Remember Whensday No. 21 - Happy Halloween

Time for another entry in the Remember Whensday meme. This week it's Gregg at Halloween. This picture wasn't dated but it looks like it is from his pre-school days in the mid-80's.

Back in those days, I was a single parent barely making it from paycheck to paycheck. I vaguely remember the clown costume. This was definitely a homemade one. I remember sewing strings of scrap yard to an old blue knit hat for "clown hair". I can't recall if I bought the striped suit at a thrift shop or sewed it from an old bedsheet. Wherever it came from, he made a cute clown and he was happy.

Gregg (center) and schoolmates at Halloween

Halloween sure isn't what it used to be when I was a kid. I remember trick or treating with a paper grocery sack and coming home with it full of candy, apples and popcorn balls. Of course, we only wanted to eat the candy.

Nowadays, trick or treating is mostly done at the neighbors you know. Safety prevails. I am disheartened by adults trick or treating under the pretense of doing for their kids. Yes, we've had them show up sans children. I also don't approve of the older teenagers out trick or treating either. If adults want to celebrate Halloween, they should have their own party. Common sense seems be disappearing.

One of my favorite Halloween memories was when I was in my early twenties and going to the haunted house. I watched the Chainsaw Massacre movie when I was a teenager and it scared the heck out of me. At this particular haunted house, part of the journey took you through the haunted woods. Out jumped a fellow holding a chainsaw (the chain was removed) and touched my leg with it. I screamed and ran and near about passed out. At the time I was very shook up, but now I can laugh about it. What a wuss I was!

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Remember Whensday No. 20 - Zoom Zoom!

Hey! Hey! It's Remember Whensday time. This week, it is me and my Mazda. My very first car.

Zoom Zoom!!

My father gave me the car the summer between my junior and senior years in high school. I was so excited to get it. It was a hand-me-down, but I didn't care. All I can remember is that it was an early 70's RX4.

It had the classic rotary Wankel engine and I zoom-zoomed before that became the catch phrase for Mazda. I remember doing a bit of street drag racing in it. It was quick off of the line. The only problem was the backfiring! I'm sure it scared more than one person. Oh, but I had fun, fun, fun!

One late spring day in 1977, I was enroute to watch a friend compete in a track meet at Annapolis High School (in Maryland). I was stopped for a traffic light at Ritchie Hwy and Jumpers Hole Road. Wham! I got rear-ended by a 1963 Pontiac Bonneville which in turn sent me into the bumper of the car in front of me. It was driven by a young girl not much older than me on her way to the beach and she didn't stop for the red signal. It caused quite a bit of damage to the car but I was still able to go to the track meet, albeit a bit shook up. And then I spent the next six months in physical therapy as a result of the accident.

What happens when a tank (aka '63 Pontiac Bonneville) runs into your car

Even the sides crumpled and dented
(FYI - that's my Basset Hound, Bridget)

The car got repaired and no sooner did I get out of PT, then WHAM! I was broad-sided by an older woman who only had her driver's license for less than a year. She ran a red light and into the passenger side of my car. Back for more physical therapy.

By this time, I was beginning to think the car was jinxed. It is said that things come in threes and I was not willing to risk it. I didn't get the car repaired from the second accident and instead sold it.

I ended up buying ANOTHER silver Mazda, same model year, but this one had a black vinyl roof. End of jinx. I just can't remember what became of that car, though. Oh well. :-)

Come join me in the Remember Whensday meme. It's where the past is remembered through photographs and stories. Click on the badge below to start your journey down memory lane or to see what others are sharing.

Remember Whensday No. 19 - Here Fishy, Fishy

This week it is Josh & Ryan in the spotlight from Oct 1991. Both boys loved to fish with their dad and of course their dad was happy to oblige.

I wish I knew more about these pictures but unfortunately do not. But it is still fun to share pics of the boys.

Josh

Ryan

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Remember Whensday No. 18 - Rona Court

This week for Remember Whensday, it's me and my siblings. The picture was taken on Rona Court in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

Sally, Karen & Rick
October 1969

We moved there when I was in the fifth grade and spent the next six years there. My sister, brother and I all shared a bedroom but it was large one.

When we first moved to Rona Court, it was a brand new apartment complex and we were the first to live in our apartment. It was a ground floor unit. Over time, more buildings were added and then the swimming pool where we spent our summers.

My first job ever was at Rona Court. I delivered the local newspaper, the Maryland Gazette, to the subscribers in the complex as well as the houses in the neighborhood. I wanted a bike so that is how I earned money. The Gazette only came out once, maybe twice a week, so it took quite a while to save for the bike. Eventually I took on a daily paper route. Up and down the steps in the apartment building, every day, seven days a week! Oh to be that fit again.

Life was fun at Rona Court. Lots of kids to play with and of course the pool in the summer. We were a suntanned bunch of kids. I remember building forts in the nearby woods. We were in the flight path for what is now Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) Airport. Funny how one grew accustomed to the noise of the jets continuously flying overhead.

It was kind of sad to move away from friends, but we moved to a house with 3 bedrooms which meant getting our little brother out of our room. And of course, we made new friends in the neighborhood.

Thanks for sharing my trip down memory lane today. For more remembrances, click on the Remember Whensday badge below.



I hope to get back to posting daily soon. Things have been hectic with work and at home so I haven't been taking many pictures, much less posting them. I miss my blogging but currently am dealing with other priorities in life.