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]

We grew up in a small country town. We spent most of our free time roaming around exploring. There were a few old derelict houses and ruins we turned into cubby houses.

One day my sister and I were playing in one of our cubbies out the back of a popular tourist bus stop. I don't remember my age. A group of young guys got off the bus and a couple were looking at us. We were using an old beer bottle to transport water for our "cooking".

I pretended to drink out of the bottle and staggered a little. One of the guys yelled out and asked what we were doing. I tipped out some of the dirty water, the guy called out something like "Hey. Don't waste that beer love!" He started to walk towards us. I dropped the bottle and we walked off a little distance away.

He picked up the bottle and had a swig only to find it was disgusting rotten rusty water! He let out a gasp and came towards us. I told my sister we had better RUN. I was laughing so much it was hard to run. We had the advantage of knowing where we were going and being small enough to scoot through the bushes.

The look on his face as he took a swig of that water was hilarious.

[The_Abyss]

I have enjoyed reading everyone's happy memories these past few weeks. Many have helped to evoke my own tiny patches of sunlight in a very darkened world, but your last one Mrs D brought a true smile to my face as I was transported back a decade or few!

My mother was out on the town again, this time in Kings Cross. My older brother and I were left to our own devices in a unit that looked out toward the Coca Cola sign that dominates the Kings Cross skyscape. Bored, it didn't take long before my brother was up to mischief, and naturally roped me into it as well!

Filling a couple of dozen water balloons, we started "bombing" the people below from our window vantage. Hysterical with laughter, we lobed one that landed on the local constable! Oops!

An angry banging on the door followed shortly afterwards! Oh no, what had we done! We were going to be in for it now!

Always the trickster, my brother fronted up to the door of the adjoining apartment and asked through the barrier in his best "grown up voice" what the problem was "next door". A discussion ensued, and finally the officer left. Torn between guilt and laughter for the rest of the night, we stayed hidden and out of sight until we were taken home a several hours later.

Every time I see that Coca Cola sign, I am transported back to that night, a mixture of fear and unparalleled hysterics!

[Croix]

I guess my memory keeps getting prodded and the sight of that man swigging from the beer bottle and pulling a face reminded me of a time when I was a kid and my father and mother made lots of wine.

There was a row of wooden barrels in the cellar, each with a fascinating curly glass 'air lock' on top and a handy spigot on the side.

I'd of course been introduced to small sips. I'd found some, such as elderberry, just fine, and others such as sloe too tart by far. All these sips went with stern warnings as to how I should not help myself. Parental supervision required!

One day I looked in the refrigerator to find a bottle of beer, half full. (In those days the bottles had screw tops). It attracted my attention as the label said something about a monastery or monk - my father was a vicar and we lived in a rectory.

So I opened it and took a swig - straight from the bottle. It was truly horrible. The after-tast lingered for ages. I guess my father was in no danger of having his supply eroded further!

There's probably a moral buried in their somewhere - though I'm not sure what it might be 🙂

Croix

[Guest_128]

Hey all,

As you may know my memory is not that good,but one awesome memory I will never forget is...

My courtship (I'm not that old) with my husband.

We meet on an excursion to a scuba dive in a shark invested tank,they paired us up as buddies,so while being totally entranced with the sharks I was also besotted with my new partner.

The next weekend he took me spear fishing, I hadn't been before,the water was so clear,as we swam out to he deeper water there were massive manter rays gliding along the bottom. We saw some fish so I dived down and shot a massive bream, all I could hear at the bottom of the ocean was him gut laughing at the top.

That was it poor man was stuck!

Later

[Doolhof]

Hi Later,

That is a lovely memory to have and to cherish.

I have a happy fishing memory as well. I had a cat who was like a dog regarding his affection and the closeness we had.

The cat and I would walk down to the jetty and the cat would sit there peering over the side wagging his tail until I caught him a fish. He would eat it, then wander back home.

Locals were used to our antics, but not the tourists who fished off the jetty. Some of them were rather stunned.

[Croix]

Dear All~

This place keeps feeding on memories:) Mrs Dool's enterprising cat reminds me of a pair we had (I wrote about them before)

We had a tithe-barn door which consisted of a u-shaped handle on the outside and a thumb-latch to hold it closed. As this was the cats' favorite rout to the kitchen, finding the door closed presented a problem.

It did not take them long to develop teamwork, with the smaller female jumping up, hooking a paw though the handle and dabbing the thumb-piece with her other paw while the large male shouldered the door to open it.

This has nothing to do with anything but they always had the most attractive little pot-bellied kittens with sooty faces and enormous blue eyes.

[Doolhof]

Hi Croix,

I do love the way you tell a story!

My happy memory is very recent, it took place last night. I drove to pick my husband up from the airport. He has been on a European holiday with friends.

He has arrived home safe and sound, that is what is important to me. He did tell me he had bought me a gift. All the way home I wondered what it might be. I watched eagerly as he unpacked his bags.

He handed me my gift, a chocolate camel from Qatar.

[Quercus]

Hey Mrs D!

How I wish we could share photos I would love to see the chocolate camel that sounds cool!

My memory for the day...

Cold and wet. All rugged up to brave the break in the weather. Kids excited to burn off crazy energy. Cooped up all day. Time to escape! Soggy green grass. Wet play equipment lit up by floodlights. Hot food on wet ground. Can we go play now? Finish your dinner!

Swings. Spider frame. Slide. Soaked bums from a wet slide. Time for a race. Come on run around the oval! Chase me Mum! Tickle monster. All soaked. Breathless. Cold hands. Frozen feet. Love it. Quick! Quick! Nudie rudie kids in the car heater on. I'm a nudie rudie Dad!

Bath, book, bed. Time for us now. Your hands are cold. A wide smile. Then warm me up hon.

[Doolhof]

Picking huge bunches of soursob flowers for Mum which she dutifully placed in a large vase on the kitchen table.

[Doolhof]

Today I appreciated the expression of anticipation on a friend's dog as I was throwing toys for her to fetch. I tired of the game long before the kelpie did.

Animals and all creatures can provide us with such happy memories, like watching chickens hatch, playing with a kitten, cuddling a lamb, patting a horse and so on.

Even seeing my Uncle's smelly pigs and their enthusiasm at meal times was something to remember and appreciate as a child as a happy memory on my Uncle's farm.