1960s – Thoughts From The Passenger Seat

I moved into this house in May of 1961, the month after I turned one year old. Before that, my family rented a home a few blocks from my mother’s family home.

I imagine my parents’ eyes lit up when they saw the four bedrooms and the 1/2 acre yard. The bonus was the covered porch on the side of the house and a double bonus was a next door neighbor with four children!

The porch was where we watched thunderstorms lighting up the woods across the street, where we hung out with friends, where we slept on hot summer nights only to be woken up by the sun, well past sunrise beating down on us!

One of my Sunday mornings watching the world go by

I left for seven years to California and looked we looked high and low for a house just like the one I grew up in. We found one that had it’s own charm but then we had the chance to buy this one from my dad and we took it. We moved back to Connecticut 28 years ago and are still so thankful it worked out.

August 2021 and the start of the family room addition. The back deck wrapped around the the porch

The side porch is still a special part of the house. It was given a facelift a few years ago, had a deck attached for the back of the house for 10 years or so, and is now a little bit larger to go with the family room added 2 years ago. During warmer weather, I sit out there with my morning coffee and newspaper. It’s the same location that my dad sat for 40 years, reading his newspaper in warm weather.

The sunrise from my side porch November 4 at 7:30

I love that this house keeps so many memories alive.

I can look out my family room window and almost remember this sight with the blanket on the lawn for us, the chicken coop foundation in the background, and the mother of all maple trees.

There was a kiddie pool in front of us where we had car tire-sized inner tubes (remember those black ones with the stem that would scratch you if you weren’t careful?!)

Clothes hanging on the line to the left, extending from the house to a dead tree. I’m not sure how the tree withstood the loads of laundry for so many years!

The driveway was gravel and every summer we toughened our feet up walking down it “ouch” -ing and “ooo” -ing all the way.

There was an apple tree with a swing where I received my first bee sting as I was swinging and swatting at the bothersome bee. THAT hurt!

The old chicken coop foundation was ground level and the sides gradually got higher as the ground dropped away. We would run around until we got to the back and walked very carefully around.

Against the back wall was Rhubarb that grew wild (as did asparagus in another part of the yard!). When it was ripe, we’d get a baggie of sugar, tear off a stalk, and scoop up the sugar. I guess that’s where I got hooked on sugar!

All of it’s gone now – the foundation replaced by a 2 story garage, the mother of a maple tree removed because of disease, the clothesline, and the pool.

The gravel became asphalt but is once again gravel as my husband has turned the space out the back door into his garden sanctuary and we’re spending more time in the space I spent growing up.

Tag: 1960s

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