Thursday Thirteen - Changes from Childhood

 

 

This Thursday Thirteen is a departure from the books I've authored or visits with the characters. This post contains some reflections from childhood to adulthood, and to some might give insight into my age.

1. The two-story farm-house of my youth has given way to a more age-friendly one-story home.

   

   Blizzard of 1996
   

   
    
2. Instead of sitting under the large weeping willow to watch bats sweep over the fields at dusk, a bright, airy, sun room provides a viewing area for the aerial acrobatics of cardinals. Unlike where I grew up where cardinals and blue jays appeared with the prospect of snow, the red birds are year-round residents.One thing that hasn't changed is watching the hawks soaring the thermals.
3. Mastering the ability to read and write in cursive (aka script) was taught in school. Your penmanship had to be neat and readable. A senior from last-years graduating high school class was taught how to sign her name in cursive by her family because the school system never did. 
4. One thing hasn't changed. As when I was younger, parents and siblings still assist in the education process. Sometimes it is the older generation teaching the younger, in others it is the younger sibling helping the older one. What is different now is who I help. And the use of computers.
   
5. Our entire future was not determined by one test in the third grade, where missing the wrong question invalidated an entire year's worth of A's. Of course, we still had the assessment tests to graduate high school or enter college but they were one only one consideration.
6. Like many of my era, the first books I read featured Dick, Jane, and Spot I turned into a voracious reader. The Cherry Ames nurse series, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries quickly gave way to exploring the all areas of the county library.
7. Those early simple school books were supplanted by the telepaths and dragon riders of Anne McCaffrey, the adventure books of Allistair MacLean and Leslie Charteris, and riding the western mountains and plains with the characters of Louis L'Amour.
8. Although writing in my childhood was short stories or school work, my adult writing is in longer formats. To date ten novels and two collections of short stories and novellas have gone under the editor's pen and been published. more on my other works is in the Thursday Thirteen, Backlists, or by clicking on the banner covers or pull-down menu.
   
   
9. Today's reading buddy is more likely to be a bird perched on the railing outside the sun room door than the four-legged ones of my youth. Of course, Tighe, the aristocatic feline I've talked about before would claim the title of chief reading and writing buddy for his ability to knock a book out of your hand when he wanted a pet or to walk on the keyboard when a writing session extended into his meal time. Tighe was showcased in his own Thursday Thirteen, He Ruled The House.
   
   
   
   
   
10. 
    For decades, the Sunday afternoon of the Memorial Day Weekend was reserved for the town parade. People of all ages from the (older) members of the historical society who rode the horse-drawn wagon, to the much younger cub and boy scouts, the brownie and girl scouts marched. Or in the case of some of the groups, danced from the staging area to Memorial Park. Where I now live there is no local parades. However, the towns line their main streets with flags. Instead of walking in a parade this year, I joined the boy scout troop and veterans to place flags on the graves of those who had served.
11. To get eggs I no longer have to avoid the rooster, shoo the hens, and search throughout the hen house. The short walk to the store ad buying them off the shelf is much easier on the nerves and old bones.
    
12. Television programs are broadcast in "living color" rather than the black-and-white of the programs I was introduced to. And the television sets are built with circuit boards and among other things can stream content from the internet or specialized providers. Of course, they are not as easy to fix. You can't take out bad tube (identified with the black, burn mark on the top), walk to the local store to buy a new one, and be back watching your favorite western in no time.
    
13. Each time, from childhood to mature years, has their own special experiences. I may no longer be able to ride a bicycle for hours, but have learned the proper rhythm for a speed bag and have held my own in a sparring session with someone a head taller than me. For full disclosure, the sparring is non-body contact with both boxers wearing gloves, or one wears gloves while the other wears strike pads.
    

If any of my published titles intrigue you, click on the cover in the banner or for the series, the pull-down menu for blurbs, excerpts, a free read of the first chapter, and of course, buy links. And of course, be sure to visit the http://newthursday13.blogspot.com/ to see other thirteens.

~till next time, Helen