I guess life is simple in that there's not a lot of different activities to juggle since we don't have much of a social life. We go to work and we go to church. We get together with our son and his family on the weekend, and I have chorus on Mondays. That's about it. So it's pretty simple to find a free evening when we do want to add an activity. What is NOT simple? The way some things are sort of in limbo - we own a house that our kids rent from us while we rent something else, and a lot of things related to that house are still in our name and haven't been transferred to the kids yet. It's just weird sometimes.
It seems to me that we were all a bit more trusting of others when I was a kid. If it was nice outside, we played outside and pretty freely roamed our neighborhood. We knew most of the people on our block and around the corners. Maybe it's over simplifying or selective memory, but it seems like we were friendly with neighbors, got to know them more easily, and didn't view everyone as a potential threat. So I remember walking to school, walking to friends' houses, walking to the parks . . . and when I was a little bit older, walking to the malls and further. I was impatient and didn't like to wait for the bus so I had a habit of walking "to the next stop", getting impatient there, and walking to the next one and so on, until I figured it wasn't even worth it to get on the bus and I might as well just walk the rest of the way to my destination. Now when I look at a map and understand how far I actually walked just because I felt like it, I'm amazed. Both at how many miles I covered, and that I never felt unsafe.
I like acorn and sweet dumpling squash, and pumpkin, of course, but I'm 'meh' on butternut and yellow squash, and I don't like spaghetti squash. My favorite is the white squash that is sometimes called pattypan. It's really good in one of those "Impossible Pie" recipes from Bisquick - slightly sweet but also works okay as a side dish.
We've had a BJs membership for years and it's been totally worth it. I went for more often when we lived in Maryland and had a houseful. Now that it's just the two of us and I don't have a deep freeze or a lot of pantry space, I go only once every couple of weeks. BJs is my usual choice for vitamins, cereal, meat and poultry. Even though I don't shop in the store very often, we always go there for gas because it's a lot cheaper than anywhere else!
We're getting together with our son and his family on the weekend, but are postponing the "dinner out for Father's Day" until next week. I've mailed a card to my dad, but I bet it will be late. I have the best dad! One thing I especially love about my dad is how he always spent time with us when we were kids. He was very involved, playing with us and taking us on vacations, and was just present with us. Just simple things like watching hockey games together or sitting at a bonfire or campfire. And he's done the same with his grandchildren, as much as possible, so even though my kids live a long way from their Gramma and Papa they have a very close and loving relationship.
We went to Cleveland for a Calder Cup playoff game on Saturday and were disappointed that our team, the visiting Hershey Bears, lost that night. They could have closed out the series and that's kind of what we were hoping. But tonight we listened to Game Seven of that series and the Bears beat the Cleveland Monsters in overtime and will be going to the Calder Cup finals!
I have never heard of white squash or pattypan; I'll have to look for that variety. While I don't really like spaghetti squash I do like just about every other kind of squash I've ever tried.
ReplyDeleteWe were just talking yesterday about how years ago we all did so much more walking and by walking got to know so many of our neighbors. My mother in law lives next door and walks nearly 20 miles a day up and down all the streets near our house and she seems to know everyone and their story! I think that leads to her feeling safer about walking because she knows these people know her and her routine and would help in an emergency. It gives me hope that we can build that same sort of community with a bit of effort.
Wow, good for your mother-in-law!! All that walking that keeps her active and healthy and connected with so many people! Goals - I have some work to do! Thanks for stoppng by and sharing that!
DeleteI do remember those simpler days. I lived in a huge neighborhood where everyone knew everyone else. And, the parents let our parents know if something wasn't going the way it should. I don't know if it was safer then, or we just didn't here about it like we do now.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of squash of any kind, but I will eat spaghetti squash if I can disguise the flavor and texture with enough other stuff which then negates the value of eating it!
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I've wondered that too - was it really safer back in the day, or were we just not as focused or aware of all the things that could possibly go wrong? I think in general we were more trusting, which, in a way, did make it safer, because the trust was reciprocated.
DeleteOne of the awesome things about zucchini and other squash was that I could easily "hide" it in other foods so my kids would eat it! Some is better than none, right?!
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I wrote the same on my blog. How things were safer when we were growing up. I learned about patty pan squash by playing Farmville. I think Trader Joe sells it and I will have to try it. I really like your family picture! Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteSo funny about patty pan squash in Farmville! I didn't know that. I have found the squash at farmers markets on occasion but it's not easy to find. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
DeleteWhen I grew up my childhood certainly was not safer ! Just the opposite, all towns were bombed and in ruins, and we played in them, risking that a bomb would blow up, but nobody cared, we were all sitting in the same boat that was after WWII in Germany.
ReplyDeleteOh my! Yes, the safety of our childhoods depends very much on when and where we grew up! Thanks for stopping by and sharing that experience!
DeleteI have never heard of patty pan squash before. Our neighborhood feels very safe and when my kids were younger, they played outside with little supervision from us parents. But they stayed pretty much in our subdivision. That´s cool that you walked so many places when you were younger. When I went away to college, I walked all over town. I loved living in a town. I grew up in the country in the middle of nowhere with nothing near us.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the city and lived almost all of my adult life in a very small town or in the country. I sure would like to go back to a country place or a little village now. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
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