Memories! [of Nampa, circa 1948]

Feb 26, 2007

Dear Judi, Lee & Nita, and Ruth,

This morning as Sophi and I stepped outdoors for her potty break, MEMORIES flooded over me! It’s a gray, (high) overcast day, 32 degrees & 64% humidity, and I remember when Daddy, Honey, Norma and I came to Idaho to ‘check things out’ before we moved here from Albany Oregon!

You know how smells stick with you, associated with memories for a hundred years--often, a lifetime, anyway? Well, the ‘feel’ of the outdoors, sometimes, is closely associated with memories, too!

That first morning as we got ready to go places, I remember Honey observed, “It’s going to rain--we need to take our umbrellas…” So we did, and people looked at us strangely! It turned out that the overcast ‘burned off’ as the morning progressed, and we had dry, beautiful sunshine!

Later, after we moved to Idaho, we sometimes discussed that incident [Snickering, pointing, whispering: "Those people must be from Oregon! Ha! Ha!"] and realized that, yes, if we had been in Oregon, it would have rained, but in Idaho, the clouds often dissipate to reveal sunshine a bit later in the day! We decided we really LIKED that!

As you might remember, Honey suffered terribly from the Oregon climate, and Daddy always said it was because of her that we ended up moving here. I don’t know to what extent that is true, because you know he always had a way of teasing about things, and sometimes it was hard to tell when he was stating a fact, or was more likely jesting a bit!

We know a lot these days about S.A.D., a very real ailment, so I can understand that, along with a lot of other stuff for her during that time, she had a pretty rough three (?) years living in Oregon. We are undoubtedly bless to have had a mother for all our growing up years and way into adulthood!

Anyway, isn’t CHILDHOOD great, when you are unaware of much of what’s happening with adults?? As long as we were comfortable, fed, and safe, which we were! Well, except the time that Lee drank kerosene from the glass Coke bottle out by the side of the house… A VERY SCARY INCIDENT!!!! ...another story...

Back to our trip to Nampa in 1949, we stayed in a motel built of block... there were strange, unfamiliar smells from THAT place! At the front of the motel was a slight incline down to the sidewalk along the street… I don’t remember that we ‘hung out’ at the motel much, but the folks seemed to have a lot of things to do, so Norma and I were ‘just along for the ride’ … I remember that we prepared a picnic meal or two from the car on that trip; no eating out! I don’t remember that I knew much of anything about their business while here, but I’m sure it included school (NNC Grade School), and probably checking out housing in that area, and, of course, the Friends Church.

It IS interesting living here now--things have CHANGED so much, there is little resemblance of Nampa in the years we lived here (1949-1953), but I keep my eyes open for the ‘familiar’ that jumps out at me from time to time--especially downtown! I’m pretty sure that as I experience this first year of SEASONS back here, that things, like today, will pop out at me!

Something else that I’ve thought about for a couple of weeks is when winter was trying to be over, and spring trying to arrive, how ANXIOUS I was to rollerskate!!! I had a metal pair of clamp-on skates that Daddy picked up at auction, and I was trying to rollerskate when the ground really wasn’t quite ready, and the sidewalks were still dirty from winter… So frustrating, as I stumbled over bits and pieces of debris, but I just couldn’t WAIT!!!! The type of shoes I had weren't very good for holding the skates on, either--I can remember YEARNING for the right type of shoe!!! Ha!

That’s it for today!

Love, Linda