Author: oneletterup

Memorial Day

~ oneletterup ~ 9 Comments

What was Memorial Day originally called?

…The weekly trivia question at the local dry cleaners. Written on a large chalkboard near the cash register. If answered correctly, you earned a 15% discount on your incoming order.

An interesting question, but…trivia?
I don’t think so.

flags

Memorial Day is celebrated in the United States today: May 27th, 2019.

The last Monday of May is designated as a federal holiday…to honor and remember the men and women who have died while serving in the military. Sacrificing their lives for our country’s freedom.

Flags are lowered to half-mast. Parades are held in cities and towns. Services and solemn moments of silence are observed.

The original date for Memorial Day was May 30th. The tradition began after the Civil War, when graves of fallen soldiers were decorated with flowers and wreathes.

It’s original title? Decoration Day.

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Memorial Day earned one small front page article – below the fold – in today’s local newspaper. My iPhone Apple newsfeed?…I had to scroll almost to the bottom to spot one tiny link to a NYTimes article about Memorial Day. I found no mention of today’s holiday in my New York Times “Today’s Headlines” daily email.

However, apparently today is the best day for sale prices on large appliances and mattresses. “Red, white and blue” sales are everywhere….as enthusiastically reported on television’s “Good Morning America.”

Really?

 

Vista

~ oneletterup ~ 5 Comments

This post inspired by Frank at Dutch goes the Photo

The prompt: Vista

 

During a cruise to celebrate our 30th anniversary, my husband and I visited St. George’s, Bermuda. We spent a wonderful day exploring the town and a gorgeous nearby beach.

We enjoyed views from the ship and during our walk around town.

 

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View from the ship

 

 

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View during a walk

 

 

My First Car

~ oneletterup ~ 13 Comments

Inspiration: Ragtag Daily Prompt – Memory

 

My First Car
(A slant six engine will last forever!)

 

Fresh out of college in 1976, I was hot on a search for the perfect car.
My first car.

The budget: under $4000.

The dream: a shiny, new, reliable, 4-door ORANGE set of wheels (this was the ‘70s after all). It needed to hold all my stuff; which remarkably – back then – fit completely inside a car.

I found just what I wanted at a Plymouth dealership in Nanuet, NY one blistering June day.

A bright orange Volaré complete with its famous slant six engine, real vinyl seats and AM/FM radio. It practically had my name on it. And it was under budget.

Sold!

Picture2

I signed up for a “how to take care of your car” class. I learned how to change the air filter, spark plugs and fuses. I waxed it until it practically glowed, even in the dark. It was easy to locate in a parking lot.

My Volaré lasted 12 years and over 106,000 miles. It took me to my first hospital job. From the church to my wedding reception. To Chicago for my college roommate’s wedding. Home from the hospital with my newborn daughter safely secured in her first car seat.

I even won a free sunroof in a radio contest in 1986.

In 1988 it was time for a new car. The evils of rust were starting to win the battle. After I negotiated a fair price on a Corsica at the local Chevy dealership, the salesman mentioned that I could probably get $400 wholesale for my Volaré. He also mentioned the slant six engine.

Good idea!

The next day I returned to the dealership. Late afternoon, around 4pm. My son and 6 year old daughter came with me. She waited patiently in the showroom with a book. My 6-month-old son, balanced on my left hip, accompanied me to the car lot to meet with the salesman…

Who no longer thought $400 was fair.

He called for the sales manager to join us.

Sales Mgr: I’ll give you $100 towards the new car.

Me: It has a slant six engine. Those last forever! Please take it for a drive! I was told it’s worth $400.

The manager drove it around the lot.

Mgr: Okay, $200. Look at the mileage!

Me: Maybe I don’t need a new car after all. This one runs great. It even has a sunroof.

Manager walked around it again. Salesman stood behind him.
Mgr: Alright…$300

At this point my son was getting more and more squirmy. He looked straight at the manager. And blew really loud raspberries.

Me: See! We both know this is a great car!

The salesman and manager went inside to talk to The Senior Manager. They both came out and walked around the car again. Went back inside the showroom. My son and I followed.

The sales manager finally returned…to where I waited with 2 hungry and cranky children. He shook his head, looked at me…okay $400.

Me: You’ve got yourself a deal!

As I was signing the paperwork, I heard a voice call my name. It was the Senior Manager sitting behind his big elevated-on-a-riser desk. In the middle of the showroom.  I looked in his direction…as he continued…

“Hey! Anytime you need a job, just call.”

Gadget

~ oneletterup ~ 19 Comments

This post inspired by V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #49: Gadget

Tell (or show) me about those gadgets in your life, or better yet, put on your creative caps and invent something new.

 

 

magnifier 1
flashlight magnifier

 

It is right here on my desk.

A gadget of sorts that I tossed in a drawer over 25 years ago.
Thinking…I can probably use this thing once in a while. If I ever need it. Someday. Maybe for teeny tiny print on a label…

Teasing my husband – who is a year my senior – you’ll probably need this before I do. 

Little did I know….

The truth is…I kept it because it was Oma’s. My grandmother, who ended up nearly blind from macular degeneration, viewed life through a blurry haze. Despite the thick glasses she was forced to wear in the last few decades of her life.

When Oma moved to an assisted living facility near me after Opa died, I arranged for her to have cataract surgery – with amazing results. Honey I can see colors!  At 84, the blurry haze was finally in color.

Many years earlier she had gone to the Lighthouse for the Blind in New York for help. Which is where she got this flashlight magnifier. A marvelous invention.

It turned out to be more than a gadget. It was her pathway to reading greeting cards, letters from family and friends. Reader’s Digest. Restaurant menus.

She died at the age of almost 87. I saved her letters. Her photographs. A few pieces of her jewelry. The hand mirror that emits a laughing sound when you pick it up. And the Lighthouse for the Blind flashlight magnifier.

It has been dusted off and put to use a few times over the years. However, the older I get – and the more I have to reach for those DARN reading glasses – the more I switch on Oma’s gadget instead…

So handy when I examine Opa’s color slides…checking for dust…before scanning them for this blog.

It works like a charm.

I think of her every time I use it.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo a Week – Squares & Circles

~ oneletterup ~ 9 Comments

Nancy Merrill is hosting a photo challenge. The theme this week – Squares and Circles

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) FEATURING SQUARES AND CIRCLES TOGETHER IN YOUR IMAGES.

 

checkers

 

King Me!

…is said triumphantly during an intense game of Checkers…one of my favorite board games as a child. A two player game, my grandfather and I were often found sitting across from each other, leaning over the checkered board. Planning our next moves. Jumps. Double jumps. His pile of checkers usually accumulated faster than mine. Ferocious competitors until one king remained.

I seem to remember the game pieces as black and red, but this “newer” 1980’s version – which I played with my children – went with a new look.

 

king me 2

 

 

Peppers Everywhere

~ oneletterup ~ 11 Comments

This post inspired by May photo a day challenge

The prompt: Colorful

 

peppers everywhere

 

It was a cold gray dreary February day. No color to be found outside…other than brown, white and dark green peeking out from snow covered evergreens.

As I wandered through the produce section of a local grocery store (aptly called Market Basket), a rainbow of peppers caught my eye.

I imagined the security camera recording the image of a bundled up lady taking pictures of vegetables with her phone. Was she an undercover “Mystery Shopper”? (as I once was twenty years ago). Or from the Health Department? Or just capturing the perfect image to illustrate…Peter Piper Picked a Peck of….?

Or just because that pepper display was gorgeous…

I digress.

Vegetables = colorful. As well as being full of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, fiber and all kinds of good stuff you can’t get in a pill or a powder. No matter what the advertisers tell you.

Definitely a sight for my color starved eyes in the middle of winter.

 

 

Delicate

~ oneletterup ~ 11 Comments

This post inspired by Lens-Artist Challenge #46

The prompt: Delicate

 

I can’t seem to stop taking photos of my Mother’s Day flowers. Hand delivered by my son last weekend. They are the hardiest roses I have ever received.

Perhaps, also, the most delicate. I am drawn to the detail. The subtle coloring. The mysterious greenery that is not baby’s breath.

 

2 roses

 

My eyes constantly drift over to their spot on the table across the room.

A few days later, I am at it again…

roses

I also note how they are aging…gracefully. I refuse to throw any out, even as they lose their perfect delicacy. Their perfect color. Edges growing a bit more discolored every day.

Is beauty only in the new and fresh?…or can we also see beauty here…in the natural  curling at the edges…petals darkening…greenery fading.
As the short life cycle draws to a close.

aging roses

One week later…
Still delicate.
Still beautiful.

 

 

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Feet

~ oneletterup ~ 5 Comments

This post inspired by Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: The topic is Hands, Feet or Paws

reunion feet

Summer 2005
Family Reunion #10
Four giggling daughters of sisters
Squeezed onto grandma’s bed
6 years old to 23
Dusty dirty feet
Displayed

Years later
many miles
apart…

Those toes now dipped in new waters…
College student
Emergency Physician
Merchandise Manager
PhD candidate

…two doing double duty
as mamas
on their feet
chasing giggling little ones
of their own.