Musings from the back of the motorcycle and front seat of the car
Author: nancyb422
I am a collector of family history - pictures, stories, facts - whatever I can get my hands on. I share that at It's All About Family. I started Thoughts From the Passenger Seat because I have a lot on my mind! It started riding on the back of my husband's motorcycle and on business appointments but I don't do much of either anymore but the thoughts are still there.
I enjoy writing and I hope you find something that you connect with on either of my blogs.
Thoughtsfromthepassengerseat.blog - Thoughts From the Passenger Seat
NancyB422.com - It’s All About Family
From the age of 2 until 5, my son wore these yellow boots nearly every day rain or shine, summer or winter.
They were bought to wear with his Batman Halloween costume which he wore every weekend from 2 to 3 years old. But even after the costume no longer fit, the boots lived on.
I even bought a second pair when he started to grow out of the first. I guess I was as much to blame for the constant use!
I lent them to a family friend and when they were done, they sent them back and they’ve stayed in the cedar chest with a few other treasures of his childhood.
If I could be a character from a book or film I would want to be a time traveler in one of Connie Willlis’s books! Doomsday Book, Black Out, or All Clear. To examine the past and travel back to the middle ages or WWII would have been amazing to explore and bring back information to use in their research.
Sometimes it was scary being in the middle of the plague or the bombings in London but they made it through.
I’m always amazed at the way the spirits show themselves to me. Whether through a medium or expressing their presence directly to me.
717 is my special number because it’s the month and day our son was born. Whenever I see these numbers – especially on the oven clock! – I say “I see you my family!”, knowing that the spirits are with me.
Yesterday we were in the attic moving a heavy cedar chest away from the top of the stairs so the HVAC people could get up there and put their unit upstairs.
It’s bittersweet because we’re getting central air for our 2nd floor which gets incredibly HOT in the New England summers we have, but the money comes from the sale of my father-in-law’s home in California. He passed away in October and this was something we knew we needed in our home and in our son’s and daughter-in-law’s home.
After we moved the chest away, I saw a piece of paper on the floor where the chest had been. I picked it up, turned it over, and saw THIS and got chills. It’s my handwriting but that chest has been in that spot for about 5 years after the attic was cleaned out and insulation was put down on the floor!
There’s only one explanation – my father-in-law is acknowledging the 110+ temperatures we endured with him when we were there last August and he’s saying “I got you – you’re welcome”.
When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was five I don’t think there was a thought in my brain as to what I wanted to be when I grew up!
I knew what I wanted to DO when I was 5…I wanted to learn to tie my shoes and show my teacher so I could get the award she gave out! She has them for everything! Knowing your address, phone number, line leader, milk distributor and they were so cute written out in her teacher printing.
But boy did I have trouble! I remember my mom teaching me and my twin. The problem for me was they were both right handers and I’m a leftie! I just couldn’t get it. My dad’s a leftie, but I don’t remember any help from him!
Finally, we had to resort to the Bunny Ears method. Two loops and put one over the other. It was acceptable, and I received my reward.
I love fall in New England because it brings about the weather that brings back memories.
It brings me memories of Columbus Day off from school where the weather started out chilly but it would warm up quickly. It was our first holiday off in the school year. Six of us would borrow as many bikes as needed and ride out across town to a dairy restaurant for ice cream. it was a thrill to get from the town to the farm area and feel the heat off the road and the wind in my hair.
It bring me memories of sunny Sunday afternoon Pop Warner football games when our town had enough pre-teens to field enough football teams to play against each other. Warm enough still for no jacket in the afternoon, but “you might want one just in case”. My dad would bring us, either on bikes or walking, to the park where they played and see them out of the classroom and in their “other lives”.
It brings me memories of blue sky so bright it hurts your eyes on a warmer than normal Saturday afternoon. If you pause, you can feel the chill lurking behind the warmth. Those days were spent on the sidelines cheering on my high school football game. Loudly encouraging the fans to cheer and the team to score. There was excitement and anticipation in the air as you looked for friends in the stands waiting for the teams to play.
It brings the memories of the nighttime chill with a drop of heat of the Indian Summer still lingering. I would think, “I just have to be outside”. I would put on my heaviest sweater and just walk, look at the stars and feeling so alive. Feel like I could do anything, that there were so my opportunities coming.
I always enjoyed typing, in fact, I taught myself to type on my aunt’s portable typewriter typing out poems while sitting on the floor in my room probably in my very early teens.
I took my first typing class my sophomore year of high school and that is when I met Mrs. Shirley Shadish. She was young-ish and I thing her husband also taught in my high school. Taking typing, I realized I was really good at something. I moved on to the continuing classes and also took shorthand with Mrs. Shadish in my junior and senior year. I think she liked me because I was eager to learn and in turn she encouraged me to keep it up.
This was in the 1970s when there were actually 2 year secretarial degrees! I went to college and received my degree. I never used shorthand after I graduated from college but I still love typing and I put that to good use over the 40 years I have worked in businesses – others and my own.
Don’t we all have one? That book that remains in the bathroom to pass the time while your <ahem> “contemplating life”?
This is mine.
It has a wide collection of books – classics, old, recent, obscure, and popular. They are short entries that tell where the author got their inspiration.
I every time I read from it I think, “I need to make a list of the books I want to read.” But then I put it down and don’t remember until I pick it back up again!
What tattoo do you want and where would you put it?
This is going on my side next Thursday! I have a variety of tattoos in various places on my body. I have a wonderful tattoo artist and her talent (she did this one), just makes me want to get more!
As a Taurus, I’m an earth sign and this just brings that to me. I can’t wait!
My husband is the person who gives me the best compliments. I have a hard time saying what I really feel, but he has no problem with it.
The best compliment I received was when he told me I was a wonderful wife and an even better mother. It was just the other day so maybe that’s why it’s fresh in my mind but it struck me as so kind and loving.
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 