fl...or AZ...or CA, where ever we happen to want to go. Our son lives with us, & he enjoys having the house to himself for 3 months. We enjoy not having to worry about an empty house, so all 3 of us are Happy Campers.

Will try not to be so long in posting again.

Starfire....

School Days....

Yesterday afternoon a young boy was shot & killed in a Toronto high school. The school was locked down for several hours before the 700 frightened students were released to their shocked & frantic parents. The murderer is still not found. Earlier this month the school had drills on what to do if a gunman entered the school. This was after the Virgina Tech massacre. They were told to duck under their desks which they did for all the hours yesterday. What a change from my school days!

I was in Gr. 4 when WWII ended & the Atomic age began. We did our "duck & cover" drills, but by Gr. 5, the drills ended. I presume because wiser heads then realized that the drills were useless if an atomic bomb was dropped near us. Now our children & grandchildren have a closer & real threat with no foreseeable happy ending. I ache for them & all of us.

Sadly,
Starfire

Spring Ramblings

Today is one of those perfect spring days, sun shining, a light smell to the air, birds a-wing & our creek beginning to lower from its flooded level. The fields of the farms are still too wet to plow, but soon the sound of tractors will join the songs of the birds, a chorus singing of tomorrow's crops & a better year. Children are again riding their bikes & playing baseball or soccer. Hibernation is over. Once again we can come out of our caves, darkness brightening into spring's light, Old Man Winter's beaten for another year, or so we hope...

As a child, despite loving skating & swooping down snow-covered hills on my sled, warm weather was, & still is, my favourite. With us girls, the first tiny hint of spring would have us bringing our skipping ropes to play with during recess. The boys would be trying to uncover enough of the baseball field to have a game. All who had a bike brought them too. On a Saturday, we would ride as far as time & parents would allow, breathing in the fresh, crisp air, enjoying the freedom of the country roads, listening to the gurgling streams of riverlets running down to the river in our tiny village, knowing in a few weeks we would be swimming in that river. Now we are mostly scattered to the four winds, some have died, a few still live in our old village. I'm sure on a day like this, one or two of my old friends will remember those Saturdays, memories quickened by this spring day.

OUT-OF-DOORS
The kids are out-of-doors once more;
The heavy leggins that they wore,
The winter caps that covered ears
Are put away, and no more tears
Are shed because they cannot go
Until they're bundled up just so.
No more she wonders when they're gone
If they have put their rubbers on;
No longer are they hourly told
To guard themselves against a cold;
Bareheaded now they romp and run
Warmed only by the kindly sun.
She's put their heavy clothes away
And turned the children out to play,
And all the morning long they race
Like madcaps round about the place.
The robins on the fences sing
A gayer song of welcoming,
And seems as though they had a share
In all the fun they're having there.
The wrens and sparrows twitter, too,
A louder and a noisier crew,
As though it pleased them all to see
The youngsters out of doors and free.
Outdoors they scamper to their play
With merry din the livelong day,
And hungrily they jostle in
The favor of the maid to win;
Then, armed with cookies or with cake,
Their way into the yard they make,
And every feathered playmate comes
To gather up his share of crumbs.
The finest garden that I know
Is one where little children grow,
Where cheeks turn brown and eyes are bright,
And all is laughter and delight.
Oh, you may brag of gardens fine,
But let the children race in mine;
And let the roses, white and red,
Make gay the ground whereon they tread.
And who for bloom perfection seeks,
Should mark the color on their cheeks;
No music that the robin spouts
Is equal to their merry shouts;
There is no foliage to compare
With youngsters' sun-kissed, tousled hair:
Spring's greatest joy beyond a doubt
Is when it brings the children out.

Author: Edgar Guest

Enjoy today....
Starfire

VA Tech

Everyone's staggered & sorrowed about VA Tech massacre this week. My heart aches for the families' losses, the surviving students' horror, & the grief all are experiencing. I also ache for the killer's family who are going through an unbelievable time also, deep sorrow for the ones their son murdered, but unable to show grief for a child lost not only to death but to insanity, shouldering the burden & blaming themselves for not stopping their son from doing this terrible deed. I pray for all...

Sadly,
Starfire

Political Correctness

Usually I do try to be as politically correct as possible, without going overboard. I say police officers (bless'em), chairpersons, forepersons...no gender bias there. This morning tho' I was more than a little disturbed to see on the news that Boston, MA, has announced the tree, that's being erected on the Commons, will not be called Christmas Tree, but Holiday Tree. Again the excuse of not offending anyone whose faith is not Christian. To me, that's carrying PC way too far. North America is mainly Christian. I would not go live in someone's country which has a different faith & insist they include mine in their national holidays to the exclusion of mentioning their's. Neither do the many different faiths of this continent insist Christians should not have "Christmas" celebrations out in the public areas. Many of them have spoken out against this increasing practice of "deleting" Christmas traditions.
BTW, the Boston tree is donated every year from Halifax, NS, as thanks for Boston's aid after the Halifax explosion during WWI. The donor this year said, when he was told of the "re-naming" of his tree, that he was sorry he had cut it down to be sent. To his way of thinking, the tree could now be used for any holiday, even Easter. Just don't call it Easter tree......
Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Merry Christmas! And To All...Good Night!

Starfire

School Days

It's the first week of school & I imagine more than a few of the children are glancing at the clock as the weekend's almost here. Yellow buses will soon be gathering at the schools for the journey home. My grandchildren will be amongst them.

When I started school, there were no buses to pick me up & deposit me on the school or home doorsteps. At that time, we lived on a farm. The one-roomed school house was about a mile away & if my dad, or a neighbour, wasn't around to drive, I would walk with 3 older boys. Sometimes we would hitch a ride with our teacher when her husband drove her there, but mostly, we walked the dusty road or took a short-cut through the woods. Winter was more difficult, but we managed.....

It was during the war years (Second one, NOT the First) & the school board had decided to continue with serving something hot to go with our home lunches. That had began during the Depression & while the War had brought some prosperity, farm kids usually didn't have too many luxuries. Our teacher would heat whatever the food was (really, I can only remember weiners, but likely more than just that; also think was only during the winter) on top of the wood stove. Simple fare, but it did taste good. Mom would usually pack sandwiches (beef or pork, with homemade mayonaise..Dad always killed a pig to feed us in the winter months), homemade donuts, milk in a small sealer jar, all in my small red metal lunch box. After Christmas, she would add an orange that had been in my Christmas stocking. Our apples from our orchard were kept for pies & sometimes she would place a slice in the box also.

We moved off the farm a year later into the nearby village. I didn't have so far to walk as our house was very close to it. Out our back door, across the backyard, up two steps & I was in the schoolyard which overlooked our place. This school was larger, two stories, two rooms. Took awhile to make new friends, missed my old ones terribly, but like getting to my former school in the winter, I managed....

High school days arrived, as did the yellow school bus, which entailed an hour's drive to the school & back. My big brother, twelve years older, had to walk or bike from our farm to the village (one mile), then catch a bus (not a school bus, just regular one) to get to his high school. He had to take his lunch, but by the time I went, there was a choice of buying school lunches or taking own...I took my own, still eating sandwiches, only this time was ham with the homemade mayonaise, bananas, but instead of bringing milk, would buy it or a coke. Was "eating high off the hog" as they say.....

Only one of the 3 boys I walked to school with is still alive, but my memories are vivid. Two were brothers (he quit school partway through the fall) whose sister was my best friend. A year or so older than me, she didn't go to school for 2 years or more as she was unable to walk & had many operations. The brothers, used to taking care of her, extended their concern to me as if I needed the extra help..I didn't, & being quite independent, didn't fully appreciate having them help me over fences! :D The next fall, when we started back to school, the remaining brother quit also (too much time working on the farm & too little money in the family which was why the brothers didn't finish school, but had to go into the working world), so that just left the one boy & me. He didn't believe I needed any aid in getting over fences which was great. He did teach me how to skip stones over the water & I remember how surprised we both were the first time I did it, perhaps on the 2nd or 3rd attempt.

Times have changed, no more one-roomed, or even two-roomed, schools. Both of my two public schools were closed & people turned them into homes. Sadly, the first one burned several years ago, but it still "lives" in my memory, as do the children of then.

School days...good, bad, funny, sad..remember them always.

Starfire