Augusr 2nd

Today is Dinosaur Day

It's in honor of those long extinct relics of Jurassic Park.

This particular T Rex was found in the 

Cheyenne River Reservation in Wyoming.

It's named after Sue Hendrickson a fossil collector.

Sue is currently on display at The Field Museum

in Chicago.

Several years ago, we were lucky enough

to see a full sized replica

in Phoenix. Arizona.

"Sue" surely is a jaw dropping specimen!

But...

In reality, they aren't totally extinct,

they simply evolved into other modern day creatures.

Creatures like our own lovable feathered hens.

(and now we segue to the girls)

Pepper and Nugget

Can't you see the T Rex family resemblance?

Hazel

Thank goodness they lost those T Rex teeth!

Ethel

They still lay eggs though.

Nugget's head is healing nicely.

Thankful that I didn't have to perform 

a "comb-ectomy"!

Yay for Super glue!!

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Eggplant flower.

The plant is covered in them.

Cucuzzas are here!

Basically an Italian summer squash.

They have a mild taste and lend themselves

to many recipes.

See the small ones?

They look like grass snakes hanging

upside down.

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A recent dryer malfunction 

resulted in my hanging clothes out to dry in my yard.

Not an activity I'd recommend in this heat!

But....

It reminded me of my Mom and Grandmother

doing the same thing,

like in this picture.

But, 

there was a slight difference.

My clothes were washed in an electric washing machine

with all kinds of bells and whistles

compared to the one my Mom had

back in the day

Yep.

We had a wringer washer like this one.

If I remember correctly,

all it did was agitate,

you hadda pull those heavy, wet clothes

out of the "tub" and push them

between the rollers of the wringers.

They 'wrung' the water from the item.

Then my Mom would put the wet clothes in a 

wicker basket to bring outside to the clothes line.

Good times?

Maybe not so much for my Mom,

but a warm fuzzy memory for me.

All this reminiscing,

got me to thinking of times gone by.

Our kitchen, the little eat in kind,

 had a small formica table with 4 chairs.

It was chrome with Naugahyde upholstery,

the same thing in the living room....

It was a vomit green Naugahyde couch 

with a deep red accent wall.

It made any time you were sick and stayed home from school,

exponentially worse looking at those colors!

What was my Mom thinking?

It's no wonder the Nauga has become extinct.

The unchecked use of their "hydes" in the '50's and '60's

was ubiquitous!

And...

no picture of any Naugas in the wild, exist!

Then,

 we had Alligator Pears,

Mosquito Hawks, 

and black or white lace veils

for Mass.

Just the simple basics.

We walked and played on a banquette (sidewalk),

went on a trip with our grips (suitcases),

our Moms Iced the Cake (frosted) for birthdays,

drank red drinks (Barq's Red Cream Soda),

and waited patiently each year for

Mr Bingle.

(Jingle Jangle Jingle,

here comes Mr. Bingle,

with another message from

Kris Kringle....)

We wore Wind Song perfume,

and gave Evening in Paris Perfume as 

Mother's Day gifts.

All Grandma's carried a Handkerchief.

We slid down a Shoot the Chute

and adhered our butt flesh to the hot metal

during a 100 degree summer!

We needed a skate key to get skates to stay on

our shoes.

Most skating was on the bumpy cement sidewalks.

No kid was exempt from a knee scar from

falling off skates or a bike.

You were like the Marines...

Adapt, Improvise and Overcome!

Young girls had to endure Sanitary belts and napkins

that were medieval torture devices.

But we managed.

Ah! those were our halcion days,

spent mostly outside, 

suntanned and

getting Grandma Beads

and scabs.

Do I miss it?

Maybe, if I tell the truth,

 I do miss it a bit.

Time was slower,

the world was smaller,

people knew each other,

We felt safe and secure.

But, now it's enough to look back

on my special memories

with my rose colored glasses,

and smile.

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This says it all.

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Remember...

It was the famed poet

Meatloaf who said....

Two outta three ain't bad>