Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Blasts from the Past

The porch on the right is part of my parent's beach house in Bay Ridge, Annapolis, Maryland....my favorite place on earth!

Every year, the day school got out, Mom and I would move to the beach to stay until the day before school opened again (Usually the day after Labor Day....NOT August something!)
Our house was strategically situated on the end of the peninsula known as Bay Ridge. This is Sands Avenue, our street. This is looking toward Lake Ogleton; IF I had a picture of the other end of the street, which I do not, you would see the Chesapeake Bay. There were NO commerical ventures in Bay Ridge....not even a Coke machine if I remember correctly. Just sun, surf, motor boats, sail boats, and other kids! Oh Lord, did we have some fun!
When I was small (lets say 7-11) I played with the other girls on my street. Joan and Joyce, next door, Carolyn and Rose Marie across the street and the wondrous Dottie Lou on the corner. Rose Marie and Dottie Lou were five years older and they directed and produced plays with us as willing participants. The clothesline in Rose Marie's back yard held the curtain for the plays. We made props and sets. I remember being the wicked Witch in Hansel and Gretel and being actually pushed through the door to our cardboard oven to simulate death by convection, I guess. Rose Marie and Dottie Lou also taught us to Charleston (an ancient fun dance) by drawing footprints on the cement driveway. Dottie Lou's parents had a player piano we could pump away on to our heart's delight. They also had awesome rubber masks that were so effective they almost got my brother and his friends arrested for kidnapping Dr. Basil's son.

This is my brother, Bubba (aka Buddy or Herb) and I at the house in the 80's. Bubba and his wife Bubette courted at Bay Ridge (she lived there FULL TIME) and have some great stories about their gang of friends.

The picture on the left (that you can barely see) shows me (the really thin me), my Mom at the door, the blond is my sister-in-law Carmen and the back is my Dad's nurse Thelma. I love this picture because it shows I was thin for a day in 1980. On the right is my Mom smiling. She is here at my house. She did NOT like to have her picture taken despite the fact she really was a beautiful woman. She was about 70 in this picture and no hair dye ever came near her head.

I have some other old pictures (remember all I had was a Brownie Camera) I will be featuring here in the next while. Some of you will be in them....so stay tuned.
And while we are at it, where is your favorite place on earth?

2 comments:

Kimberly said...

What great pictures! Ooo, favorite place on earth...for a long time it was my Aunt Ann's house in Clarkton, NC, but I think Grandma and Grandpa's house in Arizona has edged that out.

Anonymous said...

Oh, oh, oh! I loooovved this post! I love reading your memories!

My favorite place was my grandparents' house in Columbia. Nothing fancy----just four rooms and a bath. But the most comfortable place to be, physically and emotionally. Lots of unconditional love.

You've inspired me to write about it on my blog. Stay tuned! I am definitely staying tuned to yours!