HAPPINESS

              



                               HAPPINESS

A friend and I were talking a while back and I made the comment, “What is happiness?” Of course I know it is the opposite of sadness.---- Aw yes,-- and sadness is what?

Well I suppose with those two questions you could chase them around like a dog chasing his tail, all day long. However there are a whole lot of side questions that could be asked, that do not have answers that are that simple.

Example: Are you happier as an infant, youth, middle age or old age?—And do we have true happiness during all those times of our life? Then I guess the trick question OR the answer is that no one can really answer that question except you.

I used to think that infants did not have those kinds of emotions. I thought as long as they were fed, changed, calmed when crying and had a good night sleep they were happy. However now that I have become a great-grandpa five and one-half times, I know when I have one of them on my lap and they are goo-gooing. They are doing it just for me, and we are both enjoying it. At least I have convinced myself that is the case.

Then there are the youth. I think as a youth I was very happy. Of course there were “some of THOSE days” that I definitely knew I was unhappy, but they were not the things I remembered as I grew from youth, to middle age and then OLD AGE.

Then it seems all at once I was middle aged. Of course I can only speak for myself, but I think that middle age was the happiest time and also the most trying time of my life.

        
                                 

It is important to have friends in your youth, but I think it is just as important, and perhaps even more so when you have reached middle age. At that time we struggle with a lot of life’s problems, trying to raise a family, I always had a thought going around in my head---I wonder if all my kids are REALLY doing OK? We seem to make and lose a lot of friends during our middle age years.

Then at least in my case, (somewhere along the line) I realized I had got old! It creates a lot of unhappy things, to help you remember you have got old, but in my case I have had a lot of happiness come along with old age. I call them my old age “perks.” I don’t have to account for any of my time. I can go and do whatever I want. I can eat if and when I want. I can sleep (sometimes) day or night. In fact I can do anything I want, if it is legal, and my kids say when I am driving I may do a few things that are illegal?  

However at family get-togethers I can sit in the corner in my rocker, and snicker or giggle and watch the “middle agers” try and keep their kids under control. And I love it when the “little ones”, as my wife used to call them, come over and want to sit on my lap and have me read a story about a “family of fish” or a Pretty deer” or a little boy lost in the woods. Of course I can open any book to any page and read any story, as I have been making them up for years. That all changes, when they get old enough to read themselves.  

Here are a couple of questions only an individual can answer for themselves. (1) Would you rather visit with a person on a phone, in person, by reading a blog, or write a letter to a friend and get a real written answer back. (2) How about the same question about an acquaintance instead of a friend—would your answer be the same

So I have talked about family, friends and acquaintances and if they make us happy. Can we also obtain happiness from other sources? As for me the beauties of the earth give me more happiness than a lot of people do!

                                                                  

                 

I once read in a book by President James E. Faust, this comment , ”Happiness is not given to us in a package that we can just open up and consume. Nobody is ever happy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Rather than thinking in terms of a day, we perhaps need to snatch happiness in little pieces, learning to recognize the elements of happiness and then treasuring them while they last. “see” Our Search for Happiness” by President James E. Faust”

I love the idea he puts forth that probably no one is happy 24 hours a day. I don’t mean that I am happy that no one is happy 24 hours a day. I just sometimes wonder if we perhaps set our goals so high that we cannot reach them and we get discouraged?

If you are unhappy or down in a rut- so to speak, who do you turn to? Is it a friend, family member or an acquaintance – again only we can answer a question like that.

A lot of times we 80+ people just need a change, to change our attitude. Mine is to get out of the house and go for a ride. I think I have headed to Park City twenty or more times since April and most of the time I get to Parley’s Canyon. By then I have calmed down and I end up at Sugar  House  Park, The Duck Pond or Murray Park, where I feed the ducks, read the newspaper for a while and then just go home, feeling a lot happier than I did when I left.

Sometimes my Sister and I just go for a drive up one of the canyons near our homes just for as change of scenery. Sometimes we go to have a different lunch. I recall one of our “drives” we traveled over 100 miles and ended up going in a big circle and eating at McDonalds! We ate our same old lunch, but we sure saw a lot of beautiful mountain country. And of course that was not a onetime thing. It seems our family has “itchy feet” and we have to go for a ride to calm down. I guess it is good therapy because we always come happier and in a better mood than we were when we left.

There was a song going around several years ago talking about Happiness. I do not recall exactly how long ago it was written, but it was very popular. It was written by Bobby McFerrin. The title was “Don’t Worry Be Happy”. There were several things in the first verse that ring true to me.

Here’s a little song I wrote

          You might want to sing it note for note

          Don’t worry, be happy

          In every life we have some trouble

          But when you worry you make it double

          Don’t worry, be happy

          Don’t worry, be happy now.

I do believe everyone has things that make them happy, and for me most of them are small in the large picture of my life. Most of them seem to be family oriented and inexpensive. However they make my life much happier without having to really work at it. That comment itself bodes the question, ‘do we have to work at being happy or is it a natural part of our personality?

A lot of things that make me feel happy are simple things that just seem to show up in my life, some a lot and some just occasionally.

My happy list:

-Earths beautiful scenery, forests, mountains, Blue sky/white clouds and a     mountain stream.

-Family gatherings, sometimes the people get a little loquacious, but I can just turn my hearing aid off. (Is that an advantage?)

-Soothing music, especially stringed instruments and the piano.

-Old things----including people.

-Spending time with a good friend. (Reminiscing)

-The smells, in the house at Thanksgiving time.

-A walk with Max. (an old K-9) acquaintance.

I think happiness is always there, just waiting for us to grab it. Sometimes we have to work at it and sometimes it just jumps up and grabs us. At that point we have to decide to keep it , let it go or throw it away.

The Great Depression & WW II

                THE GREAT DEPRESSION

                                 AND

                     WORLD WAR II

 

I was musing with an acquaintance a few days ago about some of the serious problems of OUR day. The comment was made that right now was probably the most devastating time for decades. The great depression began in 1929 and was still a serious problem in 1930, when I was born. At that minute it was like a light came on. Neither of us had thought, and certainly did not know anything about the first few years of the Great Depression as we were infants when the bad days started. However we were both born into that time frame and perhaps that was the most serious time in our lives.

It was probably strange, but as we talked about it a little, one of the first thoughts I had was, “wasn’t that a daunting time to get married and start a family?” I suppose my Mom & Dad and a lot of other people did not realize just how bad it was, and how much worse it would be before the turmoil was over.

They were married in June of 1930 and they brought me into the world in 1931 and my Sister was born in 1937. It was not a good time to begin a family. But when I listen to young kids today getting married and starting families, I wonder, when is a good time? Today is a different type of turmoil, but perhaps the same old problems just wrapped up in a different package?

The Great Depression started to recover in the mid to late 1930’s. Of course I was only 10 years old in 1941 so I do not recall a lot of things that happened in those early years. However it is interesting to recall what I can, and then recall what I can remember. Then of course there are the things that the older people talked about around the dinner table, or when friends came to visit. However I think we, as kids, either did not think them important or else we just did not recall them.

My parents lived in a small mining town when they got married. My Dad was a school teacher. They quickly found out they could not support a family on his income, so he got a job working for the mining company. In 1937/38 the company closed the mine and moved the town and the people about 10 miles away. It was just around the mountain from Mohrland.

In the years from 1938 to 1941 the depression slowly got better, until 1941 which was the beginning of WW II, and that is another subject.

Some things I recall either from memory or from hearing them from other people were:

FOOD SHORTAGES—I do not recall ever being really hungry, but we did eat a lot of home grown “veggies” and fruit. We always seemed to get some meat from one of the farmers in the Valley.

WORK SIGN--   The Company would post a sign on the mine office door if there was going to be any work that week. (No work—Mon ,Tue, Wed-- Check back on Thursday) The men would walk to town each week to see if there was going to be any work., always hoping they would get at least three days or so.. I think almost all of them were happy just to have a job.

FARMING & FOOD-- There were several small farm towns below (in the Valley) the mines and quite a few of the men worked in the mine and also took care of the family farm in the valley. Then when there was no work in the mines some of the miners would go to the valley and work for the farmers. The miners were paid with food a lot of the time. I recall my Dad coming home from a day’s work on the farm with, a sack of potatoes, a chicken, eggs, or a leg of lamb. Sometimes he also had fresh peaches or apples. It was always enjoyable to have a change of food on the table.

The refrigerator we used to keep milk, eggs & meat cold consisted of an old powder box nailed to the side of the house by a window, It was made so you could open the window in the kitchen and reach out and get food from the box. A powder box could be used for many things, but for a refrigerator we just nailed it up, covered it with burlap and a attached a hose so a little water could constantly drip on the box---and Wallah, we had a very serviceable  “swamp cooler.” Mom kept bugging Dad that they needed a real refrigerator now that they had a baby. My sister was born in Mar 1937. To make a long story a little shorter, they finally went to the Company Store and bought one. They only kept it for a short time. The work slowed down more than they thought it would so my Dad went to the Store Manager and told him to come and get it, as they could not make the payments. Perhaps that is where the saying in my family came from—Use it up, make it do-wear it out ,or do without?

Some people could not pay the rent during the depression. If I recall correctly the rent was only $25 per month and that included, your water, power and all the coal you could haul to your house. Still some people moved their families back to the farm, and they stayed at the boarding house during the week, if there was work. Then they would go back to the farm for the weekend.

Clothing was not fashionable during those hard times. It was made to cover you up and keep you warm. I suppose I was like most others. My everyday cloths were expected to last me a year. We usually had one “nice” pair of shoes and a pair of boots. Of course the ever present bib overalls were the everyday dress. Sox were usually “darned” several times before they were thrown away. I don’t know about others but I could not wait to get my first pair if “Levi’s .

I think that during the depression we were fairly well off compared to many people in the big cities. The newsreels made everything look bleak, and it probably was. I do not recall many News Reels  in the 1930’s, but there was one every week when I started going to a movie every week after our move to Hiawatha.

                                                       WW II

And then on December 7 1941 (While I was having a B-Day Party) the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and it turned our country upside-down.

I was still quite young and did not realize how serious of a thing this was? Yes, I had friends who had family members there and yes, they were very concerned. One guy at my B-Day party was my age and when our neighbor ran over to our house to tell us of the attack, this guy run out the door and across the street as fast as he could go, because he thought his brother was at Pearl Harbor.

I was so young that I really had no idea as to what the consequences of this act would bring. It truly was the beginning of a WORLD WAR. Almost every country in the world was somehow involved before it was over. The war really started in 1929. The USA entered it, after Pearl Harbor, in 1941 and it did not end until 1945.

I recall a lot more about WW II than I do about the Great Depression. Of course I was older at the time the war started and  I also was enamored with all things connected to Flying and Airplanes. I also could not believe how quickly America turned its manufacturing toward War Equipment. I have been told several times that the War broke the hold that the Depression had on the country. Right or wrong! We were also fed the propaganda via newspapers, Radio and Newsreels at the movies—that this all be over in a short time. The USA is invincible and nothing could match our manufacturing machine.

BUT AT WHAT A PRICE?

One thing I recall very vividly was when a notification of a death was passed around town. It could have been a son, a daughter, father, cousin or friend. And yes our little town seemed to have more than our share or Gold Star Mothers, with their flags flying in their windows.

A few of the things I recall about the war were easy to see as we saw them constantly.

            Rationing and shortages—Silk, sugar, gas, tires, cigarettes, butter coffee.

            Things to help the War effort---War Bonds, used tin foil rolled into balls,

            Reusable glass pop bottles,

            Walked More.—To save gas.

A lot of times I had a hard time talking to my friends and others about their siblings or parents. Some were killed, some were wounded quite bad. Many just did not want to talk about any of it when they got home. All were older than I was and I guess I looked up to them as heroes.

There were a lot of things that changed when the young guys started leaving for the Service. One was that they went from hardly any work during the depression, to working two or three shifts a day to keep the coal flowing 24 hours a day during the war.

The other thing was when the guys left some of the women in town went to work in the mine and on the Tipple. I had never heard of women working in the mine or on the Tipple until then.

The other thing the ladies did when the guys left for the service was to form a ladies  Ball Team. I really do not know how long it lasted after the war ended?

Life went on during the war but I think it changed a lot of things, at least in the small towns of America. One noticeable thing of course was the younger people who left home to serve in the armed services, or to get a job, or to marry someone from a completely different part of the country. This trend continued even after the war was over.

People found things to do at home during the war. Some to help the war effort and some just to keep moral up. A lot of the men started gathering each day at some spot in town and they each changed opinions on how the war was going and when it was likely to end. They also talked a lot about the mistakes “our leaders” were making.

The women seemed to always be getting together, either as a sewing club, a coffee club or a quilting club. I recall them also talking about doing things for the war effort, but I will be darned if I can remember what they were.

One thing that is hard to imagine in our day and age was buying a car. You could not take your check-book or money and go to the dealer and buy a car. You had to get your name on a waiting list, and when the car came to the dealer, you could go and pick it up, or not? Sometimes the car was not exactly what you wanted and you could take it or put your name back on the list until the one you wanted came in.

Here is a list of common items and their costs during the depression and up until WW II ended”

Milk-------------------$.10 a quart

Bread                           .05 a loaf

Bananas                      .05 a pound (most people made their own)

Silk stockings             .69 a pair     (later only nylons were available)

Gas                              .25 gallon

Men/Boys shoes        3.98 pair

Coats                          5.25

1950 Chev. Bel Aire $1750.00 (my first brand new car.)

We ordered most of our clothing from a mail order house. Usually Sears or Montgomery Ward. Typically we would measure ourselves as they told us to in the catalog , and then send off  the order. If it had not come in about 10 days we would become anxious and go to the Post Office every day to see if it was there.

We did not usually go to the store for clothing or shoes during the War or the Depression, but we did start going to a town about 20 miles away after the war, for most everything except for food products.  

One other thing I recall was the first V-Mail I ever saw. When my friend showed it to me there were several parts that had been cut out of the letter and I thought he was just kidding me. Nope. (Loose lips sink ships.)

W.R. Baldwin 7 June 2017

HAVE I DONE ANY GOOD

                  HAVE I DONE ANY GOOD

                                                         (Picture from Deseret News)

   We have a song in our Church which poses the question, “Have I done any good in the World today.” Then it goes on to ask some specific questions as to how we might have done some good, perhaps every day, and not even have thought about it.

   I am also pretty sure all of us do some good almost every day. Many times it may have been something you have planned on, perhaps even with a group of people. However I know a lot of good things are done spontaneously by one individual to another, and perhaps not even thought about by the doer or the receiver. It may have been thought provoking by one of the parties when it is over.

   I have been blessed, or cursed, as you can look at it both ways---- with the desire and ability to talk to friends or strangers and at least one of us (Me) always enjoys it.

   I talk to strangers in the grocery store, people at a gas station, people who I open or close a door for, and yes, almost anyone who looks my way and smiles will usually get at least a comment.

   I once heard a story about Bishop Niederhauser, who was the Roman Catholic Bishop in Utah. He had been asked to speak to a group of prestigious people. He indicated he wanted to tell a short story before his speech. It seems he had at one time been asked to talk to a similar group at another time. At that time he saw a lady he thought he knew. He stepped up and tapped her on the shoulder and when she turned around he said, “I think I know you from a long time ago, you look like Helen Brown.” She turned and took a couple of steps, then turned around and said, “No I do not know you, and by the way you do not look that terrific in all black either!” Needless to say he got more than a few laughs from the group that were waiting for him to speak. I am sure that as the old movie cliché says’ He made their day.”

   I do my blogs as they come to mind. They are not pre-planned but just seem to pop into my head at various times and in various places. Because of this I have to grab them quickly or I miss them. Also my memory is not as good as it used to be. Sometimes I ramble and some time they are short and to the point. I love to hear from the people who enjoy them as that encourages me to keep it up? That also is why my blogs are about MANY DIFFERENT things.

  On one occasion I was in downtown Salt Lake and trying to cross the street where there was a cross walk but no traffic light. Just after I had got there an older lady with a walker hobbled up and stopped at the cross walk. We stood there for a few minutes waiting for the cars to stop, but they didn’t. After a few minutes the lady looked at me with smile and said,” if you will stop the first car I will break a trail for us.” Well I stepped off the curb and put up both hands and lo and behold the car stopped. The lady on the walker went passed me and all the cars stopped. I walked beside her until we got to the other side of the road. Then with a grin on her face she said, “We make a good team don’t we,” as she went on down the sidewalk. Well I do not know how she felt but I felt great because I had helped. Then on second thought, did I help her or did she help me?

   In addition to the physical things we can do I (and some people cannot do many physical things) we can all do many small acts of kindness. Even though we give these things to others we actually still have them. You can give” hugs” away all day and still have not given yours away. I know this is true because I grew up in a “hugging” family. You can give away handshakes all day and still have not lost yours at the end of the day. A short visit that you have been putting off, to an old friend for a loooong time would only cost you a little time and give both of you a lot of pleasure. Even a passing comment to someone on the street, or in a Church, or store might brighten someone else’s day. If you make the comment, “I hope you have a great day,” they probably will.

   I am a collector of “stuff” and I found this by Ralph Waldo Emerson--- “You can never do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” I like this idea.

   I had a friend when I was in the Air Force that had a favorite saying that usually helped me when I was having bad day. He would say, “Remember, no matter how handsome or how beautiful you are, or how plain you are you will ALWAYS look a lot better if you smile.”

   There are not many things that you can give away, and still keep them, but there are a lot of small acts of kindness that you can.

   In a talk by President Thomas S. Monson (April 2014) He said,—“There are many attributes which are manifestations of love, such as kindness, patience, selflessness, understanding and forgiveness. In all our associations these and other such attributes will help make evident the love in our hearts.  

   Usually our love will be shown in our day-to-day interactions one with another. All important will be our ability to recognize someone’s need and then respond.”

W.R. Baldwin 24 May 2017

ANCESTORS

                                                          ANCESTORS

   I have been “doing genealogy”. As people say, for many years now, but now that I am not as mobile as I used to be I have been spending more time looking at old pictures and reading more old writings, such as Journals, photo albums, journals and City and State histories.

  
   It is strange how things happen but last week I was looking at some old picture albums and the thought raced through my mind, “these places were real, however much different than they are now.” Also the people were real, they were real live people. They were here 100 years ago, however in complete different circumstances than today! They were alive, flesh and blood and suffered from cold, heat and fatigue just like we do. I am sure it was more often than we do as well as much more severe.

   I have a picture of my mother and my grandfather when they lived in what they called their “tent house.” I am sure it left a lot to be desired but never the less it provided protection from the elements. I have pioneers who crossed the plains in covered wagons who may have thought of as place like this being a BIG improvement that pitching a tent for overnight and then taking it down in the morning, for months while they traveled. 

                     --This is the Tent House----

   
   My wife spent her adolescent years in a house very different than what most people want now. It had at least one addition added on after it was built, and maybe two? Her bedroom was upstairs. Upstairs in those days was not the same as what we call upstairs today. The stairs were built on the outside of the house and in the winter were covered with ice or snow. The heater for the upstairs room was also very interesting. Getting heat to her room was very interesting. They heated the upstairs bedroom by cutting a hole in the ceiling of the kitchen, which was the floor of the bedroom. Needless to say if there was a fire in the kitchen it was somewhat warm upstairs, and if there was no fire it was COLD.

   The preferred method of getting ready for bed in the winter was to put a brick in the oven of the kitchen stove (or a flat iron on the stove—which a lot of people now days have no clue what a flat iron is),

Then you would wrap it in a towel or quilt, run up the stairs on the outside of the house and toss it in your bed, and hope you went to sleep in a hurry.

--- The old Wickman Home-----

   My Sister and I both used a system similar to my wife’s brick or flat iron, except she used a rubber hot water bottle. She would fill the hot water bottle with scalding hot water and wrap it in a homemade quilt. I just preferred a heavy quilt without the brick.

   It is interesting that still, to this day, when my Sis does not feel well she grabs her Hot water bottle and fills it up and heads for the recliner. As she sits in the reclining lounger she swears it makes her feel a lot better.

   Now back to my Picture albums. Most of the men in the old pictures wore beards and I wondered if it was just too hard to shave every day or if there was another reason? Also most of the men wore stripped or blue denim bib overalls. (If you do not know what bib overalls were, ask your parents or grandparents as I am sure they will remember.) I wondered if most of them wore them because that was all that was available? If course they did not have a Shopko, Macy’s or Walmart. They were lucky to have a country store with a few pair of overalls tossed on a table in between the long handled underwear.

   

   A lot of my ancestors were “Utah Pioneers” and they had a lot of stories and I have read most of them before, but for some reason this recent reading and looking at picture seemed to hit me and made me think that they were real people, not just pictures. They had to make tough decisions almost every day, almost always tougher than I have to make in my times.

   

   All at once it was strange to think of them having to plant seeds, or trees and then wait months or years, for some trees to produce any fruit from their labors.

   Now we just jump in the car, drive about five minutes or less, buy anything we want, and usually some you had not thought of, and then be hack home in half hour or so. Of course that also made me think how different our lives are today compared to our pioneer ancestors 150 years ago.

   I used to love and sit while my Mom and Dad and Aunts and Uncles sit and told stories about their lives in the “Olden Days.” Now I am the one who tells the stories and the olden days do not seem to be so old? I was part of my “Olden Days” just like each generation will be part of theirs when they sit and tell stories to their grandkids. It seems strange to think how each generation has interesting stories to tell the next generation as we all grow older.

   I think sometimes it is hard for the younger generations to actually believe that I grew up, at least for several years without us having a family car. Also no TV—how could they survive? We also had no telephone in our home, while I was a teen. No refrigerator for the first 10 years of my life. (For those who wonder how people survived without a refrigerator) ask your Grandpa?

   In the late 30’s and early 40’s most of the girls clothes were home made and most of the boys with the exception of the “bibbers.”

   Like most people in small towns almost everyone planted a small home garden. It was not like today where they are mostly planted as yard decorations. In the depression days they were planted for food. And of course they demanded constant care, which usually yas the kids job. At least it seemed that way to us!

   It may be where we lived and maybe the weather really has changed, but when I was growing up we did not talk about snow storms in the inches, We usually did not worry about then autil we were talking about them in feet!

   I often hear the comment,” I would not change growing up in a small town like I did for anything.” I often wonder if that is a “truism” or just a topic of conversation?   

   Well thank GOD for ancestors and I hope that our kids have some great ones??

WRBaldwin 11 Mat 2017

A DAY AT THE PARK

A DAY AT THE PARK
   As many of my on-line friends know I have developed a (way-to-often) habit of eating my lunch or breakfast, or both at a park. Sometimes I take a sandwich with me and sometimes I stop and get a McDonald's Gourmet breakfast on the way there.
   However when I couple, eating a sandwich, and watching people, while I eat, it is usually interesting, not earth shattering, but interesting.
   Also as I have mentioned before, some of the things in my blog's are real happenings and some are things I store in my memory bank for future blogs? You might say they are-seeds for thought- for writing a partially real- partially imagined Blog in the future.
 
   I had just finished my breakfast a while ago and was pondering the Big Question of the of the day? What to do next with my long afternoon that was approaching?
   As I looked around I saw a young boy, under a rather large tree, jumping up and down and pushing and throwing a broom into the tree. As I looked a little harder I saw a black and white soccer ball lodged in the branches, just a little higher than the broom would reach.
   I hobbled over a little closer, and called and ask him if he needed a little help? He replied that he sure did because he was not tall enough to reach his ball and it was his brand new one.
   The man hobbled back to his Blazer and got a golf ball receiver out of the back. He took it back to the boy and extended it as far as it would go and handed it to him. He told the boy he thought he could reach it with the new tool. He sat down on a bench and told the boy if he could not reach the ball he would come and help him, but he had to sit and rest a while, because he had "tin knees" and got tired pretty easy.
   The boy said,"ya I noticed you walked kind of funny, but I just thought that it was because you were old." Then the boy asked if he had to oil his knees like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. The old man laughed at that and told him that, No he could not oil them and he just got along the best he could without a lube job?
   About that time a young mother had made her way up a small hill to where they stood. Isaac, the boy, ran a short way to meet her, while yelling, "Mom, Mom, I want you to meet my new friend. His name is Mr. Wally, just like you told me to call older people Mr. and Mrs. He helped me me get my new soccer ball out of that big tree." 
   The Mom (Annie) shook Mr. Wally's hand and thanked him profusely for helping him retrieve his soccer ball. 
   She also told the man she was sorry if he bothered him, and she hoped he did had not talked his ear off, as she knew he was a chatter-box. She also told him that Isaac seemed to have a comment for everything that anyone said. 
   Mr Wally said they got along just fine and that he really liked the kids that chattered, better than the ones that just set off in a corner and never said anything and looked morose. He also told Annie that he thought the kids that were chatterbox's, learned a lot more about this old world, even before they started school, than most of the quiet ones.
   Annie and Mr. Wally talked a while and Isaac went off to kick his soccer ball. After talking a while Annie told Mr. Wally that Isaac did not have a Dad. He was killed in Afghanistan about two years ago. She said he was the with the Special Forces there and was about due to be rotated back to the States when he was killed by a roadside bomb.
   Mr. Wally expressed his condolences and told her he was really sorry about her husband.. He told her he knew several families that he was close to that lost Husbands, Dads and Mom's there also, and he thought it was a great tragedy.
   Annie told Mr. Wally that it was very hard on both she and Isaac at the time, but she thought it was harder on Isaac now, because all of his friends have a Mom and Dad and he doesn't. He always asks why it was him and I try and give him good answers, but sometimes it is hard to explain.
   Just then Isaac came running up waving his hands and yelling,"Mom, Mom Ted is coming."

  And sure enough a 30 something guy in a Black Chevy truck, all decked out with pipes and chrome pulled up and stopped as close as he could get to them. He walked across the grass, with Isaac running to meet him. 
   Their new friend Mr. Wally was introduced to them properly as a new friend, and Isaac told Ted that he called him Mr. Wally because his Mom had told him that you call old people Mr. and Mrs and he sure looked like he was old.
   Of course when he said that Annie's face went red, Wally laughed and told her not to worry about it because he had been called worse things than old.
   Ted and Isaac kicked the soccer ball around while Annie and Wally sat on a bench and visited. Annie made the comment that it was strange how we had just met but we talked to each other like we had known each other for a long time. 
   When Ted and Isaac had finished kicking the ball awhile they came and sit on the bench with the others. Mr. Wally told them he had a bag of clementine oranges in the back of the Blazer if they wanted some. He told them it would actually help him out if they took a few because it was hard for him to eat a whole bag before they started to spoil.
   Well Ted said that he had come to take Annie and Isaac to lunch and if they did not mind he would be glad if Mr. Wally would come with them.
   Isaac let out a big yell and pumped his fist in the air saying," yes, yes, yes", which I think translated to a positive invite and acceptance. 
   They went to Chic-Fil- A , which was only about a half block away. Of course everyone ate chicken. They also talked a lot. At least Isaac and Mr. Wally did.
   Isaac told Mr. Wally that he and his Mom lived in a real small apartment and Ted lived in a real small condo. He also looked at his Mom and said he thought he might get Ted for a new Dad, because Ted and his Mom had got really 'SMOOCHY" here of late. His Mom YELLED, "you don't say that to strangers." Ted laughed and just sat and grinned. Of course Isaac told his Mom that Mr. Wally was not a stranger now, he was a friend, and Mr. Wally said,"yup I agree with Isaac, I think he hit the nail right on the head.
   Yup kids will be kids. They do not seem to have a built in filter, even when they are talking to strangers. However Annie was not just going to let it go. So she gave him the whole truckload of, family secrets, don't talk to strangers (of which Mr. Wally was not considered one anymore, and that some things that happen in the family--STAY IN THE FAMILY."
   By then it was time for Ted to get back to his business, which was a 4-wheel drive specialty shop that he loved. He said he did not want to be late, because he thought it was part of his job, and since he was the owner he wanted to set a good example.
   Everyone went out to leave and Wally remembered the oranges in the Blazer and told everyone to help themselves if they wanted some.
   Of course Isaac wanted some and it was obvious as he danced around saying, "oh yes Mom can we take a couple, can we huh?" They each took a couple of oranges and left.
   Ted headed off to his shop and Isaac and Annie headed back to the little apartment that they called home.
   Wally got his newspaper out of the Blazer and got settled on a bench to catch up on the news of the world before he headed back home---perhaps for a short afternoon nap
   He pulled into the garage, and as he mumbled, on his way into the house he thought to himself-- I hope my nap does not keep me from sleeping well tonight. Maybe if I repeat the old saying that my Mom used to tell me and I told my children, it will help me go to sleep -OR NOT--? My Mom used to say "Good night--don't let the bed bugs bite." I never did understand why that was supposed to calm me down, but never-the-less I heard it for many years.
   It was an interesting day and brought out a lot of emotions. Although I thought about Isaac, Annie and Ted a lot, I never did see them in the Park again. I still wonder if they got married and live somewhere in our valley here and none of us know for sure.
   I guess you could call this Historical Fiction? I surly am old enough for the Historical part and a little fiction inserted in it makes it interesting.

W.R. Baldwin
25 April 2017 
     

    

DREAMS

DREAMS

   My Children have told me that I talk in my sleep, for a long time now. Of course I did not believe them because I had never heard me do it. That is I did not believe them until I made one of my trips to the hospital.

   When I came out of the anesthesia an intern was sitting by my bed. He asked me how I felt, and I told him I was a little drowsy and a little confused, but other than that I was OK.

    I was surprised when he told me he was a little confused also. He asked if he could ask me a couple of things. I told him of course he could ask but I would not guarantee I would answer him. He kind of chuckled and said,” that is perhaps the best disclaimer he had ever heard. That is indeed a very, very good answer.”

   He then told me that while I was asleep, it was obvious I was talking to more than one lady. He said that I would talk to one that I called MOM for a while and then I would switch to MOTHER for a different conversation. I asked the Intern if he could remember any of the conversation and he told me that, yes, he remembered some but a lot of it was just mumbling. However he did tell me some of the things I said and it was obvious to me they were different people at different times in my life. The two that day happened to be my Wife and my Mother. The Intern and I chatted a short while, then he said he was sure I was OK, so he left. 

   That little experience made me realize I really do talk in my sleep and my kids were not just teasing me. It also made we wonder if almost everyone, or just a few people talked in their sleep?

   Well that put me on a “quest” to find out some answers. How often do people talk in their sleep? I now realized I really do talk in my sleep(probably a lot,) and my children were not just “pranking” me. I wondered WHAT I said, but they told me that a lot of the time it was just mumbling or almost whispering and they could not understand me.

   Now that I knew that I mumbled, or whispered, or yelled out loud, my next question was what did I say and did I talk to anyone besides my Dear departed Wife and my Mom?

   I have also known for a long time that I dream and some of the dreams are really weird. I do not know if everyone is somewhat like me and expects to remember the dream when they wake in the morning--- however, I very seldom can remember all that happened. Yes I recall a few bits and pieces but not everything. By a long shot! Is that normal, or Par for the Course, as some would say? I have talked to a couple of people and they seem to have the same scenario, so I presume at it must be fairly common.

   Now that I am getting “older” I seem to have more dreams, but they seem to be shorter, or perhaps I just remember less of the details. I guess I should not consider it strange, even when I am awake I think of something and head over, or up or out and before I get to where I was headed, at times I cannot remember what I was going to do.

   Some dreams seem to be disjointed. For example I might have known three or four people at different times in my life, for different reasons, and they all show up in the same dream.       

   One just the other night brought four people together who never knew each other (well of course except me.)

   One was my favorite uncle, when I was a teenage kid, one was a guy that I was in the Air Force with, in my late teens and early 20’s, and of course Me. The strange thing was that in my dream, we were all Chemical Salesmen and we were, competitors, all trying to sell to chemicals to the same large Copper Mining Company where we all lived. Of course it was just a dream, but Why these people? And Why this location, and Why this time frame? I did have a short acquaintance with each but never at the same time. So how did we all get together for this “dream trip?” 

   As I sit here and ponder I realize that most of my dreams are based on memories, either OLD or new. I also know a few people that have nightmares and fortunately I have not had many in my life. I also do not remember having a lot of them, even when I was young.

   The other thing that came to mind was why do we dream? Does everyone dream at least a few times? I don’t know if most people are similar to me, but as for me I seem to have more dreams, and ones that are hard to explain, when I go to bed overanxiously thinking about something just before I go to sleep? They are usually connected to a happening in real life in the recent past or else a LONG, LONG time ago?

   I also seem to visit with people (in my dreams), more than just places, now that I am getting older. I guess perhaps that is because as I get older I just naturally have met more people who have a lot of DIFFERENT personalities.

   Well I still do not know why all of these old friends, and old places come back to us, at night, in the form of a dream. I also wonder WHY some took place decades ago and some happened yesterday?

   I am sure other people have the same experiences, and I hope I am not the only one to wonder about them!

   However I am positive now that I DO talk in my sleep. I am sure that is not a profound thing, but it was interesting to me, so I thought—WHY NOT BLOG IT?

7 April 2017

W.R. Baldwin