Monday, November 27, 2006

Christmas 1944



Philadelphia, 1944

Well, the time had come to move out of the big house on the avenue. Uncle Con actually got married to Aunt Betty and moved into a third floor apartment near 2nd and Snyder Avenue. Grandmom Schmidt and Aunt Laura moved into a small house on Garrett Street between 3rd and Moyamensing Avenue. Mom, Dad and I moved into a small house on Emily Street between 2nd and Moyamensing Avenue. Uncle Con and Grandmom lived about five blocks from each other and I lived in between them near the middle.

Aunt Margaret Dillon, my Mom’s sister lived near Grandmom, with her husband Uncle Howard and their two daughters, Margie and Jeanie. Aunt Helen Stinger, my Mom’s oldest sister also lived near Grandmom, with her husband Uncle Howard and their two children Billy and Helen. Grandmom Murphy my Mom’s and Aunt Helen’s and Aunt Margaret’s step Mom and her son, Edward, Mom’s youngest brother lived on Greenwich Street about a block away. These stories I’ll tell later.

My new house was two stories with a living room, dining room and kitchen with a very small room on top added. This new house was about 100 years old. A bathroom (tub and toilet, no sink) was added at some point making one of the two bedrooms kind of small. Running water was added at this time. The original small fireplaces were bricked over and a huge, to my eyes, coal fired hot air heater added to the former root cellar. As I remember, the house needed lots of work to make it nice for my Mom. Dad and Uncle Con worked about two months to make two cabinets for the kitchen and paint and paper all the rooms, it took that long as they were working during the day.

We rented a horse and wagon to haul the few family possessions and finally settled in, and I remember my Mom beaming in her very own kitchen. The cabinets were red and white; the used wringer washer could be pushed into a small shed. The brand new cloths dryer was strung between hooks mounted on the fence around the back yard. We had an icebox and dad cut a hole in the wall into the yard and put a hose through to drain the water from the melting ice so Mom didn’t have to lift the pan and empty it. An old iron three burner gas stove and used furniture completed the kitchen. Mom and Dad rented this little piece of their blue heaven for $25 a month. These were three happy loving people living in their first house.

There was an Ice Man who came through the street in a horse and wagon and you had a card in the front window indicating the size of the block of ice “5, 10, 20 or 25 cents”. The milk man also had a horse and wagon.

Many vendors and hucksters used push carts selling fruit and vegetables. I even remember a fellow who pushed a grinding wheel and would sharpen your knifes. Some folks had an insulated metal box with a lid that would hang out of window to store milk and the like in the colder weather. The forerunner of today’s cooler.

There were many kids on the street, and in the summer we liked to chase the ice wagon for chips. Sometimes in the summer, a horse drawn merry-go-round would come to our street and all us kids would run into our houses to beg a nickel to ride.

As I remember, the small six horse merry-go-round was hand cranked. I think the fellow timed the ride with a sand glass visible to the Moms. There were very few overweight folks around. The streets had to be cleaned at least once a week as the horses were a bit messy. Dad worked and Mom was a homemaker. I would sometimes wait on the corner for Dad to come home on the trolley.

The war news indicated the war was going good, that is, we were winning.
Mom and Dad had a party once in a while, they rolled back the dining room rug as there was no furniture in the room and had friends and family over and danced to big band music playing on the radio. I was supposed to be in bed, but I sneaked down the steps to watch. I guess I was hard to keep in bed.

The First Christmas in our blue heaven was coming and, of course, I was counting the days. I suspected the origin of the Christmas gifts as I found some toys under the couch. Now, grown up’s really don’t know how to hide things from little kids, they put them in low places, just where little kids live.

Christmas morning I found lots of toys and household gifts under the tree; my
favorite was a US Army colt model 1911, 45 caliber cap pistol. I only knew it was a cap pistol at the time and I wish I still had it.

Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch, holding hands and watching me open presents. They were two very happy people living in their blue heaven and very much in love.

Little did any of us know a storm was brewing.

God bless them both.

Kraken
11/17/2006

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Humor Du Jour...


Saturday, November 18, 2006

Farm Music


Okay, My Iowa Friends,
This one is most definately for you:



ClickClick

This incredible machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa .

Amazingly, 97% of the machines components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation equipment of Bancroft Iowa , yes farm equipment!

It took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment, calibration, and tuning before filming this video but as you can see it was WELL worth the effort.

It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.

UPDATE: The story above is an urban legend. The device depicted in this video does not exist, at the University of Iowa or anywhere else. It's an example of a computer-animated music video, this one entitled "Pipe Dream" and taken from one of several similar segments on a DVD produced by Animusic. An excerpt of the original can be viewed on the Animusic web site, and the video can be viewed in its entirety at AtomFilms.com


Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Pictures Du Jour...

I finally got around to sending some film off. Here is some teaser pictures.



Before we left Kentucky, we had the kids preschool teachers over. They are wonderful teachers and helped our kids grow and learn about so many things over the few years we were there. We will never forget you! This is Mrs. Halley, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Mailfald, and Mrs. Lentz. A very special group of Montessori teachers (the teachers are the ones sitting on the couch). The kids were very excited, as you can tell....
OUR teachers are sitting on the floor: Nicholas, Emily, Connor, and Mary all looking deceptively angelic....

In June, we met the rest of the Schmidt and Crowley family for a weekend of fun and activities in Des Moines, Iowa. Here is the Schmidt Family:


I have other pics from the wild weekend, but have not gotten them back yet.

The local prison sends volunteers to community functions to help set up, clean up afterwards, and for general entertainment purposes. Pictured below are the two felons we had helping with chores and other unsavory duties:


I asked them why they were incarcerated. The prisoner on the left said his charge had something to do with living in Nebraska. I was not sure what that meant, but he looked a little unstable, so I didn't push the issue. The other prisoner (the one in jeans with all the hair) mentioned too many ballroom dancing violations. I'm not sure I believed either one of them, but they did a good job and didn't scare the kids too much.


Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Quote Du Jour...

It has been a tough month (or year) for many members of my family. Each day, I try to take a moment and reflect on the blessings I have in my life. A loving family, kids excited to see me at the end of a long day, good health, food on the table, a cold beer....

Here is a quote from Thomas Merton that helps me to keep my focus and perspective in a very busy and often demanding world:

If we have the Spirit of God in our hearts,

we will live by His law of charity

inclined always to peace rather than disension,

to humility rather than arrogance,

to obedience rather than rebellion,

to purity and temperance,

to simplicity and quietness and calm,

to strength, generosity, and wisdom,

to prudence and all-embracing justice,

and we will love others more than ourselves.

From:
No Man is an Island
Thomas Merton, 1955
The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani


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