Embellishments and History
The afternoon light has shifted, casting shadows on my side table and delighting me. Autumn is creeping into each day. Yesterday the rain that was predicted became reality. My hair was frumpy and wild, yet I was okay with the mess.
I've had a restorative week, full of knitting and reading. Starting a new knitting project does wonders to my excitement. I've been writing more about me, my ancestors and stories that were told to me. I wonder how much embellishing was done by the storyteller? How much was true? Then I wonder does it matter? Family histories are probably enhanced with the teller's thoughts or reactions.
I grew up in the city and yet had the luck of a summer cottage to visit - owned by my grandparents. I ran bare foot in the grass and learned to ride a bike without training wheels down a dirt road. I gathered lots of scraped knees and elbows, and cried over each hurt begging for a band aid. I collected dandelions, daisies, elderberries, raspberries and blackberries through out the summer months. I dug dirt to make mud pies and tried to catch a crayfish unsuccessfully in a stream. I ate massive amounts of root beer floats made by Gram. Sitting outside swatting mosquitoes and slurping my float, I daydreamed away. Gram would take us on daily walks and tell her stories. Sometimes she sang her stories and we chimed in because the songs were etched into our minds starting as lullabies.
No embellishing in my story. I probably cried way more than I recall since I was a sensitive child and whined more as well, but because I am the writer I can edit that bit out. My summers at the cottage have taken a fine shiny patina that occurs with the passage of time.
Do you have summer memories that you embellish?
Have a great weekend!
As I sift through my box of photos, old letter and journal I am learning parts of my family history that I never knew. It does make ma a little sad to read the comments from my grandmother's high school memory book [from 1925] because while I knew I was a lot like her I didn't realize just how much we really were a like!
ReplyDeleteWe are still getting rain daily and my hair stays in a ponytail other wise I would be flat ironing it hourly.
I love the top photo! You are probably at least a month ahead of NC as far as the onset of fall. We are really looking forward to cooler weather, fall mums, etc. Have a great weekend! --Tammy
ReplyDeleteI love your knitting flower pot. Childhood me,prices are a bit of a blur for me. Mostly I just remember having imaginary siblings.
ReplyDeleteChristmas stories are the ones that I enjoy more and seem to be the ones that family members embellish, the weather been a lot better than they describe, the turkey been half the size they are describing but wonderful stories none the less. Your post made me wonder what my young Grandchildren will remember about me in years to come, thought provoking...
ReplyDeleteYes I have summer memories going to the caravan with family, long hot summer days, carefree, I am sure it rained more than I remember!, love the picturesxx
ReplyDeleteCute photo of the teddy bear! Your summer cottage memories brought back a lot of my summer memories growing up in a lake town in New York State. My sisters and I would enjoy picking berries which grew wildly in our backyard, riding bikes wherever we needed to go to and having the fun of a nice beach one block away, which also featured a little swamp stream nearby with all kinds of things from nature. The sad part of summer for us was Labor Day when all our summer residents would pack up and head back to NYC. Fall was always beautiful up there and came so much sooner than it does where I live now in SC.
ReplyDeleteSummer memories are the best! My family didn't have a lot of money so we sometimes went camping, but I mostly remember spending a LOT of time in the local library with my nose in a book. What lovely photos you've posted today!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard not to embellish stories of our youth as they seem iridescent with light and fun. You tell a story, current and past, so well. Thank you for sharing your life.
ReplyDeleteSweet memories, Karen. And I love the photo of your houseplants.
ReplyDeleteIs that your leftovers blanket? It's beautiful and so colorful! I am always amazed to hear our kids memories as they sure are different than mine of the same occurence!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a lot of memories of most of my childhood-I had a rough few years and blocked a lot of it out. It's interesting now to discuss those years with my sister-she remembers so much, and I remember only basic biographical information. Your memories of the cabin remind me of playing in the spare lot next to my house growing up. It was always a great place to foster imagination :)
ReplyDeletei grew up in the city too and had grandparents with a rural home that i could fly free spirited all summer too. I love the way you write...tell us more, tell us more !!! I promise to tell mine sometime soon.
ReplyDeleteI love your little bear and how it has its own plaid nightdress/shirt. I was a sensitive child too. My cousins used to tease me a lot and of course I'd cry. Your mention of root beer floats took me back! My dad used to make them all the time at home. My girls are dying to try them out or a Coke float.
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful summer memories. I love family stories, and have been told many over the years by grandparents, aunts and uncles and my mom and dad. I love hearing them, some over and over again, and I love that they connect me to parts of my family that I haven't known.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend Karen. xo
Childhood memories like that are the best! I remember spending two weeks each summer with my godmother, uncle, aunt and their two sons on their farm. I remember having to drive a (huge to me) tractor so they could load up bails of hay. Playing soccer with my cousins, feeding calves, fighting with my cousins... Great memories for sure!
ReplyDeleteI'm also loving the shifting autumn lights, with he long shadows and early setting sun. I guess my summer memories are also pretty embellished, but there's absolutely no harm in that :)
ReplyDeleteYes and I was chatting away about one memory to a friend today when we walked past a winnebago . My family used to camp with campers and it was so fun for us kids. WE loved it from the moment my dad pulled it into the driveway and we began to plan and play in it.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post Karen :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are writing about your memories and family stories. I really want to do that soon. My mom knows them all by heart, but I can never seem to remember all of them, so I want to write them down.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that you are writing about your memories and family. I just mentioned to my Mom, who is suffering from memory issues due to age and a stroke, that she should start writing down the stories that she remembers and keeps telling me about. It not only would capture a bit of family history, but help her put things together. Have a lovely weekend Karen :)
ReplyDeleteSuch lovely memories! I wish I had a summer cottage, either when I was a kid or for my own kids, but, alas, that wasn't in the cards ( or the budget!). I am the historian in my family, and I'm always interested in what the stories we remember says about us.
ReplyDeleteI love your beautiful afghan. That is so beautiful! No summer cottage in our family, but we always took fun vacations with our kids - explored lots of new places across the country. I have started to feel like I need to start writing my/my family's history so now your post is also giving me a nudge in that direction. Time waits for no one, so maybe I'd better get some of those memories down - and put my own "spin" on things! ;-)
ReplyDeleteLovey memories and photos. I love the shadows on your knitting. I have summer memories of time spent with cousins and grandparents and family camping trips.
ReplyDeleteWonderful memories. Your description and beautiful writing puts me right there with you.
ReplyDeleteI think we all tend to embellish our special memories a bit as some of them are rather magical and deserve a bit of bling added to them.
My childhood summer included many hours outside playing with the neighborhood friends. So may tales associated with those years.
I got my love of gardening from my grandparents. Grandpa still has a large garden (he's 88 now) and when I would visit as a child we would pick the berries or beans. Then grandma and I would sit on the swing under the shade of the apple tree and snip beans for dinner. Dessert was always vanilla ice cream topped with fresh berries. We never had a garden growing up because my mom was sick of gardening - having been "forced" to work in my grandpa's as a child. When I got a place of my own I was all too excited to plant my own patch of earth. My grandpa's garden still puts mine to shame.
ReplyDeleteI just LOVED reading this, Karen...it had me feeling all warm and fuzzy : ) I have so many good childhood memories. Holidays in Cornwall...spending every single day on the beach and swimming in the sea. Days out in the countryside of Derbyshire...with picnics by streams and lots of rock hopping. Playing out all the summer holidays with kids from our street...building dens and playing rounders. Of course I am seeing all this through rose tinted spectacles, but it really was a good childhood...I feel so lucky. I adore the top photo and your new header is lovely xx
ReplyDeleteLovely photos and what a beautiful blanket. Sometimes i think it's more about feelings than exactly what things were like. all part of the healing journey, i suppose. glad you are enjoying your almost fall!
ReplyDelete