Nature and Nostalgia
Wrapping up another year always makes me want to write a list. I look through my pocket day planner for the single words or phrases I squeezed into each month’s allotted square. Then, I handwrite a list of my accomplishments, no matter how small, into my journal. This year’s list is unremarkable: routine appointments, a... Continue Reading →
Christmas polka-dot outfit on December 25, 1972 It’s hard not to be noticed when you wear polka dots. Being shy, I didn’t want anyone’s eyes fixed on me or what I wore. The uninhibited joyfulness of those dots made me uncomfortable. They wanted to be a star. My mother made a lot of my outfits... Continue Reading →
With Michael Nesmith passing away, it brought back memories of my love of the Monkees in the 1970s. I was a little obsessed with them. Well, as much as you can be when you're 9, your show is on once a week and you don’t have money to buy any merchandise. The Monkees TV Show... Continue Reading →
Though scratched and faded, the slides my parents took in the 1960s and 1970s offer me clues about their lives. My parents, now gone for several decades, left me their archives. I get to see the world through their eyes, at least for these captured moments of time. The images show me details I did... Continue Reading →
Photo by Element5 Digital on Pexels.com Our family memorialized food through photography. And Mom was our amateur food photographer. While the usual subject was birthday cakes, sometimes whole meals were photographed, specifically Thanksgiving dinner. The holiday with the most food and family around. While some shots were exclusively food, others had family in the background.... Continue Reading →
Television was not a safe place for sensitive, young viewers in the 1970s. Even though the number of channels was limited, I remember being scared and creeped out a lot. Sometimes it was movies or movie trailers, but the most unexpected creepiness came during commercial breaks with public service announcements. It wasn’t always the video... Continue Reading →
Photo by Craig Adderley on Pexels.com Photo by Craig Adderley on Pexels.com Star Wars was an experience. Not just a movie. So much of what I remember about Star Wars happened before and after the movie, as much as the movie itself. I was 10 when this came out. My older brother really wanted to... Continue Reading →
In 1976, I was so excited to learn the metric system in fourth grade. My teacher said everyone would need to know it soon. She was serious. We need to be ready. I took one-gram, green, plastic weights and put them on a balancing scale with one-ounce, orange, plastic weights on the other side to... Continue Reading →
Photo by olia danilevich on Pexels.com Curious about the greatest dangers of Halloween in the 70s? I was. So, to find out more, I reviewed the archives of my local newspaper. A few of the recommendations I found were a little unusual. Safety recommendations were about preventing injuries from the following causes: 1. Burns: Fire... Continue Reading →
Photo by Toni Cuenca on Pexels.com Sure life seemed simple. We had thin, cheap, store-bought outfits and flimsy, plastic masks with small eye holes that blocked your vision. The mask usually snapped off your head before you left home due to elastic band fastener failure. We had a society free from any sensitivities about whether... Continue Reading →
Do you ever wonder why you keep certain things? Items that have no practical use and no sentimental value that you can recall. You don’t associate them with warm memories of a lost love or long-gone relatives. They don’t remind you of better days. I was staring at a few soccer patches from a town... Continue Reading →
Karen M. Free 