Store Your Happy Memories Here:

[Croix]

Dear All~

What this place is for:
This thread is a tool, a resource, and also I guess a dash of entertainment.

I’ve found that when life is grim that sometimes thoughts of past happiness can create a chink of light in the grey overwhelming press of down. They can help occupy the mind with lighter reflections.

With that in view I invite people to set down a brief passage describing some happy event they look back to with fondness and peace.

They - and others too - can then return to it when they feel the need to glean a little warmth.

It is not a place for gloomy or dire tales, those can go elsewhere.

What to do:
Just set out, as simply as you like, your recollection of some past experience that means something good to you, something you enjoyed, something from safe times.

It can be, like my story below, anything – from an account of visiting grandparents to simply cooking and eating a melted-cheese sandwich in a favorite kitchen – you get to choose.

How to do it:
Write. Write enough so someone else can feel the mood, know what happened, find the goodness. (stop at 2,500 characters please!)

Grammar, syntax, spelling, punctuation are not compulsory, just write as you can – the only important thing is the content - not literary merit. Short or long - it does not matter.


I hope you enjoy, contribute and find a little distraction here when you need it.

Croix

[Doolhof]

Hi missep123 and All,

I used to love climbing trees. We had huge Norfolk pines in our region. I liked to climb almost to the top when it was windy and would sway around, surveying the town around me and wondering about different places.

Now I'd like a tree house. One with a ladder!

[mmMekitty]

Hello Missep. I'm sorry, I somehow didn't see your reply to me back in March.

I think that brief visit to Hawaiimay actually be the first time I really saw & noticed turquoise as a wonderful sort of colour. I have a few favourite colours,& turquoise like that water off beeches in Hawaii is one. (Not the very pale turquoise, like cyan - though I like that, too, but the rich hues you can see in those waters.)

& I think I have mentioned here, I used to love climbing trees, (but I wasn't usually allowed. & never as high as other kids). I loved picking mulberries, & eating some fresh, & taking them back to contribute to a large ice-cream container or two, & frozen, for later.

A treehouse would be wonderful, only now I'd need a lift to get up & down. If it's fancy enough, maybe, once up, I'd never come down!😺

[mmMekitty]

Hi Doolhof, 😺

Would you like a zip-line from my tree hous to yours?

mmMekitty

[Doolhof]

Hi mmMekitty,

A zip line sounds like fun. I used to enjoy playing on the flying fox as well. A rope in a tree was great fun to swing from also.

The playground way back when I was a child was a lot of fun. Boiling hot metal slippery dips, rocking devices that would flip over if you rocked hard enough, old tire swings, sea saws that seemed so high you could touch the sun, all kinds of metal poles and bits to climb over and the ground was covered in 3 corner jacks in places!

[quirkywords]

I recall putting on concerts w ith the other children in my street. We had dress ups and it was fun except the older girls were a bit bossy.

innocent and fun times.
thanks croix

[Croix]

Dear Mrs Dools~

From you description of you playground I'm surprised you survived! Incidentally what on earth are 3 corner jacks?

I'm afraid I cannot conjure up any memories of playgrounds, but then I often lived away from major centers, depending on which parish my father held, so maybe they were in short supply.

By the time I lived in London I would have felt far too "grown-up" to frequent such places:) - I was a horrible kid who put on airs I'm afraid!

Croix

[mmMekitty]

Unless my quick google search results were way off topic, the '3 Corner Jack' plant is a vicious invasive plant, in Australia. & some other countries. Of-course you will find out a lot more, including pictures by searching in your own browser.

Today, it seems playgrounds are made so absolutely (insurance) risk free, I'm surprised there is any playground equipment left at all. I've even walked on semi-spongy footpaths in parks, & have noticed similarly spongy surfaces (no loose chunks even) at the bases of the equipment. It was so artificial & kind of creepy.

Much fun & excitement is about knowing there are risks & climing that tallest slide, swinging on the swing with the longest chains, going faster & faster on the merry-go-round, risking falling off into the sawdust/sand/dirt, with little rocks in it - whatever, & (hopefully) getting up & showing off what you'd just done, demonstrating how big & brave & tough you are, too. The equipment that was deemed 'tame' was only for 'wimps' & 'babies' - & nobody wanted to be labelled a 'wimp' or 'baby'.

Things were so different when I was a child.

I used to like the swings, & standing up on the seat, or lying on it & spinning until the chains twisted up tight & letting it unwind. I wanted to swing higher, but never did go all the way to the top & around, full-circle, like some kids could do. I never felt that brave enough to get over the fear as I went even close to nearly high enough.

mmMekitty

[Doolhof]

Hi mmMekitty, Croix and all,

Thanks for sharing the story about how you used the swings mmMekitty, I had forgotten about twisting the chains around. My goodness how sick I felt after that!

We lived in a small town that attracted a lot of tourists mainly in the summer when I was a child, the playground was used by lots of kids then. We were fortunate to have so much equipment.

Here in S.A. we have the Monash Playground, that used to have some really amazing equipment until people injured themselves there. St. Kilda in S.A. has a great playground as well, both are for adults and children. Just recently I went to St. Kilda for a play on the equipment.

Three corner jacks really hurt when you tread on them! Now and then the towns people or the cancel would clean them up or the older kids did.

I was just thinking how lovely it would be to have swings in homes for the aged...probably reasonably unsafe, but I am sure they would be used by some, maybe that is why rocking chairs were invented!

[Elizabeth CP]

We used to have a boxing day picnic at a lake with my brother and family. After capsising several times in the canoe my Sil and I made it a tradition to paddle out and capsise at least once!Talking about swings for older people my mum was in acwheelchair so restricted from many activities. She had always had a sense of adventure which obviously was unsatisfied as she became disabled. My brother would lift her and thevwheel chair into his boat and take her gor a paddle on the lake each boxing day.She loved it. Yes it might be risky bit he was careful and the lake was calm . It probably brought back memories of rowing with my dad on her honeymoon. For older people don't be afraid of having a go even if activitirs have to be modified. For younger people be proactive and think of ways to enable older loved ones to have fun doing something a bit crazy.

[Doolhof]

Sometimes there are excellent clips on Facebook showing people in residential care having all kinds of fun, especially during the lock downs. I don't recall them all now, but some people are very clever at thinking up ideas to involve everyone.

My sister and I try to go walking once a week if possible. Now it is winter, we are a little more restricted as we work different days to each other.

We had a walk in a national park, half of it by torch light. We had taken a picnic tea with us, sat under some shelter, rugged up with jackets and enjoyed our feast while the rain came down around us.

Another time I was out walking, the sun was blue, not a cloud in the sky and no thought of rain had been mentioned on the weather report. Along came a huge cloud of rain. I sheltered under a bush the best I could until the worst of it was over. It was a happy moment when the sun shone again to help dry me out as I walked back to my car.