When I was a child, the world was different – not necessarily better, but definitely different. We were taught there were winners and losers (and opportunities for losers to try again to become winners); there were doers and idlers (and doers were what made things better); and if you did wrong, there was a price to pay. Some would say that there was a level of discipline then that is missing today and to a large degree, I agree with […]
Monthly Archives: December 2015
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Dec
29
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Childhood Memories – Wood Fires
While many people dislike the smell of smoke from a wood fire and open burning is prohibited in many places, I find both the aroma of a good fire and the atmosphere it creates to be enjoyable. It doesn’t matter if it is in a wood stove, in a fireplace, or in a campfire outdoors. This probably relates to my early memories of wood burning at both of my grandparents’ homes. Both heated with wood stoves as long as they […]
Dec
28
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Childhood Memories – The Sled
Earlier this year my wife and I visited Art Hill in Forest Park to watch people using their sleds, snow disks, snow boards, and other things (even just sheets of plastic) to slide down the hill below the Art Museum. Surprisingly, with the number of people trying to use a relatively compact area, there didn’t seem to be any arguments, disagreements, or serious collisions. The hill was used by people of all ages and sizes and all seemed to […]
Dec
27
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Childhood Memories – Green Tractors
Model D Model 730 All through my childhood and through my college years my father worked as a mechanic at our local John Deere dealer. In those days it was common for children to visit their parents at work and while we didn’t have all of today’s safety rules, I don’t remember anyone ever being seriously injured during these visits. Some of my earliest memories are of the used John Deere Model D tractors parked outside the dealership waiting for […]
