Ahead of schedule!

Apparently some folks are making it a goal to read one book a week.  A noble goal - I suspect I exceed that goal every year, since I'm known for reading when I ought to be doing other things.

So I wrote down all the books I've read this year - which is pretty easy for me to do also, since I've either blogged that I read it or it's in my Kindle library!!

And with finishing Back When We Were Grownups I have read 10 books in 2015 - since there have only been 8 weeks in the year so far, I am ahead of the game.

The novel - another one by fave author Anne Tyler - was slow starting, but by the time I finished, I was enjoying it.  The main character had lots of qualities I could identify with.  And she was the caretaker of assorted children, stepchildren, and grandchildren.  She also took care of her almost 100 year old father-in-law - and his 100th birthday party was the culminating event in the story.

Some Anne Tyler books are better than others.  But this one was an enjoyable read.

 

Three-hole golf course!

Grandma and Grandpa Stevens lived in Inglewood.  Their house seemed large and elegant to me, but I'm pretty sure it was small and tract-like.  But it had a large front porch - I have always dreamed of a large front porch!!

In the "rumpus room" - now called family rooms or dens - was a built in bar!  Grandpa was not a member of the church and he drank. We loved playing bartender and serving up 7-Up in shot glasses!  And Grandma taught us how to play cards!

Grandpa had a 3 hole golf course in the back yard - and he'd show us how to go around it 3 times to play 9 holes of golf.

Also Grandma always had Quaker Puffed Rice - and I loved it - still do!!

She had vestiges of her Southern prejudices though - she was from Kentucky - and when her black cleaning lady came, she'd have her stand in the kitchen and she'd stand in the dining room to give her instructions.

I spent time with her - and certainly wish I'd asked for more stories from her past!

The Shop

"The Shop" was where my dad went to work every day. And it was always called "The Shop."  It was a machine shop, and it was not until many years later that I realized that "shop" meant a store of some kind to most people.

But not us!!  "The Shop" also included "The Pots" as in in "The boys are going with Dad to "The Shop" to clean "The Pots!!"  (If you haven't figured it out, "The Pots" were the toilets that were dispersed throughout the whole complex of industrial shop spaces where "The Shop" was!)

The boys got paid for this work, and over the years, we girls lobbied for the chance to make this good money the boys seemed to make.  My dad would never even consider letting us do the work.  In the years since, I've seen some other bathrooms in industrial facilities, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't let my daughters - or sons for that matter - work in them - or even use them maybe!!

The Pontiac station wagon also shows in this photo.  We all fit in this car - not legally the way you need to today - seat belts were a twinkle in someone's eye at that point in time - but when we drove out to visit Grandma and Grandpa Stevens or Grandpa Clayton or Grandma Clayton's grave in Inglewood, this was the car we went in - and we mostly all fit in!

When we stopped at stoplights, we often saw people counting the number of kid's faces they would see.  Once my brother Lyn held up a paper that said "12." 

That story has been told over and over again in our family.  I was there - it did happen!!

In case you thought it was apocryphal!

Unphotographed - but not forgotten!

For some reason, there are no baby pictures of Charles or Mary.  This might be the youngest shot of Charlie.  This is taken in the back of the "little house."  That window no longer exists - but it was a major part of my life growing up in the little house. 

One summer I had severe nose bleeds and had to take a nasty tasting medicine and spend most of the day lying on my back in the room that window was part of.  I could hear all the fun going on outside - and probably snuck out of bed and went to the window to see what was going on.  Or maybe I just yelled out now and then.  It felt like it was all summer, but it just might have been a week - or a day!  Mom only has vague memories of it.  I was under 8 years of age I think.  

The dress I'm wearing is green and white striped - I loved it - and wore it a lot.  There is something about a play dress, rather than shorts or pants.  The dress had a cute little jacket too.  I think my mom made it.  The little toy on the table was red - and I truly remember it.  Charlie looks like a little redneck or something - but I'm sure he was just busy playing all day and not worrying about cleaning up!!  He may have something in his hand - and looking closely I wonder if it's an ice cream cone?  We didn't get those often though.

 

This shot is me, Alice, Charles, and Richard - and this may be the youngest shot of Mary.  The side of the little house is in the background.  Mary was often sick as a child.  She had some health issues and was often in bed in the daytime - at least I remember it that way.  But she looks hale and hearty here!!

I bet this photo was taken on a Monday - because my hair is still curly - and it only got curled for Sunday!

Charlie could usually be found with a toy gun and holster on his hip!!

Bikes and Boys

Unlike now, the Clayton "homestead" was always surrounded by a chain-link fence.  Grandma Mary allowed all the kids in the neighborhood to come in our yard and play - but she didn't really like her kids running around the neighborhood.  She didn't want the neighbors saying that Mom had so many kids she couldn't keep an eye on them all!  

And when I was younger and the "big" house was being built, our yard was a wonderful playground - piles of sand, stacks of lumber, cement foundations that sat for long periods of time - perfect for roller skating!  Trees to climb, oranges to eat - we had a swing set too.

But to ride a bike - or rollerskates - you needed to leave the confines of the yard!  This photo shows two important parts of my childhood memories.  One, Bill is riding his bike out on the street - which was pretty quiet - there were not lots of cars then - and actually there aren't all that many now.  I was older by the time this was taken, but I don't have any other bike photos!  Alice and I shared a bike - maybe that's why I'm not the most proficient cyclist!  We'd take turns riding riding - one of us would sit on the curb and the other would ride up and down the street.  Not the most satisfactory way to spend an afternoon, but it was all we had!

Secondly, the house with the car in the driveway had the Vergine's driveway exactly opposite - so we'd roller skate up and back on these two driveways - it was pretty fun!!

And on another note, I don't have lots of memories of the names of our neighbors, but the house Bill is riding in front of was Naomi Kadar's house - she was a friend of Mary's.

 

Knowing how mechanical my dad was, I'm not surprised by this old photo of Bob and his brother, our Uncle Paul, with their bikes.  I'm pretty sure my dad always kept a bike running for himself!  He worked with my brothers on their bikes I know.  My dad could build just about anything - I don't think I appreciated it much as a child - I just thought all dads could do that!

A little summer crowd!!

You know, we weren't Okies, but sometimes I think we looked pretty close!!  Not sure why I had those pin curls on my forehead.  And dresses were playclothes too.

Davy Crockett was VERY BIG - hence Charlie's shirt and hat and gun belt!!  Also, notice the Saltwater Sandals!!  Not sure what Mary was trying to measure with her hands either.

And can you tell how many of us have cowlicks??

This cinderblock wall still stands.  We played in the area it enclosed all the time.  The walls served many purposes, not the least of which was hiding us from passersby!!

Speaking of passersby, I have two distinct memories about the yard.  One is that I can remember having a measles quarantine sign on our door.  Mom remembers that too.  And I remember a hobo coming to the door asking Mom if he could do some work for a meal.  She told him to go sit on the curb and she'd bring him out a sandwich.  And she did.  She says she doesn't remember that, but she remembers her mom feeding hobos.  I recall it because my mother made us stay in the house while the guy was on the curb - we were consumed with curiousity!!

I was pretty young for those memories - and I think I'm twelve or more in the above photo.

For those not in the know, it's Mary, Barbara, Alice, Charles, and Richard in front of Barbara.

The Daily News

We weren't well-off by any means - at least not when I was a kid.  But we always took a newspaper.  In fact, we took a morning and an afternoon paper!

I remember when the actress Suzanne Ball died of cancer.  It was all over the front page of The Daily News.  I asked my mom about it - I still remember her saying, "She was a brave young woman and she faced death bravely too."  (She had had her leg amputated in an attempt to stop the cancer.)

There were some local papers too - they came once or twice a week.  I always combed through them looking for people's names that I knew.  Lyn was in there when he got his Eagle Scout and when he went on a mission.

My brothers had paper routes too.

My dad read the LA Times in the morning, and then when he got home, he read The Daily News. 

Grandma Mary grumbles often about how the paper has no news in - just advertising.  She often says we might as well not take it.  She says, I just do it for Donna.

I think it's a Clayton thing - I still take the Times too!

Wish I'd asked my dad while he was alive why he was so dedicated to the newspaper!

Stories from Horace Street

My niece Traci said that her boys had gotten interested in Family Search, but that they wanted "stories" and not just facts and info.  She she asked us to share stories.  I told her that I often tell family stories on my blog, and that I would start telling more - and maybe repeating some - I am my father's daughter after all!*

This is a shot of Alice, Joan, and I standing on Andasol actually - we lived on the corner of Horace and Andasol - and the house across the street was owned my the man who drove a Verner's ginger ale truck.  We didn't drink a lot of soda - it was definitely a treat - but we did drink root beer when we had root beer floats and we did drink ginger ale, because the neighbor used to give us a case now and then!

A sad note on this family - I think their name was Andreason - but the father in the family was killed in a car accident - at the hands of a drunk driver.  I was young, but I have never forgotten the sorrow and grief that this drunk driver caused our neighbor - and our neighborhood.

Anyway, the occasion was a trip to Pop's Willow Lake - a recreation area - it may have been a man-made lake - and our dad's company picnic was there.  (My dad used to work for Radioplane, before he started his own machine shop.)

Disneyland wasn't around yet, carnivals occasionally came to town, so a trip to a recreation area was a Treat with a capital T!

My bathing suit was electric blue - I can picture it still.  I think I'm maybe 7 or 8 in this photo - that's the early 50's.  Alice and I had gone down to Ruby's Department Store on Chatsworth to get new bathing suits.  New clothes of any sort mostly came at Easter and Christmas, so this was a Big Deal!!  And I think we look pretty happy.  I'm also wearing Salt Water Sandals - which are very much in vogue these days - and were actually the only kind of sandal you could get back in the day!

Outings were fun because they were rare and infrequent.  It's pretty simplistic to say that kids are indulged these days.  But then when I look back and compare my kids to my grandkids, I could say, well, kids are really indulged these days.  The fact is, fun is fun - and Pops Willow Lake was lots of fun!!

*anyone who ever spent any time with my dad knew that he pretty much told the same stories over and over.  But we all know them, so maybe he was doing it on purpose!!

A long slow read!

I think I put this on my Kindle a couple of years ago.  As I recall, it really did not "grab" me at the time.  

So it sat there.

I enjoy Anne Tyler, and I have enjoyed everyone of her books that I have read. But for some reason, I really could not get into it.

But recently I was out of books to read, so I gave this one another try.  I can't say it grabbed me any more than the first time, but for some reason I plowed on!

It is pretty slow.  And I was not sure of where the author was going with it.  But I did finish it.  The ending wasn't too unsatisfactory - but it wasn't very satisfactory either!!  I will say that she did a pretty good job of capturing the local flavor of North Carolina.  (At least my idea of what the local flavor in a southern state ought to be!!)

And she painted some pretty memorable characters.  She just didn't seem to go anywhere with them.

I then read the interview with the author at the end of of the book.  It was the 2nd novel she wrote but the first one published.   The interviewer asked her if she had re-read it in recent years.  Ms. Tyler replied, "I reread it just so I could answer these questions, and I'm amazed that it was ever printed.  It's a book by someone who doesn't yet have anything to say."

I'm glad she kept writing books - so that when she had something to say, she could say it!!

Hangin' with Grandpa!!

Robbie sent us this shot from our visit last week.  It is really fun to just "hang out" in the household and be part of the daily drill.

Rhoda is a charmer - and certainly fond of her "Anyang" as she calls him!

Reading up a storm these days!

One thing about traveling - at least on long airplane rides - is that you can plan on getting a lot of uninterrupted reading time.  I knew we had a couple of long flights to go to Theo's baptism, so I loaded up.  On the way there, I finished A Spool of Blue Thread, latest Anne Tyler novel - just available on Kindle February 10th - and we left the 11th!  Good timing indeed.

I love Anne Tyler novels - and I've read a few - she's written 17.  This one did not disappoint.  Maybe it was because two of the main characters were close in age to Harry and me!

As usual her stories deal with families and relationships - always a topic of interest.  This one was told in flashback fashion - kind of going back and forth.  Then I thought it had ended - and there was a part 2!  

I was thinking the 2nd part was not going to be so compelling, but it was.  The part that made it so satisfying was being able to figure out for yourself how the flashback stories defined the family and it's dynamics.  I also felt that many of the themes she defined were universal - I could see our family sometimes!

I was surprised when I mentioned this title to Harry - and he'd never heard of the orphan trains in American history!  I kept thinking I'd read this before because one particular passage seemed so familiar - but the rest of the story was new to me.  Perhaps I'd read an excerpt somewhere.

This period in American history is compelling.  At first glance it seems horrific to think of sending kids off to be bartered for almost.  Many found loving homes.  Many found tolerable situations.  Many were abused.  But one of the themes the author emphasizes is the belief that being left on the streets of New York would have probably been even more horrific - with less chances for happy endings.

Some of the situations in the story seem a little too "tidy" for lack of a better word.  But it's a good read mostly - very compelling at times - something you need on an airplane ride!

 

I had finished everything on my Kindle - well not really, but everything I really felt like reading was finished up.  So I was browsing through Amazon for a title for the long flight home - which included a 3 hour layover in Chicago.  Hannah suggested All the Light We Cannot See - said it had been her D.C. book group's choice recently.

Hannah usually makes good recommendations - and this one was exceptionally good reading.  The reviews were all positive.  One reviewer said, "Do we need another book about WWII?  Yes, if it's as beautifully written as this one is."  And I agree - although I haven't tired yet of reading WWII stories.

It's the story of a young German boy, orphaned in a coal mining town, who has a real skill and knack with radio transmitting.  A parallel story is told of a young blind French girl who must evacuate when the Germans invade Paris.  Their stories move along in a dramatic fashion - especially since we all know so much about the war and Hitler's Germany and the fall of France and the Allied triumph.  

As their stories move these two young people towards each other, we know what's going to happen - but it is no less dramatic and compelling - perhaps that is the nature of war.

It was a real "page turner" as they say - and I highly recommend it.

Harry put this one on our Kindle at the recommendation of some good friends.  I had read The God Who Weeps, so I was familiar with the authors and thought I'd give this a try too.

It is well-written, well-documented, and very thought-provoking.  I found myself wanting to stop and discuss passages with Harry - but we were reading it at different speeds so that got awkward.

I recommend this one too!

Time to choose another book!  After all, Harper Lee's "latest" isn't coming until July!!

Another good read!

Once again I was subbing at Clifton and hanging out in the library.  I found this little gem.  It's a bio of Harper Lee, and I loved reading it - finished it in a week of occasional reading.

 

A few years ago, I was in an airport bookstore and bought this bio of Harper Lee because I needed something to read.  I think I read two or three chapters and then started re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird instead.

 

The author of both bios is Charles Shields - and I have since discovered that the book I found in the library at Clifton is the simplified version of the bio Mockingbird and the author wrote it for "young people."

 

I can't find my copy of the "adult" bio, but the kids' version was plenty informative and entertaining.  I would recommend it - especially in light of the news flash this week that Harper Lee will be publishing a 2nd novel in July.

This second novel is actually the first - and only - novel she wrote.  When it was submitted to a publisher, they felt that the flashback sequences had more merit as a story - and those flashback sequences became To Kill a Mockingbird.

But I'm excited to read the heretofore unpublished pages of her first novel.

"Moonlight becomes you, it goes with your hair. . ."

"Moonlight Becomes You" is a tune written for one of the famous Bing Crosby/Bob Hope Road movies, Road to Morocco.  And of course, Bing Crosby sang it.  To Hedy Lamar.  I love the song.

We have a skylight in our bedroom.  There are those in the family who suggest that it's not a good place for a skylight.  They say you are supposed to go to sleep in total darkness in order to get optimum sleep.

I grew up sleeping under a window that had a streetlight shining into it.  And I never had trouble sleeping.

I lived in a dorm in the basement my first year of college - but the streetlight shone through that window too.

I've slept adequately, for many years, under all kinds of lighting and darkening conditions.  (Actually pitch dark kind of creeps me out!!  But a blinking light will disturb me - like the one when you are charging your toothbrush!)

All this intro to let you know that I am loving the full moon these past days - love falling asleep bathed in moonlight.

Wish the photo above was really our view of the moon at night.

But it's close!

And wish I knew how to link to a YouTube video of Bing Crosby serenading Hedy Lamar!