How could I forget the first Earth Day? It was my last year of high school, and being April 22, 1970, it was only a couple months before graduation. I’m sure my focus at that time was on the day I would FINALLY be finished with school…at least the schooling you didn’t have a choice about…but I do remember caring about the environment and natural things from early childhood, so the day had some significance to me.
The “hippy” movement had been going on for some time, and the “Jesus” movement was still to come. Rebelling against “the establishment” was “groovy” and though there were elements of the rebellion that weren’t good, the desire to return to natural things that took place then, and we see repeating itself now, was taking shape in a very big way.
One way that this was expressed was by setting aside a day to focus on the environment, and wake up “the establishment” to the need to conserve our natural resources. I wasn’t part of the “college scene” yet, but knew a lot about demonstrations…so very popular at the time, anti-war demonstrations, anti-this, anti-that. People gathered by the thousands to show their support for a concept started by an environmentalist and politician, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.
Next year will be the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, where did the time go? Have we learned anything?
It’s the anniversary of the Beatles unforgettable arrival to America…at least unforgettable to someone my age. I remember so clearly sitting in the Chapel of the private school I was going to, (I feel like I’ve shared this before…Deja Vu?? I’ll have to check.) Anyway, the girls were all abuzz about these guys called the Beatles who were coming to America. They were already popular in England, and one of their songs, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was already a hit here in the USA. That was my first introduction to what would become a phenomena, watching girls faint, cry and scream hysterically on television, so loudly that you couldn’t even hear the music. My own collection of Beatle Cards and crush on Paul McCartney, the “cute Beatle”…reading all the vital statistics about each one of the Beatles on the back of those cards. Listening to their songs on my first Transistor Radio.
Enjoy again the arrival of the Beatles, thanks to the person who contributed this to YouTube, arriving February 7th, 1964 in Kennedy Airport from Heathrow:
Can it be that 29 years have passed since hubby and I said “I do”? I have the TV on and the beautifully-filmed movie, “Witness” with Harrison Ford is on, it is so peaceful except for the violent moments that are made all the more harsh by their contrast with beauty. Toward the beginning of the movie there is a tranquil scene that simply shows a field of long grass blowing in the wind. I long to be there.
And what does all of this have to do with our anniversary, this is our favorite place to go on our anniversary weekend, we love staying at a quiet motel that isn’t close to the where the tourists haunt. We like to ride up and down the backroads, park the car and walk, watch the Amish farmers turning the soil with their mule teams.
One of the best memories we have is of a time when we decided to visit an Amish/Mennonite church. I wasn’t dressed properly for the occasion, but we were welcomed. Men sat on one side, and woman on the other, but since we were guests, we could sit in the back together. There are no pianos or organs, just singing, and we were there to see a foot washing, our first in that kind of setting, very moving.
After the service, new guests are always invited to a home for dinner, and we decided to accept the invitation. What a beautiful time with special people in a simple but beautiful home. Bountiful table full of delicious food, woman in their simple dresses with hair pulled back and head coverings, men with their black suits and hats. Wonderful, friendly people. The only awkward moment was when I tried to help by bringing some dishes into the kitchen from the table..awkward because I was in blue jeans. The woman did give me looks, but it wasn’t long before they warmed up to me. That was a once-in-a-lifetime memory.
29 years of marriage on the 7th, I’m sure to have more thoughts on that in the next few days.
My first car was a “hand-me-down” from my Dad, his old Plymouth Valiant station wagon with it’s slanted-six engine, and standard shift on the column. It was Grey, I learned to drive in that car with my Dad at my side, but when it became my car, I painted large colorful flowers on it, wearing my fringed vest and leather headband. I had my first accident in that car…slamming into the back of a car which in turn slammed into a Cadillac in front of it…why just mess up one car when you can mess up two? Actually I felt terrible and broke down and cried, and was happy no one was hurt. I guess Dad must have handled all of the insurance matters, I don’t remember him getting angry or saying much about it…one of those things you think about in retrospect and wish your parent was there to thank them for.
Getting to the 1964 Mustang…which, by the way, made it’s debut 44 years ago today, I didn’t get mine new. After wrecking the station wagon, I went out car-shopping and it was love at first sight when I saw the used 1964 Mustang in good condition, white, with a black vinyl roof, 4-on-the-floor stick shift, and most important of all, a radio that worked. I went home and asked my Dad to come with me to help me buy the car…he was great at dealing. At one point, however, I was a wreck, because he told the salesman that if he didn’t take the price we were offering, we would be leaving, I watched in horror as he began to stand to leave, and open-mouthed just looked at him and started to get up myself honoring my Dad’s decision, but the salesman said “just one minute”, left the room, and came back, and sold the car for what my Dad offered. That was a great lesson to me. Wish you were here to hug ya, Dad, thanks.We’ll get into the accident that I had with that car another time….maybe.
I remember when Dad purchased his first Reel to Reel Tape Player, it was a Sony, and my Dad was quite excited about it. My parents were pretty careful not to run out and get the latest thing that was out in the market, so when we finally did get something, it was an event…I won’t tell you how long it was before they purchased their first color television.
Anyway, the reel-to-reel was quite something at that time, because now, not only could you listen, but you could record your own voice and hear yourself! This was a big deal, and who doesn’t like to hear themselves? My parents listened to classical music all the time, and that was what they played, but we also listened to dramatizations, that were only played during the holidays.
Another fun memory I have is of making what we fondly, as a family, called “Grammy Tapes”, they were tapes that we all said a little something on, then put in the mail to my grandparents who lived in the suburbs of Boston, Mass. We usually did this on a Sunday, it wasn’t as fun as just saying whatever you wanted on tape, it was more organized and formal, all of us sitting in a row along the couch, and saying our piece, then listening to ourselves, and wishing we sounded better.
My grandmother suffered a stroke when I was in my teens, and even after I was married, I took a smaller, portable tape player and read to my grandmother by tape, and mailed them to her, anything to bring her some joy!
