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

[Galaxy-Hunter]

Hello Croix and hello everyone else 🤗

Part 1 - Going to work with Mum. 

as a young child ( about 8 -10yrs) during school holidays I would go with my mum into the city in Melbourne where she worked in a major store from 10am -3pm. We travelled in on a ‘Red Rattler’ and the journey took about an hour. The smells of the train interior and that weird brake smell was kinda cool. We had to hurry through the subway before popping up in Degraves St amongst a flurry of people hurrying about. We used to stop in an arcade where there was a little glass stand that had peanuts in it ( a bit like a bubble gum machine) and mum would put a coin in and we would get a bag of the best smelling peanuts. We would then make a mad dash zig zagging through arcades and alley ways to get to mums work. I loved hearing the sounds of well dressed ladies shoes tapping on the wooden walkways as they made their way through Myers. Closer to mums work there was a man who operated a weighing machine and for 5 cents (I think) used to weigh you and write it down on a card that looked like an old cardboard train ticket. When we arrived at Mums work she would get her hanky out and make sure I was clean and gave me $2 to buy my lunch. I used to wander around Melbourne on my own for 5 hours.  I had so many adventures and I think back now and think ‘WOW’, I survived. 

[Croix]

Dear Galaxy-Hunter~

Welcome to this part of the Forum, a place where one might be able to forget the unforgettable for a few moments and place fond memories for both yourself - and others.

I get as much pleasure from their stories as recollecting mine at times.

Kids tend to be fascinated by objects, you had your man that wrote your weight on a ticket, and I -when on traveling by myself at much the the same age - used to find on railway stations machines that pressed out your name (or anything else in 20 letters or less) on aluminum strips wiht a nail-hole at either end

You could use them as name-tags for luggage and cost one penny.

The only trouble is if in rotating the big wheel to select a letter you made a mistake -no going back.

Still and all, good fun. Try this link for context (may not work:(

https://forums.beyondblue.org.au/t5/staying-well/store-your-happy-memories-here/m-p/265310/highlight...

Croix

[Croix]

Dear All~

Something I've been taking for granted for ages suddenly struck me as an ongoing happy memory.

Sumo Cat glares at me until I open the door so he can go out.

Upon his return he deliberately comes and sits by my left elbow and supervises/snoozes.

How great a cat would want to keep me company.

Croix

[Eagle Ray]

Hello, Croix has just asked if I would share a happy memory here that I put elsewhere and I am happy to.

A few years ago I was in an area of ancient forest in NZ. It was apparently original Gondwanaland forest much the same as in the time of the dinosaurs. I was walking on my own when I heard shuffling and snuffling on the forest floor. To my delight there was a kiwi about 2 metres from me. I sat down and just hung out with the kiwi for about half an hour who didn’t seem the least bit bothered by my presence. I was just in awe and almost beside myself with excitement at seeing a wild kiwi. It was a lifetime highlight for me.

 I would love to meet the delightful giant and gentle kakapo parrot in NZ’s south. If you ever need cheering up I highly recommend looking up google pictures of kakapo parrots or watching videos of them. They are very endangered and have an official spokesbird named Sirocco - a kakapo who was raised by humans and basically thinks he is a human. He actually travels around NZ as part of a program to promote caring for and protecting kakapo and educating the public. They are truly loveable birds, as are kiwis 💗

[Croix]

Dear Eagle Ray~

I'm realy pleased you shared your story here. If you get the time browsing back you will see all sorts of things, though for some reason grandparents loom large with many.

You have given me a new perspective on kiwis. The best holiday my wife and I spent was touring round backpackers in NZ. At the time we thought the kiwi was just a myth invented by the NZ tourist board for gullible people like us. (DB are you listening?)

We'd drive down a road and see a shed with signs outside sayng 'Come and see our kiwis', 'Thrill to their antics' and 'No refunds!'. We'd pass the obligatory pile of moa bones and go into a darkened shed with a big pane of glass dividing it into two. Kiwis were allegedly on the other side . Sadly we never saw any.

We tried several to no avail then gave up. We did see Kias, far too many in fact. They have evolved into windscreen-wiper predators, and when not indulging in their favorite prey make do with tearing windscreen and door rubbers.

Actually one of the enduring memories I have of that trip was driving down a coastal road in South Island, where there was a grassy strip between road and sea. On it was an enormous seal, fast asleep . It felt completely at home and when I gingerly walked towards it opened one eye, wuffed and went back to sleep. An amazing sight.

They must have good road sense , I never heard of one getting into trouble with the traffic.

Croix

[mmMekitty]

Hi Croix & all

I had a happy few minutes trying out a rowing machine, imagining rowing down the river, trying to catch up with a ferry.... 

That's not as exciting as hearing about what LRC can do with an iceberg, now is it?

Was that seal bigger or smaller than a walrus?

Re: 16/09/2022: I love Sumo Cat!

Hugzies

mmMekitty

[Eagle Ray]

Hello Croix, mmMeKitty and All

I do feel very blessed to have seen the kiwi. I think they may not have good eyesight, so I’m not sure how aware this one was of me being there. I took several photos but they’re all a bit blurry as I think I was slightly shaking with excitement and probably expecting it to run off at any moment, but it didn’t.

Your lack of kiwi viewing sounds disappointing. I didn’t see Keas but I did see Kaka Parrots which look a little similar. I have seen videos of Keas absolutely destroying parts of cars as you describe. I’ve also read it’s not a good idea to leave your boots outside a tent or on a veranda, as they too will be dismantled by Keas. I saw the delightfully large Kereru pigeons. There’s some humorous videos of them on YouTube as they have a habit of feasting on fermented berries resulting in inebriation. This can involve hanging upside down from trees, lying sprawled on the ground or just all together looking off with the fairies.

 I loved reading about the enormous seal who opened one eye, wuffed and went back to sleep. There’s something special about those encounters.

mmMeKitty, I loved reading about you imagining catching up with a ferry on the rowing machine. It’s fun to use imagination. Speaking of imagination, I wonder what mischief is ensuing on Croix’s iceberg? In just over a week I’m looking after GFC (Grey Fluffy Cat) who is well-insulated for iceberg conditions and perhaps could have play time with LRC. Hee hee!

[Croix]

Dear All~

It was a very ho-hum movie Mrs C and I went to this weekend. Mrs C enjoyed it and I resisted the temptation to fiddle with my phone.

So how does that make for a happy memory? The thing is we try to go every weekend, irrespective of the  movie, and have a coffee before we go in. Sometimes I go to please Mrs C, like just now, sometimes Mrs C does the same for me.

We enjoy the evening out, each others company, and the knowledge one of us will please the other by watching a film not quite to their taste.

In it's own quiet way this is treasure

Croix

[Croix]

Dear MK, ER and all~

The "Foghornamoanium" reminded me of cannons. Why?

When I was a kid living with my grandparents (Nain and Tide) in North Wales we were in a town close to the Irish sea . That meant we got a fair amout of the worst weather in the British Isles. This did not only mean storms, gale-force winds and sheeting rain but also at other times thick fog that went out many miles to sea.

Under those conditions the lighthouse was ineffective and when I was very young I could lie in bed and listen to the canons being fired to warn shipping away. As I got older they were replaced by two fog horns that  went "OOMP" "PAH" every 30 seconds, a deep vibrating sound over the town, land and seas.

It was a happy time, I even had my own litle copper kerosene bedside lamp, something that would be regarded as a fire-hazard nowadays but then was quite common.

That sound signified safety.

Croix

[Eagle Ray]

I really enjoyed reading of that memory Croix. I could picture this atmospheric fog and imagine first the sound of the canon and later the foghorns. It made me think of the Bronzewing pigeons that sometimes call here. They have a low vibrating call that they repeat for sometime and I find it very reassuring somehow, like the foghorns signifying safety.

 I have Welsh ancestry so I’m always interested to hear stories from there. I imagine up there you might have been near Snowdonia. That is an area I’d love to visit. I’ve seen beautiful landscape photos from around there. I saw photos of a place called The Fairy Glen near Betys-y-Coed that I find enchanting and would love to see too.

Thanks for sharing your childhood memory.