Quote:
Originally Posted by pooh
(Post 530719)
Enough of the negatives for today....tell us something positive you've experienced today or in the past few days. Doesn't have to be anything monumental, just something you've enjoyed. I'll go first.
Today Mike and I took a drive around the area...out to Inverness, Floral City and some other small communities. May not seem like much to many of you, but it was a ride on some back roads, through neighborhoods and something that wasn't the easiest thing to do in the part of southern CA we moved from. It reminded me of the Sunday afternoon drives my father would take the family on....always through the country where we could admire nature, see other towns, communities, neighborhoods. It was lots of fun, well unless my sister or brother would take up some of my room in the back seat....;)
Next.....:icon_wink:
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Staying with your peaceful memories of your childhood Sunday drives with your dad (which I also remember well....in the days before congested New Jersey highways and speeding cars).....we just enjoyed our third trip north this summer, taking our youngest grandbaby north to visit her Vermont cousins and watching the world roll by through the eyes of a one year old.
What a delightful child, even after eight hours of flight time to get to us from Colorado.....just to watch the thought process of a one year old baby girl exploring her new surroundings, playing and figuring out her new toys and just loving Vermont.............but the best fun was meeting the three older cousins again and being the center of everyone's attention........she brought joy to everyone.......topped off by a belated 1st b.day dinner at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont (home of the Sound of Music family)......another day had her first ice cream cone; petted baby animals on farms and just enjoyed it all. Simple pleasures.
Miraculously, all the RAIN and HUMIDITY Vermont has had did stop DEAD during our three trips up.......
Children and grandchildren do keep us young at heart......and that's very positive. Not to mention seeing the beauty of our Green Mountain State where there are more cows than people........a very different world than New Jersey for sure.
This is our "bubble". We spent our first 25 years in New Jersey and our past 42 years in Vermont. TV no doubt "down the road".....
But as my mom would say when visiting, "Vermont is God's Country"; she later retired here and enjoyed 30 years before passing; is buried in the Green Mountains.....far away from N.J.
Since all three visits north were extended trips, staying over for 4 to 5 days, we were able to see the terrible damage done by "Hurricane IRENE" last August when torrential rains wiped out roads and bridges connecting tiny villages, leaving people along the middle of the state unable to get down off their mountain towns.......either east or west......BUT NOW THE NEW ROADS AND BRIDGES are being completed.........the river embankments have been shored up.........all positive developements.
We still did see houses and barns "tilted" off their foundations..........
Anyway, these picturesque quaint memories of our beautiful green mountains , horse shows, cows and other farm animals, will last us through the winter months.........as will the memories of the fun loving 4 grandchildren and new one on the way. All are wonderful children and a joy to behold. Enjoyed our adult children and their spouses as well.
Our "kids" have been out on their own, first off to universities, then off to BIG CITIES for jobs.......for at least 20 to 25 years, but when we all are able to get together, we do realize the importance of family and its continuity. Next year we'll have another graduation.....not high school commencement like last month, but a grandson off to middle school.....they grow up so quickly.
Back in our own town, before taking our son and his wife and baby to the airport, it was quite obvious to him and us that all of our neighbors who had known us and him for years before he was even born, taught him in high school and whose own children we had watched grow up from infants..........came together again. A great reunion.
There is something to be said for either returning or remaining in your home town.........like wintering in Florida but returning "home" to the oldest roots. I know that will not be a popular "thought" with those who perhaps have no children, but it's a reason we are NOT rushing into selling our home........still thinking which option is better for us....fulltime or part time.
