To Be Scared (2012)

Nowadays, it seems like it takes a lot for kids to get scared. They are exposed to so much, that it takes that extra kick, to get the emotion going,

Back in the day, of the dinosaurs, when I was little, it didn’t take all that. We didn’t see much, so a lot was left to our imaginations.

We’d watch the Addams Family or The Munsters, and that could get us going at night. Funny looking people and eerie looking creatures, that is about all it took.

One movie that did get to me was the Night Walker with Ray Milland. A blind man roaming around in the dark. Now that could get the blood flowing. He’d walk down the hall, and you knew he was coming, because of the noise, of his stick. Not that blind people are scary, but he was in this movie.

Now getting back to being scared. My brother and I were little and we shared a room. We would get up every  morning at the break of dawn. Actually, before then, but who is counting. One morning, as it was still a bit dark, we decided that we would not leave our beds. As a matter of fact, we had no choice, for there was a real monster, in our room.

From our twin beds, we peeked out of the covers, and then we covered up again. We did this over and over again. It was so hard to realize that we had a real monster, and he was sitting on the top, of our dresser. The more we looked, the scarier he got. We dare not make a noise, for he might come over closer to us.

Little did we know, as the sun began to peek in the window, that the monster became our dirty clothes from yesterday, that was thrown, on top, of the dresser. Gee, were we relieved. It had scared the dickens out of us. Can’t really remember, but I don’t think that we threw our clothes up there again.

“Things appear different in the night-

And, can give children, quite a fright.”

Once A Week At Noon On Saturday-Another Story Underway # 2 (Another Face To Die With)

To remember how our grandmothers looked, compared to how the modern day grandmothers look, will be quite a turnaround. You know how the grandmothers used to look. I’m talking about the pioneer ones. The ones who lived a rough life. Even if they were not out chopping wood, time would take its toll.

Grandmothers have it a lot easier nowadays. No scrubbing the clothes, and then hanging them out to dry. The washer and dryer has taken care of that. No chopping wood, for the stove, when the men were away. Electricity and gas have taken care of that too.

Of course, there are no more wrinkles either. And, I’m not talking about the kind in the clothes, that had to be ironed. I’m talking about on grandmother’s face. Smooth as a baby when she is 75 years old. Not like the grandmothers of the old days when you could read a map on her face.

There was a goodness to those wrinkles. Grandmother had earned them. She had lived on the earth long enough to deserve them. And, then came Botox. Grandmother doesn’t have to look old anymore. She can look younger forever.

It seems like a nice idea, except in those cases, where the folks are beginning to look like Cabbage Patch dolls. Now I am not criticizing the dolls, they are what they are, but people are not supposed to look like them. I guess the more you inject that stuff, the rounder your face gets. Never mind the botched jobs, that would involve another story.

We don’t become old overnight, and it seems like a person could get adjusted with what is going on.with them. A wrinkle here, a wrinkle there, and then before you know it, I know, they are are everywhere.

Speaking of all of that scrubbing, I mentioned above, one of my grandmother’s had a friend who would seriously scrub her face everyday. Not just a bit, but with real active motions. Needless to say, she looked a lot older than my grandmother, for my grandmother’s face was washed gently. Yes, the wrinkles still came, but, in a longer period of time. Moderation is what that could be labeled.

Somehow or another we appear to have gotten our ideals confused. You are born, you are young, you become less younger, and then you get old, and then shhhhhh….you pass away. Nowadays it is you are born, you are young, you are no longer young, but you look young, and then you get old, but no one knows, unless you show your hands, and then shhhhh…you pass away with a face that does not belong to you.

The end appears to have the same results. We want to turn back the clock of time, but we cannot stop it. Apparently this trend will continue. Gee, what are you supposed to do when you are looking older than your grandmother? Let it be, or do what she has been doing?

“Grandmother with golden colored locks-

And, no wrinkles, thanks to the invention

of Botox”.

Modern Mother Goose-On The Loose (Barnabas Collins)

There was a time when we couldn’t wait to get home from school. Of course, we were not unusual, for all children yearn for that moment, but this was for a special occasion. Dark Shadows would come on about that time. To miss it, well, would be bad. No goofing around, on the walk home from school, but a mad dash.

A soap opera for teens, it what it was. Day to day, week to week, and on Fridays we would be left hanging. We’d have to wait the whole weekend, to see what would happen next.

Barnabas Collins was the vampire that we all loved. In normal circumstances, we might be afraid, but we would all root for Barnabas. The idea of him being found out, could not happen. We waited for him to leave his coffin, so that we could watch him walk among the living, until the sun came up.

I hadn’t thought about Dark Shadows in a long time. Years ago, I re-watched and enjoyed it. There are some things that just stick with you. The recent passing of  Jonathan Frid, brought the flood of memories back. Gee, he was 87 years old. I can still see him roaming around Colinswood. In the show he lived there a long time ago, came back, and to his fans, he is still there.

There have been vampires before Barnabas, and plenty of them after, but, he is the one that I fondly remember. The cape the cane, the picture of the “ancestor” on the wall. A time when all things could not be explained, and we loved them anyway.

Mystery, was the key word, which also reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock. Of course, that would be another story. I saw the picture of Sir Anthony Hopkins, who will be playing the master of suspense. I’m just like that kid that cannot wait to get home from school, except this time it will be after work. My seat at the theater is already reserved. Just have to dig up the patience, to wait, until the movie is released.

It looks like no matter how old we get, it is always a wonder to have something to look forward to. “Good Evening”, has just been added to the list.

“A fond farewell to bid-

To our favorite vampire, Barnabas Collins aka Jonathan Frid.”

-2012-

Once A Week At Noon On Saturday-Another Story Underway # 2 (Another Face To Die With)

To remember how our grandmothers looked, compared to how the modern day grandmothers look, will be quite a turnaround. You know how the grandmothers used to look. I’m talking about the pioneer ones. The ones who lived a rough life. Even if they were not out chopping wood, time would take its toll.

Grandmothers have it a lot easier nowadays. No scrubbing the clothes, and then hanging them out to dry. The washer and dryer has taken care of that. No chopping wood, for the stove, when the men were away. Electricity and gas have taken care of that too.

Of course, there are no more wrinkles either. And, I’m not talking about the kind in the clothes, that had to be ironed. I’m talking about on grandmother’s face. Smooth as a baby when she is 75 years old. Not like the grandmothers of the old days when you could read a map on her face.

There was a goodness to those wrinkles. Grandmother had earned them. She had lived on the earth long enough to deserve them. And, then came Botox. Grandmother doesn’t have to look old anymore. She can look younger forever.

It seems like a nice idea, except in those cases, where the folks are beginning to look like Cabbage Patch dolls. Now I am not criticizing the dolls, they are what they are, but people are not supposed to look like them. I guess the more you inject that stuff, the rounder your face gets. Never mind the botched jobs, that would involve another story.

We don’t become old overnight, and it seems like a person could get adjusted with what is going on.with them. A wrinkle here, a wrinkle there, and then before you know it, I know, they are are everywhere.

Speaking of all of that scrubbing, I mentioned above, one of my grandmother’s had a friend who would seriously scrub her face everyday. Not just a bit, but with real active motions. Needless to say, she looked a lot older than my grandmother, for my grandmother’s face was washed gently. Yes, the wrinkles still came, but, in a longer period of time. Moderation is what that could be labeled.

Somehow or another we appear to have gotten our ideals confused. You are born, you are young, you become less younger, and then you get old, and then shhhhhh….you pass away. Nowadays it is you are born, you are young, you are no longer young, but you look young, and then you get old, but no one knows, unless you show your hands, and then shhhhh…you pass away with a face that does not belong to you.

The end appears to have the same results. We want to turn back the clock of time, but we cannot stop it. Apparently this trend will continue. Gee, what are you supposed to do when you are looking older than your grandmother? Let it be, or do what she has been doing?

“Grandmother with golden colored locks-

And, no wrinkles, thanks to the invention

of Botox”.

Once A Week At Noon On Saturday-Another Story Underway # 5 (Summer Once Again)

It looks like the first part of the year is about gone. Don’t know where it went, but here we are. I don’t like to say it is because I’ve gotten older, but, in reality, that must be the case.

When I was younger, it seemed like it took forever, for summer to arrive. The only good part is that the summer lasted just as long. When we left the schoolhouse, to enjoy our summer vacation, we had a long three months. It got so long that we secretly wished that we were back in school.

Surely, all the parents in America remember the kids whining that they had nothing to do. This would be at the end of the summer, not at the beginning, as we hear today. As we get older, we yearn for the time when there is nothing to do. That thought is entertainment, in itself.

If only we could make the younger folks realize that. My grandmother once told me to enjoy being young, for being old is a lot longer. Of course, I had to brush that off, because I would never get old. She forgot to mention that when you get older, time goes by a lot faster too.

Someone asked me what I was doing this weekend. I thought about it and said nothng. The word nothing had a golden ring to it, for many times my life is scheduled down to the minute. Of course, there are things to do, but nothing that has to be done. Nowhere to go, nothing to get in the way, of just staring at the wall. We all need that sometimes, in this busy world of ours.

Getting back to that time that quickly flies. I was taking down the Christmas tree and now I am facing hurricane season. Yes, that dreaded season where the strong winds blow and you wonder if you are going with it. I was in Hurricane Betsy, in New Orleans, in 1965, and I thought that the house was going to fly, like in the Wizard of Oz. Same goes for Hurricane Ike. As soon as the leaves began to swish, I thought that I was in for one big ride. Luckily, we rode it out, and those trees fell away from the house.

The hurricanes I mentioned were at the end of the summer, but, June is when we begin to think about them. After last year’s hurricane season ended, I went whew, and figured it would be a while before I had to worry about that again. Wrong, it is right here once again.

The best part of summer vacation was the anticipation of it. To dream of nothing to do, to do as one wanted. Late nights, and late sleep-ins. No schedules and no special projects. I think that is the best part of life, no matter what phase you are in. The anticipation of some event. It keeps us going. It keeps us dreaming. It gives us something to look forward to. If only we could slow down the clock a bit, then the anticipation could last a bit longer.

“Summer breeze-

Looking for a gentle time freeze.”

Too Much In A Day (2001)

Sometimes it seems like there just isn’t enough time in the day. You have your whole day planned out, and although you do not have enough time to do what you have planned, then along comes the unexpected.
.
A lot of times as you are getting ready to walk out of the door, that is the time that the unexpected happens. There is always one more thing to do before you leave and then there are others who at the last moment need your attention.
.
Every once in a while it seems like one might need two whole days to complete the much needed tasks that need to be done in one day. They say that you should take one day at a time, but, whew, that one day can be overwhelming.
.
I guess the expression is true though, because it would be too overbearing to think about the next day when there isn’t enough time to do what one has to do for today and you’re right smack in the middle of it.
.
In reality today is all that counts. moment by moment we go about our busy lives and try to complete as much as we need to.
.
Every once in a while it’s best to put the daily list on hold for a moment so that we can as they say stop to smell the flowers. Of course that stopping requires planting, watering, and feeding the flowers. There I go again. Maybe some of our days are too overwhelming because we make the lists too long.
.
When the sun goes down, and we’ve done all that we can, we can kick back and relax and realize that we’ve done exactly that, and if by chance we have to plan by the silvery moon we should plan the following day left open with many loopholes for the unexpected which will give us a regular day.
.
A regular day sounds good, but what exactly does a regular day mean? I’m sure that is another story in itself. One that I don’t have enough time to go into, for it will interrupt the already too many things that I have to do, as in finishing this story!
.
“A regular day requires much thought-
In order to acquire the deadlines with peace that are sought!”

Modern Mother Goose-On The Loose (Barnabas Collins)

There was a time when we couldn’t wait to get home from school. Of course, we were not unusual, for all children yearn for that moment, but this was for a special occasion. Dark Shadows would come on about that time. To miss it, well, would be bad. No goofing around, on the walk home from school, but a mad dash.

A soap opera for teens, it what it was. Day to day, week to week, and on Fridays we would be left hanging. We’d have to wait the whole weekend, to see what would happen next.

Barnabas Collins was the vampire that we all loved. In normal circumstances, we might be afraid, but we would all root for Barnabas. The idea of him being found out, could not happen. We waited for him to leave his coffin, so that we could watch him walk among the living, until the sun came up.

I hadn’t thought about Dark Shadows in a long time. Years ago, I re-watched and enjoyed it. There are some things that just stick with you. The recent passing of  Jonathan Frid, brought the flood of memories back. Gee, he was 87 years old. I can still see him roaming around Colinswood. In the show he lived there a long time ago, came back, and to his fans, he is still there.

There have been vampires before Barnabas, and plenty of them after, but, he is the one that I fondly remember. The cape the cane, the picture of the “ancestor” on the wall. A time when all things could not be explained, and we loved them anyway.

Mystery, was the key word, which also reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock. Of course, that would be another story. I saw the picture of Sir Anthony Hopkins, who will be playing the master of suspense. I’m just like that kid that cannot wait to get home from school, except this time it will be after work. My seat at the theater is already reserved. Just have to dig up the patience, to wait, until the movie is released.

It looks like no matter how old we get, it is always a wonder to have something to look forward to. “Good Evening”, has just been added to the list.

“A fond farewell to bid-

To our favorite vampire, Barnabas Collins aka Jonathan Frid.”

-2012-

Modern Mother Goose-On The Loose (Barnabas Collins)

There was a time when we couldn’t wait to get home from school. Of course, we were not unusual, for all children yearn for that moment, but this was for a special occasion. Dark Shadows would come on about that time. To miss it, well, would be bad. No goofing around, on the walk home from school, but a mad dash.

A soap opera for teens, it what it was. Day to day, week to week, and on Fridays we would be left hanging. We’d have to wait the whole weekend, to see what would happen next.

Barnabas Collins was the vampire that we all loved. In normal circumstances, we might be afraid, but we would all root for Barnabas. The idea of him being found out, could not happen. We waited for him to leave his coffin, so that we could watch him walk among the living, until the sun came up.

I hadn’t thought about Dark Shadows in a long time. Years ago, I re-watched and enjoyed it. There are some things that just stick with you. The recent passing of  Jonathan Frid, brought the flood of memories back. Gee, he was 87 years old. I can still see him roaming around Colinswood. In the show he lived there a long time ago, came back, and to his fans, he is still there.

There have been vampires before Barnabas, and plenty of them after, but, he is the one that I fondly remember. The cape the cane, the picture of the “ancestor” on the wall. A time when all things could not be explained, and we loved them anyway.

Mystery, was the key word, which also reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock. Of course, that would be another story. I saw the picture of Sir Anthony Hopkins, who will be playing the master of suspense. I’m just like that kid that cannot wait to get home from school, except this time it will be after work. My seat at the theater is already reserved. Just have to dig up the patience, to wait, until the movie is released.

It looks like no matter how old we get, it is always a wonder to have something to look forward to. “Good Evening”, has just been added to the list.

“A fond farewell to bid-

To our favorite vampire, Barnabas Collins aka Jonathan Frid.”

-2012-

Too Much In A Day (2001)

Sometimes it seems like there just isn’t enough time in the day. You have your whole day planned out, and although you do not have enough time to do what you have planned, then along comes the unexpected.
.
A lot of times as you are getting ready to walk out of the door, that is the time that the unexpected happens. There is always one more thing to do before you leave and then there are others who at the last moment need your attention.
.
Every once in a while it seems like one might need two whole days to complete the much needed tasks that need to be done in one day. They say that you should take one day at a time, but, whew, that one day can be overwhelming.
.
I guess the expression is true though, because it would be too overbearing to think about the next day when there isn’t enough time to do what one has to do for today and you’re right smack in the middle of it.
.
In reality today is all that counts. moment by moment we go about our busy lives and try to complete as much as we need to.
.
Every once in a while it’s best to put the daily list on hold for a moment so that we can as they say stop to smell the flowers. Of course that stopping requires planting, watering, and feeding the flowers. There I go again. Maybe some of our days are too overwhelming because we make the lists too long.
.
When the sun goes down, and we’ve done all that we can, we can kick back and relax and realize that we’ve done exactly that, and if by chance we have to plan by the silvery moon we should plan the following day left open with many loopholes for the unexpected which will give us a regular day.
.
A regular day sounds good, but what exactly does a regular day mean? I’m sure that is another story in itself. One that I don’t have enough time to go into, for it will interrupt the already too many things that I have to do, as in finishing this story!
.
“A regular day requires much thought-
In order to acquire the deadlines with peace that are sought!”

Going Back Home (2001)

I don’t know how many times i’ve watched the movie “The Trip to Bountiful” starring Geraldine Page.
She plays an elderly lady who runs away from her son’s home, where she resides, in order to return to her childhood home.

Obviously we’d all like to go home, back to a time when things were simple and the days were long.
Not a worry in the world did we have. It’s funny because things do not always stay the same but in our minds they do.

One can see an elderly relative sitting on a front porch waiting to greet you even though they may no longer be here on this earth
and their place of residence may have been torn down or replaced. That’s the way our memory works. we store images in our minds that
will serve us for the rest of our days.

As Geraldine Page finally makes it to her childhood home, surrounded by a small town that is desolate, she see that the house is falling
apart and unlivable but her heart is still filled with joy. to her the ruins of her childhood home still represent what she had been looking for.

The smell of the air and the looks of a piece of ground that still held so many wonderful childhood memories for her.

One can still go home even if it no longer exists, for it’s the memories that take us there! They’re stored in our minds and all we have to
do is reach inside and bring them out whenever we feel the need.

“One’s own memory is the place to roam-
If one has the desire to go back home!”
-2001-