'Neath the purple swirling haze of AutumnThe languid cry of the last cicada
Weaves a dirge with an orphaned cricket
As fields lie barren from stream to thicket.
--Matt-Man
Autumn is now a full week into its cycle of change. Forty shades of green are giving way to a canvas awash in yellow, red, and orange.
Schmoop and I were discussing the seasonal transformation last night. After a couple of drinks, our conversation about the change of seasons dissolved into a reminiscence of how the world has changed over the years.
We began to talk about all of the good things that we miss from our younger years. Now don’t get me wrong, we both appreciate many of the changes that have taken place over the years, but we agreed, there are some things in life that we truly miss. Our conversation finally gave way to the urge to sleep, but I continued to reflect on my younger years and I came up with a list of items that I truly miss in everyday life.
Without any further, poorly written syrupy set-up, I offer you…The Things I Miss.
I Miss…
The days when eating fast food was a treat rather than the norm.
Sitting in my dad’s garden eating cherry tomatoes right off the vine on a hot summer day.
Swatting fireflies from the air with my wiffle ball bat under the warm July twilight.
Radio stations programming their own music.
TV Repairmen who did house calls.
White T-Shirts gently waving on a clothesline.
The times when an eight year old boy kissing his sweetheart was considered youthful innocence rather than sexual harassment.
My mom, dad, and brother Phil.
Calling my brother Vince by the name of “Joe” for the first six years of my life because that’s what my older brothers and sisters told me his name was.
Eating Peanut Butter toast and drinking chocolate milk while watching Bugs Bunny on a Saturday morning.
Scalding my mouth on the mashed potatoes from a TV Dinner.
The bygone era when special interest groups, the government, and organized religion didn’t force their views and policies on people and allowed folks to be responsible for their own choices…
These are just some of the things that I miss. What are some of yours?
I am off to go have my ass kicked in basketball by Ryan in a few. I’ll be back later today. In the meantime, enjoy your Saturday and Cheers!!
29 comments:
Matt~ I hate to admit this. You made me shed tears with your opening words. They are lovely. This time of year can be a little tough on this broad.
I miss playing ghost in the graveyard till the streetlights came on... and then see how long I could stay out till my Mommers called us in.
I miss being surrounded by 5 flannel clad hunyuks on Saturday mornings watching cartoons and having family votes on just what was going to be for breakfasts on said mornings.
I miss driving or flying vast distances to discover what new and exciting things were in store for me at my Dad's new military posts.
I also kind of miss having to whittle my belongs into 2 big boxes for said moves.
I miss Motown on the radio as a daily choice of listening.
I miss my Dad terribly.
I miss my husband but not in a greif ridden way anymore. More in a sad "I wish he could see this" kind of way.
I miss going to the little corner store in New Jersey on Sunday afternoons to pick out penny candy.
And little league on Saturdays. And the fort we tomboys built in the swamp.
Even though I miss all these things.. I am thankful they are all memories that shaped the old woman I am today.
Thank you for making me remember those wonderful times!
What an awesome poem...poor lil "orphaned criket"!!!
Wow you brought back some good memeories for me too.....I miss:
My Dad.....
Watching baseball with him on Sundays....
Playing outside with only a big cardboard box and using one's imagination..
And oh, yeah what cheesy said: going to the store for penny candy!!! (where did you do that Cheesy...I did it in NJ too!!! _)
Going out for breakfast after church...(that's the only reason I went hehe)
Roller skate keys!!!!
and countless others.........
Thanks!!!!
Peace
I miss twinkies....oh wait, they're still in the garage and as "fresh" as the day they were bought back in the 70s...
Damn, Matty, I got a bit weepy reading this. Many of those things you miss? I miss those too.
I miss my Mom and Dad. Tremendously.
I miss the innocence of childhood.
I miss playing kickball in the schoolyard with friends and in the front street with my now deceased BIL.
I miss taking the bus to downtown Indy to Christmas shop with my mom, the snow swirling around us.
I miss the smell of fish frying at the baseball park during summer Little League games.
I miss cruising Monument Circle with my friends.
I miss sparklers.
I miss riding the swings at Christian Park.
I can't go on. I love my life now, but thinking about the past makes me sad.
Pretty poem!
I liked your romantic list, too.
Cheesy: I am glad you liked it. I know things are tough on you once in awhile but I know you have the strength to get through it. Admirable. Have a good weekend, Go Ducks, and let's get together sometime and play Ghost in the Graveyard. Cheers!!
Ve: Twikies are like cans of SPAM. They never go bad. Thanks for stopping and Cheers!!
Songbird: I get sad thinking about things like this too, but then the memories ultimately bring a smile to my face. Schmoop and I discussed the art of kickball at length last night. Cheers!!
Jess: Thanks alot Jess and enjoy your weekend. Cheers!!
Odat: Glad you liked it, and thanks for the comment. Have a bee-yoo-tee-ful weekend. Cheers!!
Lovely memories, Matt. Those sure were the days.
I miss all those things too. Well, except for autumn since we don't have that here. And calling your family by their individual names since I don't know them.
I do miss my dad though.
Lizza: The thing about the names is that they taught me the wrong name of one of my brothers, and had a big ol' laugh over it. No Good Bastards!! Cheers Lizza.
I absolutely LOVED this post. Loved it. The poem was beautiful.
Things I miss most...
1. Being able to run my neighborhood all day long until the streetlamps came on at night, when I was as young as six and seven years old.
2. (similar to yours) When places like Wendy's and Pizza Hut seemed like special treats.
3. The days when I thought two dollars was plenty of money because it was enough for me to buy four packs of baseball cards.
(I ate warm cherry tomatoes off the plant yesterday....and didn't have enough left for salad...laughing)
I miss kickball too...at dusk...out front with the neighbor kids.
I miss hiking as kids by ourselves..exploring
I miss my brother Bill
I kinda miss having little ones around...and am looking forward to being a Grandma someday...laughing...
I miss falling asleep in the car and having my Dad carry me into the house (pretending I was still asleep)
I miss the trees changing color in the autumn...but can't give up the ocean.
this was nice Matthew....
Allie: Thanks my friend, and I can relate to everything you said. I dont have a ton of regrets or long to re-live childhood, but sometimes those days seem like the best of times. Cheers!!
Katherine: Nice comment and thanks. I am still a big fan of the simple things in life. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, the ocean, and Cheers!!
Okay Matt...so I was sitting here carefully eating and I pushed the keyboard outta the way sothat nothing would drop on it. Without taking my eyes off the screen I kept eating carefully making sure the bites of roast beef were securely impaled before I swished the fork across the mashed potatoes. I used my napkin for my tears.
I don't wanna remember what I miss.
*hugs*
Goddamn menopause.
I miss King Kong Bundy, Andre the Giant and the Iron Sheik duking it out on the Saturday wrestling shows, WITHOUT ALL THE HYPE!
I miss the afternoons spent watching the Bowery Boys, Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers movies with my dad.
I miss walking through crunching leaves with PopPop while he whistled Irish folksongs.
This was wonderful Matty! Thanks!
first of all, that was a lovely, lovely poem.
thanks for stirring up memories:
I miss my dad and my brother and my friend Dick who'd take us pool jumping in his jeep at night.
and popping tar bubbles with my toes - my mom would get so mad but I couldn't resist.
and playing "smear the queer" with neighborhood kids and it had nothing to do with sexual
orientation.
and neighborhood campouts where the boys would sneak over and we'd play spin the bottle.
and playing all day in the woods behind my house, building a tree fort, without having to check in.
mmmm. I have to stop now. so many good memories.
I miss all of the British shows that I watched with my Dad, late at night...even Benny Hill, which I wasn't supposed to watch...sorry Mom!
I miss the local Cassano's pizza when Mom Dad and I would go up to the corner for dinner when we actually had moncy...
I miss John Evanaoff, the Jewel Tee man..Mom could buy stuff we needed on credit.
Riverdale Dairy with the sticky floors, and the best glass bottled milk and ice cream...
So many others... Thanks babe...
OMG - the Jewel Man! I forgot about that. And the Watkins lady. And my mom sitting down for coffee with the AVON lady as they looked through the brochure.
Wow. Walks down memory lane - cool, cool, cool.
Songbird: Our Jewel Tee man would actally sit on the floor and talk to me and Mom!!
Oue TV repair man would pulll my pigtails!! He knew us that well... damn i miss those days...
Julie: I didnt mean to make you cry but if you try maybe you can use your tears as an au jus sauce for your roast beef. Cheers!!
Metalmom: You had me at Irish Folk Songs. Happy Saturday and Cheers!!
Lisa: Thanks and I am sure that all of the boys were hoping that the neck of the bottle was pointing at you. Cheers!!
Songbird: I was going to post about Schmoop and my discussion about the Jewel-T man but we didnt think anyone would know what we were talking about. Cheers Buddy!!
Schmoop: Thanks for helping me to post a post that brought on some great memories for eveyone. I kinda dig you. ; )
Okay, I thought of some others:
The Borden milkman who delivered milk to your front door, leaving it in the metal, insulated box on the porch.
The Charles Chips man who delivered snack foods to the door.
The Mr. Softee truck that sold ice cream and had THE BEST soft serve ice cream.
Trips to the Hostess snack factory and store.
The Hotess factory??? Cool.
The milk in bottles came from Riverdale Dairy. Mom has lived in her house 50 years, so we remenber lot....
I miss Halloween in October, Thanksgiving in November and most of all Christmas in December.
Starrlight: You mean you arent excited to see inflateable Santas in the stroes during the 4th of July? Cheers!!
I miss visiting my grandmother, and walking to 7-Eleven in the afternoons for slurpees.
I miss my little sister creeping into my room on Christmas morning, crawling into bed with me, and whispering "is it time yet?"
I miss running and running and running.
I miss rolling down hills.
I miss playing football. Damn do I miss playing football.
Travis: I was going to mention Slurpees as well. I am however a little disturb by the second thing you talked about missing ; ) Cheers!!
Matt-man, You truly are a man of different colors. I can see the honest, romantic beautiful side of you.
So where did you copy the words from?
Just kidding..have a great week!
Wow, this was really sweet.
I loved this post!
I used to eat peanut butter toast too while I watched cartoons.
There are a lot of things I miss... and now I'm going to spend some time thinking about them.
Thanks for bringing back lots of memories. :)
Matty: Thanks and have a great one yourself!!
Janna: Thanks and good for you Janna.
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