Simple memories of an earlier life.

[Marita40]

Listening to the cicadas and watching the fireflies from my bedroom window on warm summer nights.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Drinking spring water from a pipe someone had jammed into rocks along the road near the Los Pinos River NE of Durango CO around 66-67. Went back 20+ years later and water was still flowing from the pipe

Wow, I completely forgot about this one. Little Pond Spring, Andes, NY « Find A Spring, My dad stopped our car and told me to try the water, Like you said a pipe shooting out water.

 

[NW-Bound]

... I rarely buy bacon, but I did last week on a whim and just finished a bacon sandwich spread with peanut butter. It is as if a "memory" chemical was released in my brain and I am sitting here relishing fond memories of my childhood. What triggers memories of your childhood? Discuss:

I have fond memories of my childhood, and recollect these scenes all the time.

But these are never triggered by sound, smell or the senses. They would pop up in my mind randomly.

 

[Scuba]

I remember the first time I had real homemade mashed potatoes. My mom didn't cook much from scratch so I was used to the dehydrated potato flakes mashed potatoes. Went to a friend's house to spend the night and her mom made mashed potatoes from scratch. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!

Also remember long days at the pool, getting deep tans every summer.

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

Dipping a madeleine in a cup of tea. Oh, the memories!

Proust on the early retirement forum. A first!
Thanks

-BB

 

[Maenad]

A lot of our food came from our garden when I was a kid, so the smell of dirt and sun-warmed tomatoes bring me back the fastest.

My brother also smokes salmon in the same old-refrigerator smoker that my grampa did, so smelling that brings back a lot of memories too.

Good memories, thanks for the thread.

 

[athena53]

<snip>I distinctly remember my father making Ritz crackers with cream cheese and olives (green with pimentos) as a snack when he came from work that we'd share.

During Lent, when we weren't allowed to eat meat on Fridays (this was when "meatless Fridays" were changed form year-round to Lent only), Mom would pack cream cheese and olive sandwiches in our lunches. I LOVED them. Now, of course, I avoid cream cheese because it's pretty much empty calories.

The smell of lilacs always reminds me of my grandparents' house- they had two lilac bushes which I believe were as large as the house. I went back to that house 5 years ago and they were gone- not sure if they died or were cut down for other reasons.

 

[Nemo2]

"I Love the Smell of Napalm in the Morning"...oh wait, that wasn't me, it was Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore........but, along those lines, I was born in London, England, during WWII, where it took quite a number of years to restore equilibrium after the hostilities ended.

Consequently there numerous what we called 'bomb sites' around; the buildings themselves had generally been razed but the rubble sat there throughout my early childhood, and that's where us kids headed.

The remains of a once large, destroyed church were nearby, and we'd play, (mostly violent games like tossing rocks at one another.....hey, we were 'War Babies' don't forget), in what I guess were the catacombs.

At one time the older kids built a 'hut' out of corrugated tin, shepherded us younger kids into it and proceeded to toss half bricks at it...........I ran out as it was collapsing and caught a half brick on the back of my head....blood everywhere....ran home repeating out loud, "I fell over, I fell over", because I knew, if it became clear what was actually going on, I'd be grounded.

Once in a while, many decades later, I'll pass a location where demolition is underway and get a quick flashback.

 

[kcowan]

The smell of liver and onions or Brussels sprouts cooking in the kitchen.

 

[eytonxav]

When I was about 12 or 13, I would make myself a few of these on Saturday and watch Yankee baseball games on our small black and white TV set in Connecticut. I am still a diehard Yankee fan.

So we have another Connecticut Yankee. Me too, although I changed allegiance to the Rangers when we moved to Texas in 93.

As a child, have fond memories of my Mom making open faced grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches in the oven's broiler.

 

[Mdlerth]

I'd walk a mile for a Camel

Curiously enough, I always associate the smell of cigarettes with good times.

I'm not a smoker, nor were my parents. Never had cigarettes in the house.

But most of my paternal relatives - the WW2 generation of aunts and uncles and grandmother - smoked, so every family gathering such as Christmas and Easter was always accompanied by an aromatic haze. Those were the happiest days of my youth. I got to play with cousins from out of town, there were special desserts, and the holiday was frequently an occasion for receiving presents! What's not to love about it?

And that scent of mentholated smog in the background... it still conjures up images of bygone childhood fun.

 

[NW-Bound]

In another thread about childhood memory (started by a bot!), I said I would re-introduce a sweet song about childhood memories here.

This was an instrumental piece by Sidney Bechet, an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer from New Orleans. He relocated to Paris in 1950, and the following song was written in 1952. Lyrics were written for it in 1959 by Fernand Bonifay et Mario Bua.

Petite Fleur / Little Flower

J'ai caché / I have hidden
Mieux que partout ailleurs / Better than anywhere else
Au jardin de mon cœur / In the garden of my heart
Une petite fleur / A little flower

Cette fleur / This flower
Plus jolie qu'un bouquet / Prettier than a bouquet
Elle garde en secret / It keeps in secret
Tous mes rêves d'enfant / All my childhood dreams
Et l'amour de mes parents / And the love of my parents
Et tous ces clairs matins / And all these clear mornings
Faits d'heureux souvenirs lointains / Made of happy distant memories

​

 

[NW-Bound]

What? No more posts? The above sweet French lyrics left y'all speechless?

How about just an instrumental rendition by Sandor Benko, a late Hungarian musician and accomplished electrical engineer (1940-2015).

 

[marko]

Mom would pack cream cheese and olive sandwiches in our lunches. I LOVED them. Now, of course, I avoid cream cheese because it's pretty much empty calories.

OMG, I thought we were the only ones! That and tartar sauce on white bread!!
But OTOH, Mom wasn't much of a cook but she made great restaurant reservations.

 

[6miths]

Eating baloney sandwich on white bread with mayo. (not really dome much anymore though)

When I was about 12 or 13, I would make myself a few of these on Saturday and watch Yankee baseball games on our small black and white TV set in Connecticut. I am still a diehard Yankee fan.

I was baloney and mustard. And Ernie Harwell and Ray Lane broadcasting the Tigers on WJR.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

OMG, I thought we were the only ones! That and tartar sauce on white bread!!
But OTOH, Mom wasn't much of a cook but she made great restaurant reservations.

No, Im in the club too. I havent had one in years. But thanks to the poster I now have a new rotation for Wednesdays and Fridays lunches. I think I saw Temp Tee whipped cream cheese on sale too!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Listening to the cicadas and watching the fireflies from my bedroom window on warm summer nights.

Ah, absolutely love this. For several years, I went to a summer camp in the N Georgia mountains. The mornings were always crisp and cool but by the time we settled into the cabins for bed, the cicadas were eagerly singing their song. Where I live now isn't in the mountains, but it's wooded enough that in the spring, the 'camp mornings' are replicated perfectly and in the summer, the cicadas are similarly singing. Those weeks at camp were some of the best memories ever. I heard that the property had been abandoned a number of years ago and I made the mistake of making the drive for a visit...all that was left was a stone wall along the entrance and the a concrete slab where the 'snack shack ' once stood...it was a very sad experience for me as an adult.

Do kids even 'go to' camp anymore where they stay for a week or longer?

 

[Mango1956]

Liverwurst! Found some recently at a Farmer's market. The guy raises pigs (on pasture) and makes a small amount (mostly for himself, but he sells a little.) My goodness, one bite of his liverwurst took me right back to childhood when we would eat braunschweiger sandiwches with mayo on white bread. Also Santa Rosa plums. Had a tree as a little girl, and we would eat way too many of them at once-worth it! Great thread, BTW!

 

[Taxman59]

Walking home from elementary school for lunch, eating a sandwich and playing Parchesee with my mother. I get chills when I see the game in a store.

 

[pacergal]

Fried Baloney with Ketsup
Grandma and Moms from scratch cinnamon rolls right out of the oven
Homemade bread